Historically, development practice and theory has been focused on increasing the productive capacity of the poor towards the modernization of their society. More than often, this approach resulted in excluding the poor from fully participating in their own development. This research project is a qualitative study in the practice of resistance to the domination of expert knowledge and the economic growth model, a resistance focused on developing an authentic solidarity with the poor. Using narratives as a method of inquiry, an attempt was made at defining the commonality upon which our relationship with the poor can be initiated and from which common action can be undertaken in helping the poor meet their needs. The findings suggest that it is in the shared experience of oppression that an authentic relationship can be developed. Importance is attributed to the quality of the exchange between the worker, the poor and the donor in our attempt to resist ethnocentrism. It calls for a less grandiose vision of development in favor of an approach focused on meeting the needs of specific communities in underdeveloped countries.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.31567 |
| Date | January 1999 |
| Creators | Belanger, Dominique. |
| Contributors | Leonard, Peter (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Social Work (School of Social Work.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001809466, proquestno: MQ70538, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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