(Mis)Conceptualising Empowerment: Flaws in Community-driven Development Project Design

Development institutions have adopted models of community development that prioritise empowerment. However, many of these models have transformed a collective, process-oriented understanding of empowerment into one that focuses on individual outcomes and results all too often in project failure. This article presents a case study of a World Bank community-driven development (CDD) project implemented in agrarian settlements in north-eastern Brazil. Using mixed methods, the article finds that because this CDD approach failed to conceptualise power differences, stemming from education, income and the rural–urban divide, it overlooked the disadvantage marginalised communities would have when interacting with technical agencies and soliciting contractors. The power differences created by these inequities enabled those very technical agencies and contractors intended to support CDD subprojects to take advantage of participant communities through providing low-quality services and products. The project also failed to provide quality technical assistance for a duration sufficient to develop the skills community members required to carry out successful, productive subprojects. These findings suggest that CDD projects need to incorporate a broader conception of empowerment that addresses group-level power differences to transform the relations between participants and those on whom they depend, and thereby contribute to project success.