Limbo in development projects

ABSTRACT

This article uses Actor-Network Theory to investigate how a One Laptop per Child project went through periods of impasse and crisis, what happened during these periods, and how the project managed to continue. The analysis shows that the standstills occurred when the understandings or “translations” behind the project started to unravel and, similarly, that the project was revitalised by participants experimenting with new translations. The article develops a sensitising concept called limbo intended to guide others confronted with similar situations. The concept has three traits: standstills are circumstantial, they entail ambiguity, and they are sources of project transformation.

KEYWORDS:

• Aid - Development policies
• Methods
• Social sector - Education
• Technology - ICT

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank project participants for openly sharing both ups and downs and for generously letting me follow them around.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Lars Bo Andersen is a postdoctoral researcher at Aarhus University, Denmark, where he undertakes research on the use of technology in processes of social change.