The author would like to thank Ronald Aminzade, Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi, Michael Goldman, Doug McAdam, Jan Nederveen Pieterse, Arthur Scarritt and the anonymous reviewers of this journal for their thoughtful comments and helpful suggestions on an earlier draft of this paper. This research was generously supported by a Doctoral Dissertation International Research Grant from the Graduate School of the University of Minnesota and by a National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (#SES-0425240).
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The Paradoxes of Community-based Participation in Dar es Salaam
Article first published online: 19 OCT 2009
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7660.2009.01569.x
© Institute of Social Studies 2009
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How to Cite
Dill, B. (2009), The Paradoxes of Community-based Participation in Dar es Salaam. Development and Change, 40: 717–743. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7660.2009.01569.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 19 OCT 2009
- Article first published online: 19 OCT 2009
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ABSTRACT
The current discourse and practice of international development rest on the assumption that community-based participation is an essential component of efforts to facilitate change across the global South. Such participation is thought not only to ensure efficiency and sustainability, but also to accelerate broader structural transformation by empowering individuals to exercise agency in relation to development. This article seeks to contribute to critical participation studies by analysing the broader processes and structures that shape participatory opportunities in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The author argues that by promoting community-based organizations (CBOs), national and transnational development actors have produced and legitimated a system of popular participation that, in contrast to their claims, disempowers local citizens. Paradoxically, these CBOs have further contributed to the exclusion of the majority of community actors.