Renovating dependency and self-reliance for participatory sustainable development

Dependency stands for many grievances and is generally considered a symptom of oppression. An opposing concept, offered as the preferred state, is self-reliance. Dependency and self-reliance are key concepts in sustainable development programs that feature participatory approaches. Some of the ways in which development projects employ the concepts of dependency and self-reliance, however, are troubling. Dependency and self-reliance in two programs for participatory sustainable development are examined, one in Canada and the other in New Zealand. Frameworks for dependency and self-reliance are drawn from social psychology and philosophy to examine problematic aspects associated with the concepts. Analysis produced a proposal for use of the term situated interdependence as a way to cast the outcomes of participatory sustainable development more precisely. The location of the cases (Canada and New Zealand) centers the discussion within a context of industrialized agriculture, but also points to issues pertinent to developing countries.