Empowerment: the Politics of Alternative Development

Friedman, David. "Empowerment: the Politics of Alternative Development." Blackwell Publishers: Cambridge, 1992.

In the first chapter, Friedman discusses how half the population became redundant in our current economic capitalist model. He claims that the poor are excluded from economically and politically participating alongside their richer counterparts due to capitalism's "global reach, technological innovations, centralization in giant corporations and financial institutions" (P 14). The book is meant to provide the framework for practicing alternative development, whose objective is to "humanize a system which has shut [the people] out, and to accomplish this through forms of everyday resistance and political struggle that insist on the rights of the excluded population as human beings, citizens, and persons intent on realizing their loving and creative powers within" (P13). The common doctrines of alternative development (AD) are to avoid the state (possibly entirely opposing it), trusting that a community is cohesive and collectively making right decisions, and political action should be avoided. Friedman argues that all three of these bases are incorrect: development must take place on bigger levels than just the local scale, communities are not always gemeinschaftlich (together and communal), and that political intervention is necessary in a age where common resources are controlled by the state (P7-8).

In the second chapter, Friedman discusses how the massive redundancy of the impoverished came about, pushing around some numbers and trying to make a point. After a few pages, it is lost. However, he does manage to rattle off a few reasons why modern capitalism is adverse to the modern peasant. Mainly that they spend capital for unproductive public expenditures such as housing, education, and health reasons. Additionally, they inhabit desirable land necessary for industrial growth, demand wages, and are a dangerous class that the government needs to keep their eyes on (P14). The poor are economically excluded from participation and Friedman says that, "To be economically excluded is, for all practical purposes, to be politically excluded." The poor, however, figh against this exclusion through acts of survival that include daily resistance in the form of "individual enterprise in the informal economy, protests, and community-centered initiatives." Although only mentioned briefly, he believes that "all initiatives require the cooperation of others; most require some form of outside help from students, priests, and professionals who may also provide..." (P21-22).

Some examples of 'daily resistance' include talleres, which is a simliar to a workshop where skills are swapped in order to move towards a collective enterprise. Talleres also provide a socializing aspect for marginalized groups such as women. So this economic model also provides a platform for social support. Other examples include organized protest movements as well as the bustling informal sector full of entrepreneurs. While "modernization emphasizes materialism, objective science, individualism, and liberal democracy, ... the barrio emphasizes intersubjective solidarity based on trust, reality testing based on subjective experience and intersubjective validation, anthropology of personhood, and a political order based on the strong talk of "direct democracy" (P ).

Then, what follows, may be the most amazing diagram which describes four actors in 'lifespace.' These include the state, civil society, corporations, and politics. State and corporate on the vertical axis while politics and civil society are on the horizontal. Friedman argues that the horizontal axis is weakened by the reinforcements created by the vertical axis, as seen primarily in the South. Although these actors cannot be kept from interacting with one another, the spaces of their overlapped have been named as well in an attempt to define the structure which dictates poverty and social inclusion.


Reflections
I am excited to get to the part of this book that explains how to take the entire system of global capitalism and turn it on its head... practically. Friedman's discussion of the history of how the haves and have-nots came to be is a useful and succinct (although somewhat biased) summary. This is the second book which considers power structures as obstacles to community development. I think he makes important distinctions between what AD has traditionally emphasized in order to redirect the focus onto working with governments through political intervention. This, as he argues, is the only way to really divvy up natural resources (thus wealth) equally.

As seen during my trip to Peru, there is a definite need for cooperation amongst the government as well as NGOs in order to make the sweeping changes desired in the Southern regions. However under governments that are corrupt, power-hungry, or apathetic, change is impossible unless the people demand their rights as citizens. A system of accountability and transparency needs to be in place so the people can guide the reconstruction in affected areas. I think that Participatory Video is one way to fill the gaps in feedback, monitoring, and evaluation that are currently ignored. If economic exclusion truly does imply political exclusion, this explains why the poor are stuck in their vicious cycle of poverty. We witnessed many of the same programs of "daily survival" such as the olla comunal and talleres being practiced in Peru. If PV can base its roots in the barrio's point of view, keeping its practices full of trust, subjectivity, and opening up the communication lines for more "direct democracy," it may be a useful tool to create and/or demand dialog between the community and its surroundings.

Finally, the amazing diagram implicitly suggests that strengthening the civil society as well as community participation in politics can also weaken the power constructs of the state and corporation. By siphoning power from authority and decentralizing it, truly participatory democracy can be built up.

On a side note, Friedman also addresses the idea of class within communities which we also encountered during our trip. There were many NGO workers who were from Peru but were considered better educated or just came from wealthier backgrounds.