Community Mobilization And Stakeholder Participation For Development

Development projects and public policies fail due to the lack of adequate and genuine community and stakeholder participation, yet many projects, programs and policies the world over are implemented in a top down fashion as if community and stakeholder input at least did not matter and at worst were irrelevant. This book is designed to guide development practitioners, students and academics in the design of more participatory and more sustainable development initiatives and public policies.The book covers the twin issues of community mobilization and stakeholder participation in one volume in a world replete with books and publications exclusively on either the former or the latter, yet the processes in question are mutually reinforcing in the real world. Rarely do development organizations and agencies mobilize communities as single entities but often do so in multi-stakeholder forums to enhance the comprehensiveness, efficiency and effectiveness of development policies and interventions, hence this book. This book will guide development practitioners on how to effectively mobilize communities as well as on how to engage with stakeholders.While this book exposes the reader to the current cutting-edge theoretical models as propounded by leading scholars, the reader is encouraged to "think-outside-the-box" through the suggestion of further models of analysis which tends to fill gaps in the current literature.Overall, the book provides a healthy dose of theory and practical guidelines thereby appealing to both the practitioner and academic. Community mobilization and stakeholder participation for development contains the following distinctive features: * The book has attractive full-color illustrations. * Every chapter is designed in a user-friendly format that promotes easy assimilation and retention of the subject matter. Each chapter begins with an introduction, followed by definitions of key terms and subject matter details before ending with a succinct summary. * The book is heavily informed by extensive research as evidenced by the cited works.* This is the first book to juxtapose negative participatory values supporting the status quo of citizen powerlessness against positive transformative ones determining citizen agency.* The book suggests an additional community mobilization model.* The book presents an innovative schema of the interplay between community participation and community mobilization.* This book innovatively suggests a somewhat shorter community mobilization cycle that could be used during emergencies rather than the usual normative cycle. * Whilst in the literature, three types of community participation are articulated; this book goes further to suggest a fourth type of participation. * Whereas the participatory typologies in the mainstream literature tend to be hierarchical and value-laden, this book boldly proposes a new non-hierarchical and value-free typology.* The current book includes a checklist with which to assess and evaluate community mobilization projects and interventions which development practitioners in the field could use as a handy tool.* Mechanisms for the mainstreaming of gender perspectives for development are explored.* This book clearly articulates the principles and guidelines for participatory governance and development.* This book gives an introductory discussion of commonly-cited economic and social development theories in order to sensitize the reader as regards current development discourses. * Finally, a glossary of key terms is presented in order to guide the inquisitive reader to quickly navigate the conceptual terrain of community mobilization and stakeholder engagement for development.Community mobilization and stakeholder participation for development is intended for those readers who need to develop an appreciation of public participation in its broadest possible sense!