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“Even though we are angry we cannot do anything” - An Ethnographic Case Study of the Interplay between Local Power Structures and the Identification of Poor Households Programme in Rural Cambodia

Licht, Stefanie LU (2015) SIMV32 20151
Sociology
Master of Science in Development Studies
Graduate School
Abstract
This thesis studies the interplay between the pre-existing social structures in rural Cambodia and the ‘Identification of Poor Households Programme’. The aim is to comprehend the processes and dynamics that people’s actions give rise to when they accommodate and adapt the external development intervention into the realities they live in. A focus is put on the influence of local power structures on the adaptation of the programme. To identify and research these dynamics, an ethnographic approach is applied. The analysis indicates that the community's former experiences with development interventions, a hierarchical social order, self-identification as inferior citizen, and related to that, certain local social norms influence the way the... (More)
This thesis studies the interplay between the pre-existing social structures in rural Cambodia and the ‘Identification of Poor Households Programme’. The aim is to comprehend the processes and dynamics that people’s actions give rise to when they accommodate and adapt the external development intervention into the realities they live in. A focus is put on the influence of local power structures on the adaptation of the programme. To identify and research these dynamics, an ethnographic approach is applied. The analysis indicates that the community's former experiences with development interventions, a hierarchical social order, self-identification as inferior citizen, and related to that, certain local social norms influence the way the programme is adapted by the community. The results show that the programme design’s underlying conceptualisation of power is too simplistic, as it addresses only formalised decision-making processes, but neglects power exercised ‘behind the scenes’ or in form of internalised domination. (Less)
Popular Abstract
This thesis studies the interplay between the pre-existing social structures in rural Cambodia and the ‘Identification of Poor Households Programme’. The aim is to comprehend the processes and dynamics that people’s actions give rise to when they accommodate and adapt the external development intervention into the realities they live in. A focus is put on the influence of local power structures on the adaptation of the programme. To identify and research these dynamics, an ethnographic approach is applied. The analysis indicates that the community's former experiences with development interventions, a hierarchical social order, self-identification as inferior citizen, and related to that, certain local social norms influence the way the... (More)
This thesis studies the interplay between the pre-existing social structures in rural Cambodia and the ‘Identification of Poor Households Programme’. The aim is to comprehend the processes and dynamics that people’s actions give rise to when they accommodate and adapt the external development intervention into the realities they live in. A focus is put on the influence of local power structures on the adaptation of the programme. To identify and research these dynamics, an ethnographic approach is applied. The analysis indicates that the community's former experiences with development interventions, a hierarchical social order, self-identification as inferior citizen, and related to that, certain local social norms influence the way the programme is adapted by the community. The results show that the programme design’s underlying conceptualisation of power is too simplistic, as it addresses only formalised decision-making processes, but neglects power exercised ‘behind the scenes’ or in form of internalised domination. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Licht, Stefanie LU
supervisor
organization
course
SIMV32 20151
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Cambodia, IDPoor, development ethnography, participatory design, power
language
English
id
7853527
date added to LUP
2015-09-03 08:30:02
date last changed
2015-09-03 08:30:02
@misc{7853527,
  abstract     = {{This thesis studies the interplay between the pre-existing social structures in rural Cambodia and the ‘Identification of Poor Households Programme’. The aim is to comprehend the processes and dynamics that people’s actions give rise to when they accommodate and adapt the external development intervention into the realities they live in. A focus is put on the influence of local power structures on the adaptation of the programme. To identify and research these dynamics, an ethnographic approach is applied. The analysis indicates that the community's former experiences with development interventions, a hierarchical social order, self-identification as inferior citizen, and related to that, certain local social norms influence the way the programme is adapted by the community. The results show that the programme design’s underlying conceptualisation of power is too simplistic, as it addresses only formalised decision-making processes, but neglects power exercised ‘behind the scenes’ or in form of internalised domination.}},
  author       = {{Licht, Stefanie}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{“Even though we are angry we cannot do anything” - An Ethnographic Case Study of the Interplay between Local Power Structures and the Identification of Poor Households Programme in Rural Cambodia}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}