Cambodia has a strong presence of international donor agencies and expatriate
development practitioners. The role of international donors in making government
increasingly gender responsive is believed to be immense. This thesis contends that most
expatriate and Cambodian development practitioners have different perceptions on the
issue due to cultural influences. Due to these differences sometimes there emerge
incongruence in the approach (that is often determined by international players) and the
beliefs of most national practitioners who are responsible to implement these
approaches. The problem of domestic violence is used as a case in point to demonstrate
this incongruence.
The thesis argues that the differences in views do not get discussed and thereafter
resolved because the communication processes being followed are not open and
dialogical in nature. It suggests that there are two primary reasons that come in the way
of dialogic communication. One is related to the hierarchically different positions that
expatriates and Cambodian practitioners occupy in the context of development work. The other is related to the difference in the perceptions of the practitioners depending on
their degree of connectedness with the cultural setting.
The thesis concludes that there is a need for introspection by the development
practitioners for the reasons that may lie within them and their organizations for this
communication gap. This is essential for initiating communication processes that are
open so that the development practitioners may begin to arrive at common understanding
as well as trusting relationships. The study is conducted following the tenets of the
âÂÂnaturalistic inquiryâ as proposed by Lincoln and Guba (1985).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/4187 |
| Date | 30 October 2006 |
| Creators | Imam, Zeba |
| Contributors | Pastina, La, Antonio |
| Publisher | Texas A&M University |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis, text |
| Format | 792026 bytes, electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
Page generated in 0.0016 seconds