Development Poverty and Politics: Putting Communities in the Driver's Seat (Routledge Studies in Development and Society)

Top down . . . bottom up . . . what works? This book explores development from theperspective of the poor. Who are they? What lives do they live? What matters tothem? And most importantly, what can they do about it? Martin and Mathema debate how people can be given legitimate control of theirown environment, and how governments can work with them. How do communitiesand conditions drive behavior? What interventions are appropriate and how can weapproach development imaginatively? This is not about usurping governance – but revisiting structures that the developedworld has come to accept, and placing the power of decision in the hands of thepeople it affects. Nor it is about money . . . it’s about people, and about how we can make our worldwork for everyone.