Viewpoint

In early 2007, the Indonesian government decided to withhold its samples of the avian influenza (‘bird flu’) virus from WHO’s collaborating centres, pending a new global mechanism for virus sharing which would provide better terms for developing countries. The 60th World Health Assembly held in May 2007 subsequently resolved to establish an international stockpile of avian influenza vaccines, and to formulate mechanisms for equitable access to these vaccines.

Recent interest in migrant remittances as a development resource calls attention to a deeper issue: the relationship between migration and development. Remittances may be a significant source of economic inflows to poor countries and regions, but their actual development impact (positive or negative) is tied to the migration processes that generate them. Attention to migration in turn creates an opportunity to think about the broader context of development policy and practice, and to re-think the boundaries that we put around our work. pp 94-99

Civil society and grassroots campaigns are increasingly affecting foreign policy. Some of these campaigns are driven by solidarity groups in the North, who are in solidarity with a struggle in the South. This paper looks at the role of the martyr as a motivating factor to participation in solidarity groups. It looks at the pitfalls of relying on a martyr image, including the fall-out from a controversy between two books: I, Rigoberta Menchú and Rigoberta Menchú and the Story of All Poor Guatemalans. This article is freely available as a chapter in Development and Advocacy.

The development of civil society depends on a partnership between government, the corporate sector, and representatives of civil society. NGOs are players in development of civil society, but they are weak in relation to the other partners, because they are not independent and are rarely representative. NGOs need to develop the skills to market their causes in order to reduce dependency, increase accountability, and root themselves within the societies in which they operate.

Translation raises ethical and epistemological dilemmas inherent in cross-cultural research. The process of communicating research participants’ words in a different language and context may impose another conceptual scheme on their thoughts. This may reinforce the hegemonic terms that Development Studies should seek to challenge. The article explores the idea that a reflexive approach to translation can not only help to overcome the difficulties involved in cross-cultural research, but also be a tool with which to deconstruct hegemonic theory.

The article considers international advocacy concerning the exploitation of gas reserves in an area inhabited by an isolated indigenous group in Peru, the Machigengua. Considerable international advocacy activity was centred mainly in Washington, DC. Poor communication between those directly affected and international environmental NGOs illustrated very different and not always compatible agendas.

The paper presents the major differences between the approaches to project planning known as Logical Framework Approach (LFA) and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and discusses whether these can be used in a complementary fashion. It is suggested that LFA be used to provide the overall structure of the planning process while PRA may be used in discussions and to place decision making at the grassroots. This article is freely available as a chapter in Development Methods and Approaches: Critical Reflections

Educational and societal development programmes in the Third World have paid too little attention to the facilitative and motivational merits of using indigenous languages. From primary education through to development activities among adults, the use of a non-indigenous language may in itself hinder the development process. In academic institutions, more interaction between the two fields of language planning and development studies is needed.

The author analyses the concept of social exclusion, arguing that the term has become a label for `another `vulnerable group' with no differentiation, complexity, agency, or resistance'. She instead suggests that we look to broader ideas of justice, participation, and citizenship, to bring the `social' aspect back into the concept, which should be more synonymous with discrimination and marginalisation than with the failure of formal (education, employment, legal etc.) systems.

The author describes the movement of the Tobas indians from their nomadic, rural lifestyle in northern Argentina (due mainly to industrial deforestation) to Rosario, a city of around 1 million inhabitants. He highlights the difficulties the Tobas face in Rosario; their economic destitution, and the lack of education in their own language. He advocates economic support for co-operatives and training in traditional crafts, and changing the education system - or failing that, supporting non-formal workshops - to reflect the Tobas' own cultural values.