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Talking About Participation - A Study of Participatory Development Discourse in Sweden’s International Support to Civil Society

Träff, Carl-Magnus LU (2017) SIMV29 20171
Department of Political Science
Master of Science in Development Studies
Graduate School
Abstract
This thesis focuses on participatory development discourse in Sweden’s support to civil society in developing countries, channelled through Swedish civil society organisations with which Sida has framework agreements. The thesis uses a modified version of Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis, with an operationalisation of participatory development discourse that defines it as either formal or transformative. The analysis focuses on documents from the Swedish government, Sida, and two framework organisations, We Effect and the Swedish Mission council. The analysis indicates that the government and Sida use a discourse that is in between formal and transformative discourse, while the Swedish Mission Council and We Effect’s... (More)
This thesis focuses on participatory development discourse in Sweden’s support to civil society in developing countries, channelled through Swedish civil society organisations with which Sida has framework agreements. The thesis uses a modified version of Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis, with an operationalisation of participatory development discourse that defines it as either formal or transformative. The analysis focuses on documents from the Swedish government, Sida, and two framework organisations, We Effect and the Swedish Mission council. The analysis indicates that the government and Sida use a discourse that is in between formal and transformative discourse, while the Swedish Mission Council and We Effect’s discourse are closer to the transformative. These discursive differences between different levels within the Swedish development community had been predicted based on earlier research. The Swedish Mission Council and We Effect were also found to have embraced the rights-based approach to development, something that contradicts earlier studies of faith-based and political organisations. It seems likely that the differing results stem from the nature of the Swedish development community. A suggestion for future research might therefore be comparative studies of different national development communities, focusing on participatory and rights-based development. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Träff, Carl-Magnus LU
supervisor
organization
course
SIMV29 20171
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
participatory development, development discourse, Sida, civil society organisation, rights-based approach
language
English
id
8914063
date added to LUP
2017-07-03 13:00:59
date last changed
2017-07-03 13:00:59
@misc{8914063,
  abstract     = {{This thesis focuses on participatory development discourse in Sweden’s support to civil society in developing countries, channelled through Swedish civil society organisations with which Sida has framework agreements. The thesis uses a modified version of Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis, with an operationalisation of participatory development discourse that defines it as either formal or transformative. The analysis focuses on documents from the Swedish government, Sida, and two framework organisations, We Effect and the Swedish Mission council. The analysis indicates that the government and Sida use a discourse that is in between formal and transformative discourse, while the Swedish Mission Council and We Effect’s discourse are closer to the transformative. These discursive differences between different levels within the Swedish development community had been predicted based on earlier research. The Swedish Mission Council and We Effect were also found to have embraced the rights-based approach to development, something that contradicts earlier studies of faith-based and political organisations. It seems likely that the differing results stem from the nature of the Swedish development community. A suggestion for future research might therefore be comparative studies of different national development communities, focusing on participatory and rights-based development.}},
  author       = {{Träff, Carl-Magnus}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Talking About Participation - A Study of Participatory Development Discourse in Sweden’s International Support to Civil Society}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}