Many aid agencies advocate approaches to development which are people-centered, participatory, empowering, and gender-fair. This volume of essays explores some of the middle ground between such values-based approaches and the methods and techniques that the agencies adopt. The selection offers critical assessments of fashionable tools such as Participatory Rural Appraisal and Logical Framework. It demonstrates how these are linked (conceptually and in practice) to the wider ideological environment in which they are used, and shows how they depend upon the skills of the fieldworker and/or organisation applying them. Contributors argue that tools and methods will contribute to a values-based approach only if those using them have a serious commitment to a social agenda which is genuinely transformative.

"Empowerment" is a popular buzz-word used by many diverse development organizations - but what does it really mean? Jo Rowlands examines the various meanings given to the concept of empowerment, and the many ways in which power can be expressed, in personal relationships and in wider social interactions. The book examines two development projects in Honduras which were both concerned mainly with women, comparing their different approaches, and assessing the extent to which the women involved were empowered as a result of their experiences. empowerment is possible for women without major changes in social attitudes.