published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Urban Studies / Master / Master of Social Sciences

This study is an analysis of the implications of the manner of development, decision making and communication therein on Africa's development performance since the 1950s. It sought to establish the causes of development failures in Sub-Saharan Africa and to explore a way for sustainable community development. Four hypotheses were set: • First, Africa's development failures are due to cultural irrationality, as many modernisation theorists have suggested, including Goran Hyden (1980: 3-4) who asserts that "Africa's underdevelopment lies in the persistence of its pre-modern and pre-capitalist practices and structures" and Ulf Himmelstrand (1994: 25) with his "European superiority" notion; • Second, Africa's development failures are due to the exclusionary manner of development; • Third, as justification for the exclusionary manner of development, community participation in development could lead to disorder and paralyse governmental delivery capacities (Huntington, 1991), and • Lastly, community participation is untenable because communitarian values no longer exist in African communities. This study is in two parts. Part One verifies the first two hypotheses through reviewing the literature. Part Two verifies the last two hypotheses using field research data. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1999.

Development communication is now a recognized field within communication studies, but has always been implicated with the discourse and practices of development, as well as drawing on the lexicon of sociology for its elaboration of social phenomena and processes. This dissertation sets out to provide a case study-based review of the limits and possibilities of communication in/for development through the lens of interface analysis, a framework developed by Norman Long to reconstitute an understanding of development itself in an actor centered fashion. Adopting a broader based understanding of the concept of interface, in order to provide a communicative tool which goes beyond development practice , three dimensions of communication and development are considered: the 'dominant paradigm' with its emphasis on mass media; participatory communication with its emphasis on dialogue and social change; and communication based on new information and communication technologies, with its emphasis on the benefits of the internet. Central to the discussion is a consideration of the significance of information in developing contexts, and the centrality of communication to social relations more generally. Each of the case studies provides a concrete example of one or more of the three dimensions outlined above, and offers a platform for extending a conceptual and critical engagement with past contributions to the particular problematic. The objective of these engagements is less the establishment of firm conclusions than it is with the delineation of further topics for research, and the clarification of the future direction of communication in/for development. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.

Some of the problems experienced with regard to community participation in the Community Based Public Works Program in its first phase(from 1994to 1997) included: participatory processes were determined externally; there was uncertainty of roles and responsibilities; there was lack of clarity on the decision-making process which caused conflict. there were constraints in terms of sufficient resources, capacity and information; there was a lack of clear definition of rights and processes to address concerns raised in the participation process; unequal power relationships effected the negotiation process; and there was a lack of ongoing participatory monitoring and evaluation. Participation also had significant costs which went beyond financial in terms of time and the costs of changing attitudes and traditional ways of working. These were some of the conclusions of this dissertation which is a critical analysis of the nature and extent of the community participation process in public works programmes in South Africa. The Community Based Public Works Program (CBPWP) a post apartheid. government-funded programme that targeted "the poorest of the poor" and used labour intensive construction methods and community labour in the building of infrastructure was used as a case study to conduct this critical analysis. The aims of the CBPWP were to address infrastructure shortages, create jobs, provide training and build the capacity of communities to contribute to the development process. This dissertation includes a review of literature and theory of community participation, which finds that: participation needs to be considered in the context of its relationship with the internal development process; successful participation depends so much on the adequate provision of information, access to resources and understanding of local level dynamics; and that participation can be both a means (to improve project performance) and an end (to empower communities to participate in their own development); that it is not without costs and that the nature and type of community participation varies from purely information sharing, through consultation, decision-making and the initiation of action. This report also includes a background to public works programmes and their context internationally and locally. Public works programmes are multi-purpose and range from strategic, long-term economic interventions to emergency relief programmes. They are essentially instruments through which public spending can be directed towards the poor and range from community-based, labour-intensive infrastructure building programmes to programmes to address natural resource management goals. In post-apartheid context of South Africa in the 1990s they are intrinsically tied to transformation and reconstruction and incorporate objectives ofthe empowerment ofcommunities in the development process and the transformation of development institutions and top-down development processes. Many of these programmes in South Africa including the CBPWP recognise community participation in particular as an essential component of meeting their objectives. This dissertation builds a profile of community level stakeholders in the CBPWP and examines how these stakeholders interact with the CBPWP at each stage ofa typical project. Data from two broad evaluations ofthe CBPWP (conducted by (i) CASE and the ILO and (ii) by SALDRU and described in Chapter 5 of this report) is interrogated to do this. Research findings are then analysed (according to key research questions outlined in Section 1.5) and summarised in terms of: how communities participate in the CBPWP; what their incentives for participation are; whether they are provided with sufficient information and resources to participate effectively; who takes responsibility for ongoing community participation; a cost benefit analysis of participation for the various stakeholders; how participation should be measured and, finally, identifies important issues which need to be considered in the design, implementation and monitoring of community participation processes in development programmes. / Thesis (M.Env.Dev.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia, Pa.), 2007. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 271-277).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia, Pa.), 2007. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 271-277).

Thesis (M.P.A.)--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 1993. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2964. Abstract precedes thesis as [1] preliminary leaf. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [184]-199).

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-106).

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-106) Also available in print.