This article discusses concepts of legitimacy and elite capture in locally led development through a case study of the Pacific-based Green Growth Leaders’ Coalition (GGLC). GGLC is a fellowship of persons identified for their developmental leadership potential on issues of sustainability and economic growth. Members are recruited into an exclusive grouping dedicated to influencing positive developmental change through informal networks and political backchannels. With their membership representing people who both self-identify and are locally recognised as leaders, queries exist to the extent to which their efforts represent a shift towards greater ownership of developmental processes at local levels or simply reinforce elite capture of ‘local voice’ in the most aid-dependent region in the world. Rather than necessarily offering straightforward answers to questions of legitimacy and elite capture, the example of GGLC demonstrates how complex the notion of locally led development can be in practice.
YOUTH IN FIJI AND SOLOMON ISLANDSxiv essentialisation of each issue and the failure of interventions to go beyond paper commitments. This was how the seeds were planted for my decision to formally research youth livelihoods, leadership and civic engagement in Oceania. It was also where I first began to form my conceptual framework for understanding these issues through a 'holistic livelihoods' approach and to develop the contention that young Pacific peoples' lives are marked by their 'structural minimisation'-two concepts that I discuss further in the book proper.1 Also known as Fiji Baat (Willans and Prasad 2021).
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