In this program, we read a lot of different theories of development, case studies, and opinions by a wide range of authors. However, I find that the foundation of development rests in access to opportunities through knowledge. In order to better your life, not only do you need to access to opportunities to change your current situation but you need to KNOW where to find these opportunities.
During this week's Conflict Development and Security discussion, Jacqueline Klopp from Columbia University shared her work with IDP's in Kenya. In her talk, she mentioned a new organization called Article 19 that is working on spreading information to the IDP network via text messages. IDP's in Kenya struggle to find accurate and useful information and government policies but now the people are learning about their rights and resources through this new network.
No PhD is required to simply know what your rights or where to find a nonprofit working in your area. Getting this information is the first step to development which could lead to endless opportunities.
I like this perspective of development as expansion of knowledge, and as implied, the ability to act on that knowledge. It seems to capture, at an individual or collective level, knowledge of rights and how to claim them and knowledge of public services and how to access them, as well as technical knowledge at the industry or government level. The latter reminds me of Professor Iskander's IGID lecture on the key role that knowledge transfer played in the economic rise of the East Asian Tigers. The former strikes me as more of a rights-based or needs-driven approach to development. I think it's important that we consider all three (rights, needs, and growth) in thinking about development, so I especially appreciate that this knowledge-based definition of development encompasses all three. I also like that it supports the concept of development as a continual process, as there is no finite end to knowledge.
Posted by: Kate Horner | March 02, 2011 at 10:33 AM
I share the same strong feeling about development as “access to opportunities.” As the blog says, in order to access opportunities, you need to know where opportunities lie and where to find them. Today, we rely largely on the Internet to obtain information about opportunities. But in many poor places, where development projects are concentrated, people don’t have access to the Internet yet, so in addition to helping people there build livelihood skills and a support network among themselves, I am left thinking what development can do to help people in such places access outside information about opportunities - a practical challenge that I feel day-to-day development needs to deal with.
Posted by: Xiner | March 06, 2011 at 04:03 PM