Pitfalls of Externally Initiated Collective Action: A Case Study from South Africa

Vollan, Björn

doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2011.09.016

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Table 3 compares the different measures of trust for Namibia and South Africa from three different sources: this study, another experimental study (Vollan, 2011) and a social capital survey (own data published in Vollan, 2012). There is a country difference in all questionnaire items (5, 11 and 15 percentage points) and experimental measures (20 percentage points), therefore indicating that trust was higher in Namibia than in South Africa.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weird reciprocity? A ‘within-culture across-country’ trust experiment and methodological implications

Vollan

2012

Journal of Institutional Economics

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Abstract:Economic experiments carried out in the computer laboratory seldom account for broader real-world contextual variables that affect humans as learning and norm-adopting individuals. The here presented ‘within-culture across-country’ design of a standard trust experiment reveals an interesting phenomenon which most probably is related to the context that people live in: South African communities expressed extremely low trust while participants from Namibia exhibited high trust, but low reciprocity, although both share the same ethnic background. The country effect between the two regions remained large even after using a matching estimator to substantiate that these differences were not driven by sample selection bias. Qualitative evidence from the study area suggests that corrupt local institutions have led to lower trust in South African communities while participants in Namibia seemingly applied a deep-rooted behavioural norm of the Nama society which they perceived to be appropriate for the exchange in the experiment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weird reciprocity? A ‘within-culture across-country’ trust experiment and methodological implications

Vollan

2012

Journal of Institutional Economics

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“…In fact, one of the earliest notable concerns of the concept of social capital was based on the premise that it reproduces social inequalities in society [36]. Evidence shows that interventions originating from outside the community create inequalities and asymmetries of power in communities [37, 38], affect local innovations in managing community problems, increase dependence on external actors [39] and potentially facilitate elite capture [40, 41]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Linking communities to formal health care providers through village health teams in rural Uganda: lessons from linking social capital

et al. 2017

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BackgroundCommunity-based programmes, particularly community health workers (CHWs), have been portrayed as a cost-effective alternative to the shortage of health workers in low-income countries. Usually, literature emphasises how easily CHWs link and connect communities to formal health care services. There is little evidence in Uganda to support or dispute such claims. Drawing from linking social capital framework, this paper examines the claim that village health teams (VHTs), as an example of CHWs, link and connect communities with formal health care services.MethodsData were collected through ethnographic fieldwork undertaken as part of a larger research program in Luwero District, Uganda, between 2012 and 2014. The main methods of data collection were participant observation in events organised by VHTs. In addition, a total of 91 in-depth interviews and 42 focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted with adult community members as part of the larger project. After preliminary analysis of the data, we conducted an additional six in-depth interviews and three FGD with VHTs and four FGD with community members on the role of VHTs. Key informant interviews were conducted with local government staff, health workers, local leaders, and NGO staff with health programs in Luwero. Thematic analysis was used during data analysis.ResultsThe ability of VHTs to link communities with formal health care was affected by the stakeholders’ perception of their roles. Community members perceive VHTs as working for and under instructions of “others”, which makes them powerless in the formal health care system. One of the challenges associated with VHTs’ linking roles is support from the government and formal health care providers. Formal health care providers perceived VHTs as interested in special recognition for their services yet they are not “experts”. For some health workers, the introduction of VHTs is seen as a ploy by the government to control people and hide its inability to provide health services. Having received training and initial support from an NGO, VHTs suffered transition failure from NGO to the formal public health care structure. As a result, VHTs are entangled in power relations that affect their role of linking community members with formal health care services. We also found that factors such as lack of money for treatment, poor transport networks, the attitudes of health workers and the existence of multiple health care systems, all factors that hinder access to formal health care, cannot be addressed by the VHTs.ConclusionsAs linking social capital framework shows, for VHTs to effectively act as links between the community and formal health care and harness the resources that exist in institutions beyond the community, it is important to take into account the power relationships embedded in vertical relationships and forge a partnership between public health providers and the communities they serve. This will ensure strengthened partnerships and the improved capacity of local people to leverage resources ...

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“…Critiques of the institutional impacts of community management have also proliferated. A considerable literature has noted the dangers of localism, including the risks of elite capture (e.g., Cleaver, ; Mohan and Stokke, ; Botchway, ; Vollan, ). As Mansuri and Rao () have observed, there is a fundamental distinction between induced and emergent participation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Community Management an Efficient and Effective Model of Public Service Delivery? Lessons from the Rural Water Supply Sector in Malawi

Chowns

2015

Public Admin & Development

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SUMMARYReform of the rural water supply sector occurred widely in the 1990s, when many low-income countries replaced state-led service provision with decentralized community management in the hope of generating improved technical and financial performance. This article asks whether these expected benefits have materialized in practice, and whether community management has strengthened institutional capacity at local, district and national level. Findings from a mixed-methods study in four districts of Malawi show that both technical and financial performance under community management is weak. Maintenance is rarely done, repairs are slow and sub-standard, and user committees are unable to collect and save funds: Average savings are just 2% of expected levels. Despite these failures, community management has 'worked' for the state (and donors) as a means of offloading responsibility for public service provision. The article suggests elements of an alternative framework for rural water supply that would tackle the technical and financial failures of community management, and notes that efforts to promote 'local ownership' in development must be undertaken with care.

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Pitfalls of Externally Initiated Collective Action: A Case Study from South Africa

Cited by 14 publications

References 40 publications

Weird reciprocity? A ‘within-culture across-country’ trust experiment and methodological implications

Weird reciprocity? A ‘within-culture across-country’ trust experiment and methodological implications

Linking communities to formal health care providers through village health teams in rural Uganda: lessons from linking social capital

Is Community Management an Efficient and Effective Model of Public Service Delivery? Lessons from the Rural Water Supply Sector in Malawi

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