The purpose of this paper is to challenge current understandings about the nature of community and individual relationships held by development theory. Recently, development theorists have challenged the idea that economic growth should be either the primary means or ends of development, and have sought to understand development in terms of freedoms, capabilities, and human rights. While these theories present exciting frameworks with which to further understand and pursue human flourishing, they fail to recognize the importance of community as an integral aspect of human development. In this paper, I argue that the exclusion of community development in the process of human development results from an inadequate understanding of the roles and functions of community, as well as an over-simplification of the nature of individual and community relations.
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In order to illustrate these concepts, I explore the role of community in the development of indigenous people in the Chimborazo province of Ecuador. I will rely on interviews collected during an evaluation of an education-focused development program to examine the ways that people understand their community and the relationships between community and individuals. I will first use a community narrative framework to interpret how the people that I interviewed understand community at a discursive level. I will then describe the roles of indigenous community organizations and the ways they function in indigenous society. Lastly, I will explore indigenous understandings of individual and community relationships, and use these understandings to challenge current development theories.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-06072006-114302 |
| Date | 24 July 2006 |
| Creators | VanHooser, Sarah Elizabeth |
| Contributors | John R. Newbrough, William L. Partridge |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-06072006-114302/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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