Social Development and the Empowerment of Marginalised Groups

Empowerment, civil society, and democratisation comprise the new package of liberalisation discourse which at face value at least respond to the long-standing demands of struggling groups. In practice, the contributors argue, each has been given a restricted meaning and has been oriented to serve the present global drive of Western capitalism.

This book thus provides a critique of the emergent social development discourse, and analyzes the processes and strategies of empowerment of marginalized groups in the context of globalisation, paradigm shifts in the strategy of development, initiatives taken by the state and civil society, and the dynamics of social movements and grass roots mobilizations.

Twelve interrelated essays establish the crucial relationship between theory and practice of social development and empowerment with the help of illustrations and case studies. This relationship embeds state-mediated policies and voluntary sector initiatives on the one hand, and the realities of people's struggles on the other.

Among the issues discussed are:

· the paradigm shift in development strategy

· role of social movements

· non-government organisations

· institutionalised indigenous bodies

· distance education