Rectifying the anti-politics of citizen participation: Insights from the internal politics of a subaltern community in Nepal. CPRC Working Paper No. 147

Abstract

Can 鈥榩articipatory鈥� approaches to development constitute a viable strategy for promoting citizenship? This paper addresses this question by scrutinising the equivocal reaction of a peasant community in Nepal to the unfolding of one such project, which supposedly reflected their empowerment as equal citizens. Drawing on the notion of 鈥榮ymbolic citizenship鈥� that values people鈥檚 鈥榬ight to narrate鈥� viewpoints that occur to them naturally, this study proposes a more promising approach that allows people to divulge dilemmas arising from real-world complexities, and then determine the terms of their empowerment, in defiance of the prevailing liberal democratic framework.

Citation

CPRC Working Paper No. 142, Chronic Poverty Research Centre, London, UK, ISBN: 978-1-906433-49-9, 27 pp.

Updates to this page

Published 1 January 2009