Shahbaz Ahmad

The Dilemma of People's Participation Shahbaz Ahmad

This small book takes a comprehensive look at the current participatory approaches across the world. There are certain grey areas in the prevalent models of people?s participation which appear to have been purposely left untouched. The author suggests a more practical and realistic approach to participation which proposes the creation of a mosaic of roles instead of the confrontations and tussles between various role players. Challenging the prevalent concept of a Stakeholder, the role of the Government as a welfare actor has been emphasized. True participation means the utilization of the capacities and capabilities of the concerned people and agencies. It is with this spirit of respect and cooperation that a community has to be approached. This idea has been underlined in a separate chapter on Approaching the Community. The book will be of interest for general reading, but especially useful for natural resource managers, planners and social workers. Although there are many books on the subject of people?s participation, no such title is currently available which analyses the prevalent approaches and provides an innovative food for thought.