For when the guests come

ISBN-13: 9783639161410 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 148 str.

Kjersti Berre

Opis

International languages of management, therapy,marketing and advertising have their own jargon,specialized terminology and global standard phrases. In the development discourse, "sustainability","rights based", "participatory" are some frequentlyused terms.The "right for children to participate" is among thedevelopment concepts that travel from an NGO in aWestern country, to (in this case) youth and projectworkers in rural Ethiopia, and back to the donor -seemingly unaffected by the many local adaptationsthat the concept has undergone on the way. In thedaily lives of village youth, "childrensparticipation" is not an abstract universal right buta concrete strategy for managing their individuallives. The reports from the field to head office donot capture these local practices, but repeats theidealized, timeless and depersonalized versions ofthe concept. This book looks into some reasons for how and whythis might happen. It provides insight to thoseinterested in the complexities of development work.It also explores some aspects of transnationalcommunication in an Ethiopian/Amhara context.

O autorze

Kjersti Berre, master of social anthropology / cand polit.
degree. Studied social anthropology and languages at Oslo
University. Has worked in various organisations in the
development field since 1984, in program administration,
management, monitoring and evaluation. Currently working in
Norwegian People s Aid.