Ineptitude, ignorance, or intent: The social construction of failure in development

Rajesh Venugopal

World Development, 2018, vol. 106, issue C, 238-247

Abstract: This paper explores the social construction of failure in development policy and academic narratives. Talk of failure is commonplace in development, and this paper seeks to use that as a heuristic to understand what that it signifies beyond face value. Drawing on a wide range of primary and secondary texts to provide illustrative evidence, the paper explores how failure is constructed, and advances a three-fold typology of failures that vary in terms of their positionality, the critical variables they identify as responsible, their epistemological stance, and the importance they accord to politics.

Keywords: Development management; Discourses; Evaluation; Social constructivism; Failure; Politics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:106:y:2018:i:c:p:238-247

DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.01.013

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