Empowerment
...not fit the paradigm” (Rapley; 1996). There were a lot of problems globally but no solutions. “ it had become common place to argue that throughout much of the third world growth was accompanied by increased inequality” (Brohman; 1996. p 202) as many had experienced declining standards of living and decreased access to productive resources for a large number of people including landless farm workers and many informal sector workers. It is from this situation that many sought to seek alternative solutions to development and some of its policies. One such alternative solutions being empowerment. Many scholars in their observation of the surmounting social problems of the third world asserted that a new approach should be made to enable them to achieve development. Thus according to Mahbab ul Haq (Popular development 1996; Brohman) “focus should be on the animate not the inanimate i.e. on human resources as measured by quality of life considerations rather than on material resources, promotion of social equity, enhancement of human productive and creative capabilities and the capacity of communities to set and meet their own development goals.” , “build development around people rather than people around development”. This reiterates post modernist and M Foucault’s argument for grass roots involvement in discourse on development and the localization of theory and concepts instead of indulging in what Girvan calls “bureaucratic paternalism” (Girvan: 1995). It is this dissatisfaction with mainstream models that led many to search for alternatives, more people oriented approaches. There was now a need for development programmes that focussed on distributional equity and poverty alleviation, basic needs provisions. Empowerment became the alternative for post development theorists and even international development agencies like the World Bank. Empowerment as a concept or a process to aid in development arose as an alternative to neo-liberal and Keynesian economics. For many postmodernist and others who reject the modernization model ad failure for equitable distribution of wealth have embraced this as a strategy for achieving social development and as a consequence alleviating poverty. The UNDP’s Human Development report defines empowerment as an improvement in the ability of people to design and participate in the processes and events that shape their lives (UNDP 1994:4). The Oxford Dictionary defines it as to give facilities or abilities to, to enable. Girvan 1995 sees empowerment as a process through which individuals and groups go and which results in them having a wider range of choice about how to act on their own behalf.” Caribbean Network Integrated Rural Development a locally based regional NGO defines empowerment through their mission statement ‘to promote sustainable and environmentally sound development, through consultation with and the involvement of communities and their relevant entities, in order to improve the quality of life in rural areas and the well-being of Caribbean people” and their slogan “putting people ate the center of development’ (www.cnird.org). It’s agenda focuses on building the capacity of communities to help themselves that leads towards sustainability of their livelihoods. This approach according Girvan 1995 takes several forms including gender, enterprise and community based empowerment. It is facilitated when agencies make a genuine commitment to shared responsibility and joint decision making and designing projects that based on information gather at the local community level. Often its focus is on creating opportunities to increase knowledge, skills and techniques for increased employment, promoting interactive participatory approaches, providing information relevant to the development and sensitizing the capacity of communities to respond positively to challenges faced by changes in their environment . it enables individuals to lobby for and challenge policies handed down by governments that impede their development and way of life.. It with this in mind that Caribbean scholars and governments seek to relief suffering and poverty and social marginalisation that is pervasive in the Caribbean despite economic growth. O. Arthur 1995 argue s that ‘there is a growing consensus that Caribbean countries must define for themselves a new set of development priorities based on principles of equity and social justice for the majority. Measurement of progress should be based on a balanced interaction between the forces that shape economies and the people who make up societies. Empowerment as a strategy for improving the quality of life for Caribbean peoples was born a twentieth century as a result of the misconceptions of past development theories that were based on grand narratives or theories. Grand theories grouped all economies and societies together ignoring the historical and cultural differences of peoples across the globe. As mentioned before theses theories emphasised no distinction between economic and social development and offered development theories that were to an end in itself. What was now need were theories that emerged from the local level that highlighted the issues of each. This Owen thus empowerment was geared so that Arthur argues that “there is a growing consensus that Caribbean countries must define for themselves a new set of development priorities based on principles of equity and social justice for the majority . From his report on the Caribbean symposium for social a development Girvan 1995 stated that it was strongly argued tat empowerment often poor and of the marginalised is an essential foundation of social development and the reduction of poverty. Social development implements policies or systems that provide basic social services e.g. basic education, primary health care and nutrition, basic water and sanitation and. Yes the fact is that many Caribbean countries have provided these services for their peoples however most times at very manual level. Inmost instances if these services are removed many are unable to afford them on their own. Empowerment argues for the ability for these services to be sustainable by ensuring that employment is provided for members of society that reflect the value of labour and not contribute to the working poor population. Empowerment and the social development Given the unique history of the Caribbean and the cultural diversity that is evident in every Caribbean island empowerment seems the only viable alternative to development that can bring about the desired level of social development. However it is obvious that as independent that we may want to be the local economy from Caribbean island that our society and economy cannot be se...