The place of stories in development: creating spaces for participation through narrative analysis

Abstract

The stories that we hear as we conduct development research or implement development projects are often relegated to the margins of development studies. This article argues that these stories require our attention, for they are windows on to indigenous narratives of development and our placement in those narratives. Examining these stories as efforts to emplot experiences of development and encounters with development professionals within particular narratives enables us to better understand our own positionality in the communities in which we work, and therefore better understand the opportunities and challenges that our research/interventions present to the emergence of a truly participatory development.

La place des histoires dans le développement : créer des espaces pour la participation à travers l'analyse narrative

Les histoires que nous entendons lorsque nous menons des recherches dans le domaine du développement ou mettons en œuvre des projets de développement sont souvent reléguées aux marges des études du développement. Cet article soutient que ces histoires requièrent notre attention, car elles constituent des fenêtres sur des narratifs autochtones du développement et de notre positionnement dans ces récits. En examinant ces histoires en tant qu'efforts pour intégrer les expériences du développement et les rencontres avec les professionnels du développement au sein de récits précis, nous pouvons parvenir à mieux comprendre notre propre positionnalité dans les communautés au sein desquelles nous travaillons et, par conséquent, les occasions et les défis que nos recherches/interventions présentent pour ce qui est de l'apparition d'un développement véritablement participatif.

O lugar das histórias no desenvolvimento: criando espaços para participação através de análise de narrativa

As histórias que ouvimos quando conduzimos pesquisa de desenvolvimento ou implementamos projetos de desenvolvimento são frequentemente relegadas às margens dos estudos de desenvolvimento. Este artigo argumenta que essas histórias exigem nossa atenção, uma vez que elas são janelas para narrativas de desenvolvimento nativas e nosso lugar nessas narrativas. Examinar essas histórias como esforços para empregar experiências de desenvolvimento e encontros com profissionais de desenvolvimento dentro de narrativas em particular nos permite compreender melhor nossa própria posição nas comunidades nas quais trabalhamos e, assim, melhor compreender as oportunidades e desafios que nossas pesquisas /intervenç[otilde]es apresentam para a emergência de um desenvolvimento verdadeiramente participativo.

Las narrativas en el desarrollo: creando espacios para la participación a través del análisis de historias y relatos

Las historias o relatos que los investigadores escuchan cuando realizan investigaciones o llevan a cabo proyectos a menudo se relegan a los márgenes de los estudios relacionados con el desarrollo. El presente ensayo sostiene que estas narrativas merecen ser escuchadas porque son maneras de asomarnos a las visiones autóctonas sobre el desarrollo y sobre la opinión que se tiene de los mismos investigadores. El análisis de estas narrativas sobre el desarrollo y sobre las relaciones con los profesionales del desarrollo permite que los investigadores comprendan el papel que desempeñan en las comunidades donde trabajan y entiendan mejor las oportunidades y retos que su presencia provoca para que surja un desarrollo participativo real.

Keywords:

• Methods
• Sub-Saharan Africa

Acknowledgments

I thank the people of Dominase and Ponkrum in Ghana's Central Region for 11 years of productive engagement, and Francis Quayson, my research assistant, for whom only the broadest reading of the term ‘translation’ captures his contribution to my research programme. I also thank Gareth Hoskins, who, in inviting me to think through these ideas in some organised sessions on Narrative and Geography at the 2006 Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, prompted me to start thinking about ‘stories’ as important sites of knowledge for development studies and development practice.

Notes

Clearly, those living in the developing world tell one another stories about ‘the developed’ that might be of great interest, but in general we lack access to such stories because of their very nature. Therefore I focus, for the purpose of illuminating and furthering development practice, on stories that we are told, and for which we are the intended audience.