Biting the bullet: Civil society, social learning and the transformation of local governance

This paper focuses on how three actors of development interventions negotiate and manage their interrelations, interests, goals and outcomes of action in contexts of social inequality and relative power. The research takes an action-oriented approach to analyzing the structured and active representation of roles and interests in development initiatives. The key question is how socially hierarchical structures and processes might be managed Co create a positive change in the status of hitherto excluded or marginal groups. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.