Description: Das Projekt "Contested Rural Development - do non-state actors and social movements have the answers to rural poverty and inequality?" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Zürich, Geographisches Institut durchgeführt. CONTEXT: Rural poverty and inequality persist across South Asia, despite the effects of 'the market' and myriad development efforts by state departments, donors, and parts of civil society. At the same time, various heterogeneous 'non-state actors and social movements' have arisen that challenge and even resist state-run - mostly neo-liberal - development agendas in the region (e.g. peasant and farmers movements; workers movements; caste or religion-based movements; etc.).These actors and movements claim to rightfully represent people s desire to improve their lives, and adopt approaches ranging from non-violent protest to militancy. Interestingly, a shift appears to have occurred in the focus of such movements: whereas earlier groups sought to directly address the economic concerns of rural poor (e.g., agricultural labourers, peasants; and issues such as land reform or wages), many new movements mobilise people based on issues of identity and culture (e.g., caste, ethnicity, religion; and on issues such as recognition or autonomy). RESEARCH QUESTIONS: Do these actors and movements truly represent alternative visions of development and the aspirations of the poor, and can thus be understood as forms of progressive social forces? If so, what are the lessons for mainstream development policymakers? These questions are at the heart of our research project on Contested Rural Development . We are investigating the stated visions and the actual practices of such non-state actors and social movements, with regard to overcoming poverty and inequality in rural contexts. - How do these movements portray rural poverty, and how do they propose to overcome it? - How do they interact with the poor in articulating local demands; - Do they legitimately represent local aspirations? - How do they attempt to influence broader policy in view of overcoming inequality, - and how do the poor benefit, if at all? CONCEPTUAL APPROACH: We approach these contestations on meanings and practices of rural development dialectically through two strands of theoretical thoughts, i.e. Political Economy/Agrarian Question, and Postcolonial/Subaltern. METHODOLOGY: Through our comparative approach across different countries, we aim to identify the relative importance of such movements and the validity of their claims. In a first step, Position Papers are being written to provide the project with overviews on related debates in each of the research sites. Then, the activities of four PhD students in three South Asian countries provide the projects core emphasis: - Mr. Awanish Kumar is focusing on Dalit movements in the Indian state of Maharashtra; - Ms. Silva Lieberherr is looking at social mobilisation regarding an extreme expression of rural inequality, namely, farmers suicides in the Vidharba region of Maharashtra; - Mr. M. Luqman is researching non-state organisations in Pakistan that draw their inspiration from local culture; - Mr. Mahendra Sapkota usw.
Types:
SupportProgram
Origin: /Bund/UBA/UFORDAT
Tags: Ländliche Entwicklung ? Zürich ? Agrarreform ? Pflanzensamen ? Anfechtung ? Papier ? Schulunterricht ? Pakistan ? Bohrkern ? Herz ? Marktentwicklung ? Religion ? Standortwahl ? Strand ? Volkswirtschaft ? Wirkung ? Asien ? Forschungsprojekt ? Armut ? Forschung ? Körperschaft ? Landwirtschaft ? Soziale Bewegung ? Gebiet ? Walstrandung ? Politik ? Staat ? Zivilgesellschaft ? Arbeiterbewegung ? Ortsbestimmung ? Spenderorganismus ? Unterrichtseinheit ?
License: cc-by-nc-nd/4.0
Language: Deutsch
Time ranges: 2009-07-01 - 2015-09-30
Webseite zum Förderprojekt
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2011.12.007 (Webseite)Webseite zum Förderprojekt
http://www.research-projects.uzh.ch/p12306.htm (Webseite)Accessed 1 times.