Alternative Development Practice: The Role of Personal Conceptions of Development and Self-Understanding

<p>It seems to be a favourite past time of development studies lecturers to begin their courses with the question: “What is development?” This old chestnut invariably serves its purpose of challenging and complicating our understandings of development and stimulating a good deal of debate. It is rare however, if this question is ever followed by any real guidance on how to answer it or consideration of what the answer might mean for one’s practice. For those seeking an alternative development practice in the context of a ‘development’ that grows ever more theoretically complex and morally ambiguous, I argue that engaging with and answering this question at a personal level is of vital importance. Within development studies, debate continues to grow over the definition of development’s ends and means, and over who controls it, defines it and benefits from it. In particular, alternative development approaches originating from Another Development thinkers of the 1970s are concerned with challenging the conceptualisation of development by opening its interpretation to multiple value systems and realities. At the same time there is an increasing awareness of the ‘primacy of the personal’ (Chambers, 1994 p3) through the implication of personal ethics and awareness in development practice. I argue that the combination of these factors gives rise to a personal challenge for alternative development practitioners to engage with and understand their own conceptions of development. A challenge that practitioners are not equipped to meet as they lack the conceptual and methodological tools required to move from abstract development theory to concrete practice. In response to these challenges my research draws on my personal experience as an intern in Latin America and employs an innovative auto-ethnographic methodology to examine the potential of development ‘theorias’ for orientating alternative development practice. Theorias are personal conceptions of development that allow practitioners to work with their own understandings of good change and structure these in relation to development and development practice. Employing reflective practice methods, I draw on my own experience as a novice development practitioner to investigate the elaboration of development theorias and their consequences for alternative development practice. The results suggest that theorias could provide practitioners with appropriate ‘tools’ with which to reflect upon, work through and explore personal conceptions of development as the basis for alternative development practice. My research indicates that theorias could also form the basis of an ‘alignment based approach’ to alternative development that facilitates cooperative processes aimed at co-creating and working towards new conceptualisations of development. The overall result is a unique contribution to the field of development studies which provides an example of reflective processes and conceptual tools for practitioners to constructively engage with the central questions of development’s ends and means from within the context of their own practice. The lack of literature regarding reflective engagement with practitioner conceptions of development highlights the importance of this research and its potential to contribute to alternative development practice and theory.</p>

Alternative Development Practice: The Role of Personal Conceptions of Development and Self-Understanding

<p>It seems to be a favourite past time of development studies lecturers to begin their courses with the question: “What is development?” This old chestnut invariably serves its purpose of challenging and complicating our understandings of development and stimulating a good deal of debate. It is rare however, if this question is ever followed by any real guidance on how to answer it or consideration of what the answer might mean for one’s practice. For those seeking an alternative development practice in the context of a ‘development’ that grows ever more theoretically complex and morally ambiguous, I argue that engaging with and answering this question at a personal level is of vital importance. Within development studies, debate continues to grow over the definition of development’s ends and means, and over who controls it, defines it and benefits from it. In particular, alternative development approaches originating from Another Development thinkers of the 1970s are concerned with challenging the conceptualisation of development by opening its interpretation to multiple value systems and realities. At the same time there is an increasing awareness of the ‘primacy of the personal’ (Chambers, 1994 p3) through the implication of personal ethics and awareness in development practice. I argue that the combination of these factors gives rise to a personal challenge for alternative development practitioners to engage with and understand their own conceptions of development. A challenge that practitioners are not equipped to meet as they lack the conceptual and methodological tools required to move from abstract development theory to concrete practice. In response to these challenges my research draws on my personal experience as an intern in Latin America and employs an innovative auto-ethnographic methodology to examine the potential of development ‘theorias’ for orientating alternative development practice. Theorias are personal conceptions of development that allow practitioners to work with their own understandings of good change and structure these in relation to development and development practice. Employing reflective practice methods, I draw on my own experience as a novice development practitioner to investigate the elaboration of development theorias and their consequences for alternative development practice. The results suggest that theorias could provide practitioners with appropriate ‘tools’ with which to reflect upon, work through and explore personal conceptions of development as the basis for alternative development practice. My research indicates that theorias could also form the basis of an ‘alignment based approach’ to alternative development that facilitates cooperative processes aimed at co-creating and working towards new conceptualisations of development. The overall result is a unique contribution to the field of development studies which provides an example of reflective processes and conceptual tools for practitioners to constructively engage with the central questions of development’s ends and means from within the context of their own practice. The lack of literature regarding reflective engagement with practitioner conceptions of development highlights the importance of this research and its potential to contribute to alternative development practice and theory.</p>

The Value of Large Scale Tourism in Samoa

<p>During the mid to late seventies serious questions were raised regarding the value of mass tourism. This lead to the creation of the alternative development paradigm with its preference towards small scale, local and community based and controlled projects which have gained wide acceptance within the field of development studies. This research looks to reopen and examine the case against mass tourism as a development tool under the following arguments: · The initial assessment was done in the late seventies and a combination of changes in business practices and consumer demands for ethical behaviour has potentially changed the development outcomes for host nations · Governments have a greater and more balanced awareness of the range of development issues and enterprises need to respond to this · Alternative development suffers from similar criticisms to those that have been directed at mass tourism as well as some unique issues · Labour force training has been largely overlooked as critical step in maximising potential development outcomes for host nations · Two major critiques around power inequality (Britton 1983) and empowerment (Sofield 2003) are external subjective judgements about development outcomes where feedback and conclusions from within host populations might add additional insight. A survey questioning the impact a large scale development had on people’s lives was central to the research. However, due to difficulties getting survey data from a large scale development in Samoa the research has focused on providing the arguments above from literature and on secondary research aims of seeking the governments views and strategies to deal with tourism and linking these strategies back to literature.</p>

The Value of Large Scale Tourism in Samoa

<p>During the mid to late seventies serious questions were raised regarding the value of mass tourism. This lead to the creation of the alternative development paradigm with its preference towards small scale, local and community based and controlled projects which have gained wide acceptance within the field of development studies. This research looks to reopen and examine the case against mass tourism as a development tool under the following arguments: · The initial assessment was done in the late seventies and a combination of changes in business practices and consumer demands for ethical behaviour has potentially changed the development outcomes for host nations · Governments have a greater and more balanced awareness of the range of development issues and enterprises need to respond to this · Alternative development suffers from similar criticisms to those that have been directed at mass tourism as well as some unique issues · Labour force training has been largely overlooked as critical step in maximising potential development outcomes for host nations · Two major critiques around power inequality (Britton 1983) and empowerment (Sofield 2003) are external subjective judgements about development outcomes where feedback and conclusions from within host populations might add additional insight. A survey questioning the impact a large scale development had on people’s lives was central to the research. However, due to difficulties getting survey data from a large scale development in Samoa the research has focused on providing the arguments above from literature and on secondary research aims of seeking the governments views and strategies to deal with tourism and linking these strategies back to literature.</p>

Macanese Publics Fight for the ‘Hongkong Man’

Moving away from the dominant anti-colonial discourses in early twentieth-century Asia, the Macanese activities in Hong Kong reveal an alternative development linked to the emergence of multiracial associations and the rise of an Anglophone public sphere. Some local-born, English-educated Macanese participated in the construction of an early civil society rooted on a shared perception of the British colony as a ‘home’ and a permanent settlement. Nevertheless, this Anglicized identity did not represent the entire generation of Macanese youth who were born and raised in Hong Kong. While the pursuits of J.P. Braga, Leo d’Almada e Castro and Clotilde Barretto demonstrate the propagation of a more local strand among the Macanese, Montalto de Jesus opted to move in the Portuguese sphere.

Developing Strategies to Improve Business Model of Online Laundry Marketplace Startup

The Infineeds is a startup engaged in online laundry marketplace services for households. The current online marketplace business can be considered as a fairly competitive business, especially for Infineeds which is a new business or startup. Therefore, it is important for Infineeds to have a well-prepared sustainable business model. The Business Model Canvas was used to analyze Infineeds' business model. With a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats analysis approach, alternative business development strategies are obtained that are in accordance with the company's internal and external environmental conditions. The weighting using Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix is done to get alternative priorities for business development strategies. The priority alternatives are then included in the Business Model Canvas as a new component. The results of the analysis show that Infineeds is in a growth-oriented strategy position, which is to take advantage of internal strengths to take advantage of as many opportunities as possible with the highest alternative development strategy is the strategy to using Search Engine Optimization with Total Attractiveness Score is 6.62 as well as the development of a business model canvas on the components of channels, key activities, and key partners