Community driven development and structural disadvantage: Interrogating the social turn in development programming in Indonesia
- The Journal of Development Studies
- 53(12), Dec, 2017: p.1988-2004
This paper critically examines the rise of community-driven development (CDD) programmes in the Global South, with a focus on Indonesia as a key case of the international “social” turn in development. Rooted in discourses of social capital, capabilities, and empowerment, CDD initiatives have introduced new political rationalities and governance mechanisms. However, the study questions the extent to which such programmes genuinely empower marginalized populations. It highlights the structural and relational limitations of CDD, revealing persistent ambiguities and contradictions in the application of social capital frameworks. The analysis underscores the need for a more critical engagement with the assumptions underlying participatory development models.. Community-driven development (CDD) programmes have emerged on a large scale in the Global South following research and policy work regarding social capital, capabilities and empowerment. This paper analyses one of the largest international examples of the ‘social’ turn, examining the effects of the CDD approach in governmental, structural and relational terms. While the CDD approach successfully generated new political rationalities and governmental technologies, the ability of development programming driven by social capital concepts to empower marginalised sections of society remains in question. The ambiguities associated with CDD outcomes indicate the contradictions at the heart of social capital debate.-Reproduced
Community-Driven Development (CDD), Social Capital, Structural Disadvantage, Development Programming, Indonesia, Empowerment, Political Rationalities, Governmental Technologies, Marginalised Communities, Global South, Social Turn, Development Policy