Voices from the Margins: Widening the Cracks in the Development Discourse

This essay explores the practice of participatory poverty research that aims to mediate between the poor and policy makers. Through the practice of listening-to-the-poor methodologies, the essay seeks to insert the development agenda of the poor in the dominant development discourse. The paper argue...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Philippine sociological review 2015-01, Vol.63, p.85-110
Main Author: RODRIGUEZ, AGUSTIN MARTIN G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Communities
Economic systems
Governance
Indigenous peoples
Personal empowerment
Poverty
Research and development
Research methods
Sustainable development
World Bank
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Summary:This essay explores the practice of participatory poverty research that aims to mediate between the poor and policy makers. Through the practice of listening-to-the-poor methodologies, the essay seeks to insert the development agenda of the poor in the dominant development discourse. The paper argues that, although these methodologies aim to empower, they can reduce the voice of the marginalized into the dominant rationality. Thus, what is needed is a more critical and self-aware practice of poverty research so that development discourse is enriched and less myopic. The essay is a philosophical reflection on the question of poverty research. It bases its reflection on the work of other researchers and from the experience of the author in conducting qualitative studies on the impact of participatory anti-poverty programs.
ISSN:0031-7810