Message-ID: <87659C9084A1D311BDA100105AC9DE99@partners.ca> Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 12:00:00 -0500 From: Kelly Thompson <mailto:kthompson@PARTNERS.CA> Subject: Re: seeking stories To: mailto:DEVEL-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Thanks Kerry,I believe as a listserv we do need to argue and grapple with development issues, but this particular exchange really irritates me. Nicole is speaking for herself but using her righteous indignation to justify speaking on behalf of "all" Africans (I note she never answers my question about her nationality). Many of us are more than aware of the inappropriateness of the "visiting experts" invasion of Africa and their imposition of policies and projects that support the Western economic paradigm. However, I know Africans who reach out to work together & share info with "the global community", as I know Africans who bitterly resent the neocolonialist approach to "their"development & seek to go beyond it. Sometimes these are the same people! However, ultimately we are all affected by what happens in Africa and must take personal responsibility for changing what we can. As Robert Chambers has recently stated, development starts at the personal level and echoes outward.
Kelly
-----Original Message----- From: Kerry Miller [SMTP:mailto:kerryo@ns.sympatico.ca] Sent: Tuesday, November 23, 1999 11:57 AM To: kthompson; devel-L Subject: Re: seeking stories
Kelly, > Are either of you Africans?! Who is claiming to speak for whom?
> Getting case stories circulated and seeking to build on best practices
> in development work is useful. It will take all of us working
together, > not just Africans, to create an equitable and peaceful world. Do you
> really think this kind of arguing advances anyone's agenda?
Please don't be misled by the nominal purpose of this list -- many people suppose that 'discussion of international development' is what takes place here. In fact, in this age of direct communication (without middlemen!), that kind of purposeful discussion is no longer relevant. (And even then the style was so top-down that one has to wonder if it ever was.)
Rather, we are gathered here to share stories -- our own stories, and a story called 'Seeking' is just as real and legitimate a life experience as ones called 'Arguing' or 'Equity.' If only we had just a few more souls
who could *listen, without parading and masquerading and handwaving, I'm quite sure everyone's 'agenda' would become incredibly advanced (perhaps even developed) but even among 1400 intentional subscribers, you can imagine how difficult it is to reach that goal -- let alone tackle the kind of 'meta-goal' you imagine Nicole and her protagonist (I'm sorry I've forgotten her name) are striving for, simply on the grounds that their stories *say they are striving. Why, if that's all it took, we could say 'New World Developmental Order,' and hey presto! it would be achieved! Not only would discussion be unnecessary, but *learning to discuss would be likewise!
Cheers, kerry