Development Studies

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    Power, empowerment and children in Dhaka's poor urban communities : understanding and measuring children's empowerment : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Master of International Development at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2019) Hamilton, Harley
    This thesis is about children, power and empowerment. It seeks to both understand and measure power and empowerment from the perspectives of poor urban children living in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Children have been largely overlooked in development studies literature and although empowerment and measurement have been mainstreamed into development practice, children’s perspectives on these two essentially contested concepts are marginal. This thesis contributes to existing understandings of children’s power and empowerment, with a specific focus on poor urban children living in Dhaka. To do this, this thesis draws on two competing research paradigms, those of interpretivism and positivism respectively. I show how these two research paradigms can be brought together into a single mixed methods methodology when employed to answer distinct, but related research questions. This enabled me to use a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods and analytical strategies: task-based visual methods employed in a creative art and storytelling workshop; a qualitative thematic analysis; indicator construction; a survey and a descriptive statistical analysis. Bringing together these two competing research paradigms allows for the in-depth, contextual knowledge that qualitative research uncovers, with the ability to use this knowledge as a basis for measurement. In this thesis, I draw on empirical evidence uncovered through my research methods and insights from post-structuralism, development sociology and the literature on the relationality of childhood to argue that power can be viewed as boundaries to action. Boundaries of power exist as social structures that demarcate fields of action, possibility and imagination and are not resources that any actor has or uses but instead exist as boundaries which constrain all actors. I explore five boundaries of power that were highlighted by my research participants: personal relationships with family and friends; access to material and financial resources; the natural environment; education and children’s work. I present 34 indicators of empowerment I created that were derived from these boundaries of power. I discuss the survey and descriptive statistical analysis I undertook to measure these indicators with a small group of poor urban children. These indicators are therefore context specific and intended to be relevant and meaningful to those who are to be affected by development. They are a tool that could be used by development practitioners to measure a baseline of the relative empowerment or disempowerment of children in Dhaka and to track and measure change over time. Drawing on both my qualitative and quantitative findings, I show that viewing power as boundaries is not to claim that all power relations are equal. Instead I show that actors are placed in differential positions within power’s boundaries and have different channels for action. I suggest, therefore, that empowerment can be reconceptualized as a temporal issue that should first seek to expand the channels for action available to actors within power’s existing boundaries, and second, to shift the formation of the boundaries themselves to provide new conditions for future agency.
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    Drifting into debt? : exploring household over-indebtedness amongst salaried microborrowers in Bangladesh : a case study of Kailakuri Health Care Project : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of International Development, Massey University, Manuwatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2017) Vickers, Nadine
    Salaried microborrowers in Bangladesh take loans for a variety of reasons but they can fall into repayment difficulties, leading to further loan-taking and potentially household overindebtedness. This thesis uses a case study of Kailakuri Health Care Project staff to explore over-indebtedness amongst salaried microborrowers. Data was gathered from two participantgroups, namely twenty four KHCP staff and eleven microfinance lenders. Four focus groups were held. Seven staff participated in a set of household interviews and financial diaries, which tracked their income, expenditure, savings and borrowing behaviour over a one-month period. The thesis explores local meanings of over-indebtedness and compares these to academic definitions. It compares the lending terms and conditions of microfinance lenders including moneylenders, banks, credit unions, NGOs and others with outstanding loans to research participants. It also examines how borrowers perceive the advantage and disadvantages of different lenders and the strategies they use to manage multiple repayments. Finally it considers how borrowers’ decision-making influences their risk of household over-indebtedness, as well as the effect of their income, expenditure, savings and borrowing-related behaviour. The research findings show that in contrast to the literature, which provides a mainly financial analysis, research participants focused on social symptoms of over-indebtedness such as the stigma attached to lender visits, deceitful behaviour by borrowers and debt-related stress. What is also illuminated is that borrowers weigh up a number of factors aside from interest rates when deciding on which lender to approach and they tend to prioritise NGO loan repayment because of the pressure on timely installments. This can lead borrowers to fall behind on other repayments to moneylenders, banks and credit unions, leading to an increased risk of overindebtedness. Many borrowers struggle with over-indebtedness because of insufficient income, social aspirations, cultural expectations and a number of other factors. However, microfinance lenders are unlikely to reduce interest rates and fees due to financial sustainability concerns. This thesis concludes that it is crucial to look outside the lender and borrower bubble and to consider the external pressures which are creating the demand for so much credit. The Bangladeshi government and international NGO community have an important role to play.
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    Japan's official development assistance : its shape and implications for recipients : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies, Massey University
    (Massey University, 1996) Scheyvens, Henry
    Japan's ODA programme is surrounded by controversy regarding the motives that propel it forward and the degree to which it meets recipient needs. This study hopes to add to the debate regarding Japanese ODA by uncovering those factors that shape Japan's contemporary aid activities and to interpret their implications for recipients. Rather than adhering to any one particular view of Japan's international relations to explain Japanese ODA, an inductive approach is used to identify the contextual mix in which aid policy is formulated. Japan's cultural legacy and development experience are found to define the broad boundaries that ODA policy must operate within and these factors continue to colour Japan's unique brand of foreign aid. An analysis of the evolution of Japan's contemporary aid programme also shows that ODA has been used to promote Japan's national interests in a variety of ways as international circumstances have changed. Economic and security needs have played influential roles in the size and direction of aid flows throughout the evolution of Japan's aid programme. More recently, a growing desire for an international leadership role explains why Japan's ODA programme continues to expand at a time when many other major donors are suffering 'aid fatigue'. Although Japan's ODA activities undoubtedly promote the country's foreign interests, this study has also found that the aid programme has undergone a process of reform to better attune aid to recipient needs. The quality of Japanese ODA has steadily improved over time and many popular development themes have been incorporated into Japan's ODA policy. A desire to present Japan as a responsible member of the international community, combined with ideological development as Japan's aid agencies have gained greater experience, are used to explain this reform process. Previous studies of Japan's ODA programme have largely been a study of Japan as a donor with little consideration given to the impact of aid activities on recipients. To help fill this void a case study of Bangladesh was undertaken and Japanese projects, project evaluations and country reports analysed. In this study the empowerment approach was used to identify how appropriate and effective Japanese aid is in assisting impoverished peoples in Bangladesh. The findings were that, despite the extent of reform in Japan's aid policy, aid practice in Bangladesh is dominated by Japan's traditional aid activities, that is, the construction of large-scale economic infrastructure projects. An analysis of Bangladesh's recent development history reveals that the production-based, trickle-down growth strategy that these aid activities are founded upon has little to offer the poor. In contrast, this thesis suggests that the poor will only be included as active agents in the development process when they have been politically, socially and economically empowered. Recent reforms within the Japanese ODA programme make it more receptive to the needs of the poor. However, it is likely that Japan's national interests, rather than those of the poor, will remain the main determinants in shaping aid activities.
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    Homestead forestry and rural development : a socio-empirical study of Bangladesh : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 1995) Hossain, Khondoker Mokaddem
    This thesis is concerned with the role of homestead forests in the development of poor, labour surplus economies. The term 'homestead forest' refers to the collection of vegetation - trees, plants, herbs, creepers and others - which almost all rural households in Bangladesh grow, for their own use as well as for sale, using the land in and around their homesteads and dwellings. The term 'development' encompasses economic, social, cultural and ecological aspects of countries. The thesis therefore examines the role of homestead forests in this wider context. It starts by reviewing the existing theoretical literature on development drawing on the works of sociologists, social anthropologists, development economists, geographers and others. It argues that many of the theories do not fit the particular conditions of the very poor agriculture-dependent economies such as Bangladesh. This study therefore advances the hypotheses that of 'non-conventional' approaches involving the development of the resources of homestead forests in the rural areas would go a long way towards assisting the poor, landless masses of Bangladesh. An extensive survey of the many and varied uses of homestead forests is undertaken to support these hypotheses on the basis of direct observation and experience. To give further content to the hypotheses, village surveys were undertaken in carefully selected areas of Bangladesh. With the help of scientifically formulated questionnaires the situation of the rural people of the selected villages was examined. This helped to identify the many causes of poverty and helplessness among the rural poor. The methods of survival were also focused on in these surveys of the rural people. It became clear that homestead forests play a major role in the lives and livelihoods of the rural people. The question why the large scale forestry development programmes did not help the rural poor also figured in this investigation. It was found that the large scale commercial types of forests deny access to the majority of the rural people, while homestead forests, being directly owned and controlled by the people, provide them with much needed support. It is true that such support, however valuable, is still inadequate. It is also unevenly distributed among the rural people. The survey therefore looked at the distributional aspects of homestead forestry resources within the survey villages. The findings confirm the need to strengthen this valuable resource base in rural Bangladesh if widespread poverty, and its inevitable concomitant, social and political unrest and instability are to be attacked. The study ends with a number of recommendations to make the changes necessary for more efficient utilization of the homestead forestry resources for the benefit directly of the poor and, indirectly, the rest of society as well.