Development and radical uncertainty

Feinstein, Osvaldo N.

doi:10.1080/09614524.2020.1763258

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Partnerships and successful implementations of programmes are not just dependent on the existence of sensible rules and defined processes, but also on ongoing goodwill and mutual trust allowing both implementation and innovation on what has been agreed. An approach which de-emphasises prediction to favour mutually inductive learning and collaboration is for the benefit of all (Feinstein, 2020).…”

Section: Predicting the Futurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Feinstein has shown how development strategies, programmes and projects are designed making assumptions concerning financial variables such as future prices of outputs and inputs, exchange rates and productivity growth. Where knowledge about the future is limited, arrangements are made with the intention to minimise uncertainty (Feinstein, 2020(Feinstein, , p. 1105. In practice, efforts to minimise uncertainty require a denial of reality which has the effect of displacing risk onto those least able to bear subsequent losses.…”

Section: Documenting the Pastmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Richard, Deepening Democracy Programme Manager between 2017 and 2020, has taught and written about the anthropology of development. Beth, Finance Officer (2017-2020), then Programme Manager (2020-2021, studied for a Masters in Ethnographic Research Methods while working at SOAS. Other members of the SOAS team-Jas Kaur and Amir Massoumian-were also anthropologists, and the project operates out of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.…”

Section: Introduction: Addressing Global Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Global partnerships on paper and in practice: Critical observations from inside a Global Challenge Research Fund capacity‐development project

Axelby

Worku‐Dix

2022

J of Intl Development

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This article describes the bureaucratic processes required to establish and manage a single international capacity‐development project that brought together a funding council (AHRC), UK University (SOAS University of London) and universities and other research organisations in Myanmar and Ethiopia. Drawing from ethnographic critiques of the planning and audit practices employed in international development and in the UK University sector, we track the formal certification of partnership as enacted through due diligence and contracts, budgets and timeframes, and reconciliations and reporting. These practices point to pervasive assumptions about capacity transfer and the unequal basis of international research coalitions spanning the Global North and Global South. In this article, we challenge these assumptions by documenting how the allocation of capacity is constrained in hierarchies of time and space. For equitable partnership arrangements to be achieved, we recommend that capacity development be considered a long‐term exchange that flows from mutual reflection and learning from one another.

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Section: Predicting the Futurementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Documenting the Pastmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introduction: Addressing Global Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Global partnerships on paper and in practice: Critical observations from inside a Global Challenge Research Fund capacity‐development project

Axelby

Worku‐Dix

2022

J of Intl Development

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“…The fidelity role of evaluation currently prevails and although this form has progressed and received much attention (Schwandt, 2019), it is a particular type of evaluation that on its own may not meet all of the transformative criteria of dynamic evaluation as espoused by Feinstein (2020). The fidelity type of evaluation may provide assurance of program value but may not necessarily address issues that move beyond the organizational scope or provide a foresight pitch as called for by Patton (2019).…”

Section: Changes In Evaluation Production and Emphasismentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation for Transformational Change: Learning from Practice

Naidoo

2022

Transformational Change for People and the Planet

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The COVID-19 crisis has challenged the evaluation profession by altering the framework within which it operates. Evaluators must embrace new realities and respond to changes while not altering their principles, norms, and standards.A review of how evaluation networks and offices have responded to changing demands showed lack of recognition for the long-term implications to the profession. Commissioners and users of evaluation now have new priorities, and nontraditional actors have entered the traditional evaluation space, offering similar expertise and meeting the demands of evaluation commissioners and users. The extensive development challenges posed by COVID-19 require a comprehensive response capacity from evaluation if it is to be transformative as a profession.This chapter draws on national and international case studies, examining the concept of transformation from a contextual perspective and noting the relativism in the concept. It draws links between aspects, suggesting that this period is an opportunity for evaluators to learn from practice around transformation, and suggests that flexibility provides an opportunity to remain relevant and advance transformational goals.

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“…Uncertainty, the overarching characteristic of complex phenomena, is irreducible to linear conceptions of risk. It has a positive, possibilistic dimension that offers scope for action-and for progressive evaluation (Feinstein, 2020).…”

Section: Towards Transformative Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a Complexity Framework for Transformative Evaluation

Picciotto

2020

J Multidiscip Eval

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Background: Complexity ideas originating in mathematics and the natural sciences have begun to inform evaluation practice. A new wave in evaluation history is about to break. A new mindset, new methods, and new evaluation processes are being summoned to explore and address the challenges of global pandemics, growing inequities, and existential environmental risks. This is part of a broader paradigm shift underway in science where interdisciplinarity has become the norm rather than the exception. Purpose: This article explores the utility of a complexity framework for a more effective evaluation function. It unearths the antecedents of complexity thinking; explores its relevance to evolving knowledge paradigms; provides a bird’s eye view of complexity concepts; uses the logic of complex adaptive systems to unpack the role of evaluation in society; and draws the implications of contemporary social challenges for evaluation policy directions. Setting: Not applicable. Intervention: Not applicable. Research design: Not applicable. Findings: The evaluation complexity challenge coincides with an urgent imperative: social transformation. The on-going pandemic has brought to light the disproportionate effects of health emergencies on disadvantaged groups and emphasized the urgency of improving the interface between humans and nature. It has also demonstrated the importance of modelling for policy making – as well as its limitations. Evaluation, a complex adaptive system, should be transformed to serve society. Keywords: complexity; computers; disciplines; emergence; modelling; paradigm, systems

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Development and radical uncertainty

Cited by 8 publications

References 14 publications

Global partnerships on paper and in practice: Critical observations from inside a Global Challenge Research Fund capacity‐development project

Global partnerships on paper and in practice: Critical observations from inside a Global Challenge Research Fund capacity‐development project

Evaluation for Transformational Change: Learning from Practice

Towards a Complexity Framework for Transformative Evaluation

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