Papers by Vandra Harris Agisilaou
This research examines the function of culture and power in Development praxis, as defined by Pos... more This research examines the function of culture and power in Development praxis, as defined by Post-Development theory, the Participation approach to Development, and Development workers in Cambodia and the Philippines. Practitioner perspectives have been gathered by means of informal interviews conducted in Cambodia and the Philippines. The primary inquiry of this thesis is whether Development is culturally destructive, whether the current paradigm can deliver effective results, and what effect power relations have on these outcomes. The research approaches Development as a contact zone, in which Southern Development workers function as border crossers, moving between the cultures of funders and local communities as they work to implement Development projects and programs. This affords practitioners privileged insight into the cultural negotiations of this contact, making their input critical to this inquiry. Their input is placed in the context of Post-Development theorists' assertion that Development is a culturally destructive discourse, and the proposal by other theorists that a participatory approach to Development adequately addresses Post-Development's key concerns. Participation addresses issues of power and context in Development practice from a different perspective from the Post-Development theorists, and outlines a series of strategies designed to overcome well-recognised limitations of Development practice. Practitioner responses are grouped into three discussions, addressing their overall perspective on Development and Participation, their attitudes to cultural III change and Development's role within that, and their experience of power in Development funding relationships. Their responses were overwhelmingly supportive of participatory approaches to Development, and advocated a stronger role for the grassroots organisations that are pivotal to the Post-Development approach. Different attitudes to cultural change were expressed by practitioners in the two countries, however they consistently named Development as a source of positive cultural change, naming this as a key aim of their work. Finally, practitioners were critical of their relationships with funding organisations, which they felt were unduly controlled by the funders. This research concludes that participatory Development fosters cultural liberty by reinforcing collaborative cultural traits and strengthening communities to make choices about culture. While Post-Development provides important critiques of Development, its proposed alternative of turning to the grassroots is not supported by practitioners, who seek ongoing relationships with Northern organisations and individuals. In particular, practitioners desire a model of funding relationship that reflects their own practice, by conforming to the paradigm of people that underpins the participatory approach to Development. This thesis contributes to Development debates by presenting Southern perspectives that contrast with Post-Development, and by proposing a framework that can underpin further development of funding partnerships. Furthermore, it demonstrates that practitioners believe that Development is a reinforcing factor at a time when cultures are exposed to increasingly diverse cultural influences. cultural liberty, but take very different perspectives on Development's role in achieving it. Development refers to a range of praxis covering a broad spectrum of goals and values, as well as embodying many assumptions about what is desirable. Pieterse suggests that 'we can probably define development as the organised intervention in collective affairs according to a standard of improvement,' noting that even this allows for a broad scope of interpretation (Pieterse 2001, p. 3). Hart extends this by proposing a distinction between "big D" Development defined as a post-second world war project of intervention in the "third world" that emerged in the context of decolonisation and the cold war, and "little d" development or the development of capitalism as a geographically uneven, profoundly contradictory set of historical processes (Hart 2001, p. 650). On this basis, this thesis is concerned with "big D Development," the deliberate intervention by "developed countries" into the affairs of "developing countries," with the aim of improvement. 'Development' will therefore be capitalised throughout the thesis whenever it refers to 'big D' Development. The proposal that I test in this thesis is that when Development is participatory, it does not have the destructive effect on culture proposed by Post-Development, but is transformed through its engagement with people and context. I explore this problem by comparing these two bodies of theory (Post-Development and participatory Development) with the perspective of people actively engaged in implementing Development on a day-to-day basis.
Out of step: multilateral police missions, culture and nation-building in Timor-Leste: Andrew Goldsmith and Vandra Harris
The struggle for independence was just the beginning: Vandra Harris and Andrew Goldsmith
Ethics in a Crowded World
Humanitarian Ethics
Springer eBooks, 2023
Building on sand? Australian police involvement in international police capacity building
Policing & Society, Mar 1, 2010
This paper considers the experiences of Australian police personnel deployed within international... more This paper considers the experiences of Australian police personnel deployed within international missions to Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. The role of Australian police in each of these diverse missions has included both in-line policing and capacity building ...
Call for reflections: global ethics forum: challenges, replies, alternatives
Journal of Global Ethics
12 Transforming the Discourse of Civil-Military Interaction in Humanitarian Environments
Edinburgh University Press eBooks, Jun 11, 2017
Development Ethics
Springer eBooks, 2023
Security beyond the state: exploring potential development impacts of community policing reform in post-conflict and fragile environment
Journal of Global Ethics
8 Humanitarianism and Security: The Amplification of Crises and Threats
Edinburgh University Press eBooks, Dec 31, 2022
Learning to be ethical: the role of ethical capability in community development education
Community Development Journal, Dec 22, 2022
In the complex practices of development, ethical decisions are continually demanded of practition... more In the complex practices of development, ethical decisions are continually demanded of practitioners. This paper addresses the process of teaching ethics, within a framework of applied ethics and with an emphasis on the development of an understanding of ethics-in-practice in current and future practitioners. Building on recent work in the area of ethics in development and humanitarian practice, it addresses approaches to teaching professional ethics in community development and other fields, and debates about the value of teaching ethics. In particular, this article discusses how students develop what we call ‘ethical capability’—the cognitive and emotional resources needed to negotiate the contradictions and dilemmas of everyday practice, and to apply ethical decision-making models. Analysing a current post-graduate applied development ethics course and experience of similar courses in undergraduate business, we investigate how these can prepare students for the messy reality of community development practice. With very few courses teaching ethics in development, we propose that it is important to enhance ethical capability in community development students and practitioners, and that doing so supports their work and wellbeing.
International policing missions: Establishing trustworthy policing in low-trust environments
In this chapter, we explore everyday understandings of trust among a group of Australian police p... more In this chapter, we explore everyday understandings of trust among a group of Australian police peacekeepers and capacity-builders in international police missions. Their views provide some insight into how international police personnel approach their work in missions, including how they deal with local police counterparts and local people, and how they assess the effectiveness and relevance of what they do. Their ability to work in these environments, it will emerge, is frequently expressed in terms of trust - the need to build trust among local people, the need to establish trust with the local police to whom they are providing training or other forms of assistance. Conversely, the difficulties that these foreign police face is often seen by them as reflective of an absence of trust. Trust is arguably a more fundamental requirement for good policing than for 'good soldiering', as policing is premised upon ongoing, civil relationships with local people in which mutual unde...
Community Development Journal, 2023
In the complex practices of development, ethical decisions are continually demanded of practition... more In the complex practices of development, ethical decisions are continually demanded of practitioners. This paper addresses the process of teaching ethics, within a framework of applied ethics and with an emphasis on the development of an understanding of ethics-in-practice in current and future practitioners. Building on recent work in the area of ethics in development and humanitarian practice, it addresses approaches to teaching professional ethics in community development and other fields, and debates about the value of teaching ethics. In particular, this article discusses how students develop what we call ‘ethical capability’—the cognitive and emotional resources needed to negotiate the contradictions and dilemmas of everyday practice, and to apply ethical decision-making models. Analysing a current post-graduate applied development ethics course and experience of similar courses in undergraduate business, we investigate how these can prepare students for the messy reality of community development practice. With very few courses teaching ethics in development, we propose that it is important to enhance ethical capability in community development students and practitioners, and that doing so supports their work and wellbeing.
Policing the Global South: Colonial Legacies, Pluralities, Partnerships, and Reform, 2022
Trust-building is the bedrock of successful policing. This has particular relevance in postcoloni... more Trust-building is the bedrock of successful policing. This has particular relevance in postcolonial states where the relationships between the public and the police are fraught with tensions due to the authoritarian state and the social structures. In such societies, the long-standing repressive laws and the misuse and abuse of police authority has engendered fear, animosity, and a lack of cooperation with the police. Traditionally, building and sustaining institutional trust is critical to maintaining public cooperation, and improving police performance in tackling crime and disorder. However, in countries such as Pakistan where society is deeply divided across religious, sectarian, and ethnic lines, building interpersonal trust between the public and authority is as fundamental as establishing trustworthy police institutions. This chapter provides an insight into how the different tactics and strategies of community policing are employed by the Pakistani police forces in building and sustaining institutional and interpersonal trust. An in-depth examination of community policing reveals the importance of building competence, beneficence, and impartiality in police procedures to maintain trustworthiness at the institutional and community levels. While the existing strategies focus on competence, there is a dire need to develop programmes to encourage beneficence and impartiality in policing.
Children, youth and development
The Routledge Handbook of Global Development, 2022
Children constitute a large part of the population of developing countries. Throughout the develo... more Children constitute a large part of the population of developing countries. Throughout the developing world, experiences of childhood are extremely diverse, both between places and between children in particular places, from the international level through to the different treatment of a boy and a girl within the same household. This informative book considers issues such as education, child labour, street children, child soldiers, refugees, child slaves, the impact of environmental change and hazards on children and the way that children, ...
Research in Ethical Issues in Organisations, 2019
Achieving localisation (the transfer of control to local actors) has proven extremely challenging... more Achieving localisation (the transfer of control to local actors) has proven extremely challenging in the development sector, and the humanitarian sector appears to be facing equal challenges. This chapter seeks to engage with that struggle and examine why this lesson has been so difficult to learn. Drawing on conference workshops and 10 key informant interviews, this paper examines the obstacles and opportunities for localisation, seeking to understand what makes it so hard for those who hold disproportionate power in humanitarian encounters to hand over power. The authors found a clear sense of localisation being a process rather than an outcome; optimism that momentum is slowly gathering towards this process, and a clear sense of the steps required to fully achieve it. Examining practitioners’ perspectives in this way adds an important voice to discussions of humanitarian practice.
Research in Ethical Issues in Globalisation, 2019
This volume demonstrates the broad impacts of globalisation, turning to ethics to inform response... more This volume demonstrates the broad impacts of globalisation, turning to ethics to inform response and engagement now and in the unpredictable future.
The Round Table, 2019
This article responds to suggestions that Australia is becoming increasingly insular and that Aus... more This article responds to suggestions that Australia is becoming increasingly insular and that Australians should direct their compassionate and humanitarian efforts wholly towards other Australians. This paper briefly reviews arguments for this inward turn, as well as the extant polling evidence about the prevalence of such attitudes, which appear to be reflected in the recent cutting of overseas aid budgets by the Australian government. However, the authors do not agree with even well-meaning exhortations to Australians to direct their altruistic activities to local communities only. To explore the compassionate and humanitarian sensibilities and activities of Australians who are actively supporting distant others, sixteen interviews were conducted with practitioners in non-profit organisations and ventures in Melbourne. We sought to understand how they came to dedicate their lives to working for or founding organisations whose aim is to benefit distant others; how they navigated the potentially overwhelming nature of global problems; and finally the hurdles they faced in continuing their work. Despite the challenges that both these practitioners and the world face, this article concludes with grounded optimism and defends a more expansive scope for our care for others.
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Papers by Vandra Harris Agisilaou