| The historical process of immanent development has resulted in a number of undesirable and interrelated social problems---poverty, inequality, malnutrition, preventable disease, violent conflict, and environmental degradation---which have generated calls for development interventions and planned social change. Over the past 50 years, a multi-billion dollar industry has emerged that focuses on planning and implementing development interventions in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. These development interventions have been rooted in a linear paradigm and based on two core assumptions: (1) external 'trustees' have the right, obligation, and ability to intervene on behalf of those perceived to be less developed; and (2) it is possible to direct social change and achieve predictable results through planned development interventions.;'Participatory development' has been presented as a theoretical departure from the assumptions of conventional development interventions. This qualitative study provides a highly contextualized account of the emergence of participatory development in Sri Lanka and the complexities of participatory development in practice from the perspective of a Sri Lankan development organization, Sewalanka Foundation. The research is based on participant observation, historical documents, semi-structured interviews with senior development professionals, and focus groups with 'social mobilizers' and representatives of community-based organizations. Village-level dynamics were explored in more detail through case studies of communities in four distinct agricultural regions. The findings highlight the influence of international aid mandates, national-level politics, village dynamics, and individual personalities on the social change process and suggest that conventional linear development interventions are poorly suited to complex, dynamic social systems. The study draws on the experiences of Sewalanka practitioners and complex adaptive systems research to propose an alternative approach to directed social change. |
