Places of Poverty and Powerlessness: INGOs working ‘at home’.

Conference paper


Pickering-Saqqa, S. 2017. Places of Poverty and Powerlessness: INGOs working ‘at home’. EADI, Globalisation at the Crossroads, Rethinking inequalities and boundaries. Bergen, Norway 21 - 23 Aug 2017
AuthorsPickering-Saqqa, S.
TypeConference paper
Abstract

The search for sustainable transformatory development practice, which distances itself from colonial binaries and representations has been the focus of decades of scholarship (Friere 1972; Ferguson 1990; Cooke and Dar 2008; Dogra 2012; McCourt and Johnson 2012). Recent research suggests that INGOs are central in this regard, whether in their governance structures (Fowler 2012), the way they fundraise and advocate (Yanacopulos 2016), manage and disseminate knowledge (Narayanswamy 2016), engage with others (Moyles 2012) or re-think their approach to programme design (Crooks and Mouradian 2012). This paper moves these debates forward by providing empirical evidence of the value of domestic programming in this ‘project’. Drawing on three case studies of Oxfam GB, Islamic Relief and Oxfam America, the paper finds evidence of INGOs’ search for a programme strategy, which moves minimising the violence of ‘othering’ from theory to practice.

The paper is based on a larger research project, which considers the three INGOs’ decisions to establish domestic poverty programmes. It uses data collected in 2010-2011 from 41 semi-structured interviews with INGO staff and partners and corporate and archive documentation. A three-dimensional approach to power (Gaventa 1980) is used to explore the factors that drove the decisions and what this reveals about their conceptualisations of development, drawing tentative conclusions about what this means for a transformative development practice.

Findings indicate that these domestic programmes incorporate dimensions of a development practice, which: make visible a theory of poverty as powerlessness, distances it from the violence of ‘othering’ and is grounded in an ethic in which everyone matters. These findings point the way forward to an approach to development in which its spaces, actors and practices are challenged and opened to new interpretations. If development practice and intervention design can incorporate considerations of the invisible power of myths and symbols, an ethical transformatory, decolonized development practice may be possible.

KeywordsINGOs; power; ethics; othering; transformation
Year2017
ConferenceEADI, Globalisation at the Crossroads, Rethinking inequalities and boundaries
File
Publication process dates
Deposited24 May 2018
Accepted01 Feb 2017
Completed22 Aug 2017
Accepted01 Feb 2017
Permalink -

https://repository.uel.ac.uk/item/84x3q

  • 178
    total views
  • 456
    total downloads
  • 3
    views this month
  • 1
    downloads this month

Export as

Related outputs

What happened to domestic programmes? The intriguing case of Islamic Relief Worldwide
Pickering-Saqqa, S. 2023. What happened to domestic programmes? The intriguing case of Islamic Relief Worldwide. in: Pickering-Saqqa, S. (ed.) Researching Development NGOs: Global and Grassroots Perspectives Routledge. pp. 78-96
Why work ‘at home’? Oxfam’s value-added and the UK Poverty Programme
Pickering-Saqqa, S. 2019. Why work ‘at home’? Oxfam’s value-added and the UK Poverty Programme. Development in Practice. 29 (4), pp. 477-488. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2019.1574714
Places of Poverty and Powerlessness: INGOs working ‘at home’
Pickering-Saqqa, S. 2019. Places of Poverty and Powerlessness: INGOs working ‘at home’. European Journal of Development Research. 31 (5), p. 1371–1388. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-019-00214-6
The rise and reality of INGO domestic programming
Pickering-Saqqa, S. 2019. The rise and reality of INGO domestic programming. Bond.
Islamic Relief Domestic Programmes Research
Pickering-Saqqa, S. and Islamic Relief Worldwide 2018. Islamic Relief Domestic Programmes Research. Humanitarian Academy for Development.
Declining sex ratio in India: changing the trend through the 'He and She' approach at the grassroots?
Tiwari, Meera, Pickering-Saqqa, S. and Kraft, K. 2018. Declining sex ratio in India: changing the trend through the 'He and She' approach at the grassroots? DSA2018: Global inequalities. University of Manchester 26 - 28 Jun 2018
Working across multiple domains: the case of Islamic Relief
Pickering-Saqqa, S. 2016. Working across multiple domains: the case of Islamic Relief. BSA Sociology of Religion Study Group Annual Conference 2016: Construction and disruption: the power of religion in the public sphere. University of Lancaster 12 - 13 Jul 2016
Oxfam GB’s UK poverty programme: a case for organisational habitus
Pickering-Saqqa, S. 2016. Oxfam GB’s UK poverty programme: a case for organisational habitus. British Sociological Association, Bourdieu Study Group Biennial Conference: The contemporary relevance of the work of Pierre Bourdieu. University of Bristol 04 - 05 Jul 2016
Telling the right story: development NGOs as brokers of global citizenship
Pickering-Saqqa, S. and Mortensen Byrne, Emma 2017. Telling the right story: development NGOs as brokers of global citizenship. EADI, Globalisation at the Crossroads, Rethinking inequalities and boundaries. Bergen, Norway 21 - 23 Aug 2017
How reliant are big development NGOs on UK aid money?
Pickering-Saqqa, S. 2017. How reliant are big development NGOs on UK aid money? The Conversation.
Why the money development charities spend in Britain is so vital to their work
Pickering-Saqqa, S. 2017. Why the money development charities spend in Britain is so vital to their work. The Conversation.
Is development becoming universal?
Pickering-Saqqa, S. 2017. Is development becoming universal? Bond.
Why Development NGOs in the North Work with the Poor in their Own Communities: Does Everyone Matter ?
Pickering-Saqqa, S. 2015. Why Development NGOs in the North Work with the Poor in their Own Communities: Does Everyone Matter ? PhD Thesis University of East London Social Sciences https://doi.org/10.15123/PUB.4422
Exploring Good Practice in Good Practice in overcoming urban deprivation in East London and Mumbai
Tiwari, M., Pickering-Saqqa, S. and De Angelis, M. 2013. Exploring Good Practice in Good Practice in overcoming urban deprivation in East London and Mumbai. UEL Research and Knowledge Exchange Conference 2013. University of East London, London 26 Jun 2013 London University of East London.