Cooperative Antagonism in Development Research: A Perspective From Bangladesh

Mannan, Manzurul

doi:10.3167/aia.2006.130306

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 7 publications

(7 reference statements)

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“…Research agendas in all organisations consider costs, but for NGOs that rely on donor funding, financial constraints mean greater compromise between research priorities and donor interests. This influence of donors on research agendas is reported for other NGOs [ 42 , 58 – 60 ], and follows a wider pattern of donor influence on NGO activities [ 61 – 63 ], including in Malawi [ 64 , 65 ]. Finally, research questions that are based on service delivery experience and seen as relevant by NGO staff do not necessarily produce relevant research findings.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

The role of NGOs’ service delivery experience in developing relevant research agendas: experience and challenges among NGOs in Malawi

Gooding

2017

Health Res Policy Sys

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BackgroundThere has been growing interest in the contribution of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to international health research. One strength that NGOs may bring to research involves the potential value of service delivery experience for indicating relevant research questions, namely through their involvement in service delivery, NGO staff may be aware of frontline knowledge gaps, allowing these staff to identify questions that lead to research with immediate relevance. However, there is little empirical evidence on research agendas within NGOs to assess whether their service delivery experience does lead to relevant research or conditions that affect this. This article examines the identification and selection of research questions within NGOs to explore the role of their service delivery experience in generating relevant research agendas.MethodsThe article reports comparative case study research on four NGOs in Malawi, including two international and two Malawian organisations. Each NGO conducts research and undertakes service delivery and advocacy. Data collection included interviews, focus groups, observation and document review. Analysis involved thematic coding and use of diagrams.ResultsThe case NGOs’ experiences suggest that using service delivery to identify research questions does not always match NGOs’ aims or capacities, and does not guarantee relevance. First, NGOs do not want to rely only on service delivery when developing research agendas; they consider other criteria and additional sources of ideas when selecting questions they see as relevant. Second, service delivery staff are not always well-placed to identify research topics; indeed, involvement in hectic, target-driven service delivery can hinder input to research agendas. Third, NGOs’ ability to pursue questions inspired by service delivery depends on control over their research agendas; relationships with external actors and financial autonomy affect NGOs’ capacity to undertake the research they see as relevant. Finally, the perceived relevance of research findings varies between audiences and depends on more than the research question.ConclusionsThe findings suggest limits to the value and feasibility of a research agenda based on service delivery experience. Based on the analysis, the conclusion outlines strategies to support an effective role for NGOs’ service delivery experience in development of research agendas.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

The role of NGOs’ service delivery experience in developing relevant research agendas: experience and challenges among NGOs in Malawi

Gooding

2017

Health Res Policy Sys

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“…There are numerous studies on various aspects of BRAC (Bhuiya and Chowdhury, 2007;Chen, 1986;Feldman, 2003;Korten, 1980;Lovell, 1992;Smillie, 1997). The perspectives of scholars in understanding the development and organization of BRAC have already been questioned by development managers (Mannan, 2006).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

BRAC: Anatomy of a “poverty enterprise”

Mannan

2009

Nonprofit Mgmnt & Ldrshp

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Management of the poverty alleviation process has created a new form of poverty enterprise. This enterprise provides poverty‐production‐market linkages, and in the process, it combines three features: a nonprofit nongovernmental organization, a for‐profit nongovernmental organization that has established an internal market, and a profit‐making industrial and business concern. This article explains how BRAC (Building Resources Across Community) in Bangladesh has used poverty to transform itself from a tiny relief distribution organization into the world's largest poverty enterprise. This enterprise is characterized by contradictions between its public claims and actual practices.

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“…In Bangladesh, the value of social science, let alone anthropology, in development researches and activities was not even recognized until the late 1980s by GOs and NGOs. There is a disjunction between development projects and anthropologists, as Mannan suggests that development practitioners demand instant solutions, based on statistical figures, to their problems which anthropologists, very often, are unable to produce due to their disciplinary orientation (Mannan, 2006).…”

Section: Streaming Anthropology Into National Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

SITUATING ANTHROPOLOGY IN BANGLADESH: Transformations and Trajectories in the Anthropology Tradition

Rashid

Shafie

2017

European Journal of Sociology and Anthropology

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The Anthropology tradition, and the associated 'production of knowledge in the academic field, is relatively of recent origin in Bangladesh. The article intends to shed light on anthropology as becoming a separate field of knowledge through exploring the historical trajectories and significant transformations in Bangladesh. Anthropology remains a changing discipline in this country and as such, it continues to remain endlessly fascinating. The anthropological enterprises, in understanding social realities of this region, have begun in early fifties of the twentieth century. The early anthropological enterprises by individual scholars have paved the pioneering institutional pathways of engagement with anthropology in late seventies. The present article extensively reviewed these major anthropological enterprises in Bangladesh from a historical perspective, identifying changing subject matters and trends within this academic tradition, shifting patterns of interests, and depicting areas of activities and concerns of anthropology in this region. Drawing on the empirically grounded works, in Bangladesh and neighboring regions, the paper would allow the readers to assess the overall attainments and limitations of contemporary anthropology in Bangladesh. The article would critically analyze some of the existing dilemmas, contested issues, and contemporary theoretical and practical challenges of applying anthropological perspectives for accelerating development in Bangladesh.

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Cooperative Antagonism in Development Research: A Perspective From Bangladesh

Cited by 4 publications

References 7 publications

The role of NGOs’ service delivery experience in developing relevant research agendas: experience and challenges among NGOs in Malawi

The role of NGOs’ service delivery experience in developing relevant research agendas: experience and challenges among NGOs in Malawi

BRAC: Anatomy of a “poverty enterprise”

SITUATING ANTHROPOLOGY IN BANGLADESH: Transformations and Trajectories in the Anthropology Tradition

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