Moncrieffe Sept 2006

Power and Stigma: 

Power and Stigma What do they mean for ‘participation’ in Haiti?

Key emphases…: 

Key emphases… Local level politics/Participation on the ground Power relations – ‘habitus’ Mindsets that develop and sustain deep relations of inequality Self reflection as a precursor to action

Key Questions: 

Key Questions What sort of world are we asking children to participate in when children are raped every 25 minutes? (P. Reynolds) What does this mean for our strategy? How can we ask children to participate who are socialised into thinking they are nothing? Where do we start? How do our own ‘habitus’/social conditionings influence who we prioritize, what we prioritize and how? How do our actions and inaction influence power relationships?

Bourdieu - Habitus: 

Bourdieu - Habitus Helps us to revoke the duality between the individual and the social by capturing the ‘internalisation of externality and the externalisation of internality’ i.e. The way society becomes deposited in persons in the form of lasting dispositions or trained capacities and structured propensities to think, feel and act in determinate ways.

Habitus: 

Habitus Habitus is socially acquired and varies across distributions of power Habitus can also be transferred across domains, producing consistency in behaviours across social classes etc We construct our social world by applying socially derived categories of judgment However, as individuals we have a unique set of experiences and therefore internalise and project and a matchless combination of endless schemata

Habitus: 

Habitus While ‘habitus’ is enduring, it is not static or eternal – Social dispositions can be challenged, eroded and even dismantled when there is exposure to effective counteracting external influences.

Challenging Dispositions: 

Challenging Dispositions Disciplinary frameworks – Importance of encounters Social dispositions – Importance of encounters across classes, races etc. Not simply a question of why do they think the way they do about themselves but: Why do we think the way we do? How and why do we conceptualise differences across societies, classes, races, groups and how do our mindsets affect our practice?

‘Street Children’ and ‘Restavecs’ in Haiti: 

‘Street Children’ and ‘Restavecs’ in Haiti Street Children – Children born on the streets---parents were also street children; children who are now in the streets Restavecs – children who come principally from the rural areas to live and work in urban homes

Constructing Children’s Social World: 

Constructing Children’s Social World Haitian government weak, ineffective unable and, in large part, unwilling to commit to dealing with matters such as child protection and child rights Certain groups of children are seemingly dismissed, even by prominent government representatives –

Constructing Children’s Social World: 

Constructing Children’s Social World ‘The only thing to be done with street children is to build a big jail and put them inside’. ‘Street children are thieves and killers’

Constructing Children’s Social World: 

Constructing Children’s Social World Missionaries to Haiti – many speak about Haitians in very derogatory ways I have myself got angry at these kids begging me; I don’t like it. Its just that bother of someone peeking at your window and getting into your space and the guilt of not knowing what to do…

Constructing Children’s Social World: 

Constructing Children’s Social World Orphanages run as businesses – perception that street children will corrupt the ‘normal’ children in their care.

Constructing Children’s Social World - Mark: 

Constructing Children’s Social World - Mark Mark – White, male, lives with the boys Perception – Mike as saviour; no Haitian has ever held me

Constructing Children’s Social World: How children respond: 

Constructing Children’s Social World: How children respond Varied Association with/ (perverse) participation in state sponsored gangs Acceptance and rejection of labels in some contexts versus others (Overt) responses seem to vary by sex, though not conclusive

Constructing Children’s Social World: 

Constructing Children’s Social World Elite perceptions – varied Prejudices and biases from both ends Inadequate cross-group encounters; therefore, misperceptions abound

Enter the Development Expert: 

Enter the Development Expert Inadequate coordination among child agencies Failure to grapple with real conditions – Focus is on projects that can show immediate gains and attract immediate funds Agents have their own biases, which affect their practice Top down approach to Haiti/Haitians Refusal to tackle ‘culture’ Save the children – Drive by street child in distress

Participation: 

Participation What does the case study suggest about the stages for building participation and about the goals of participation? What does the case study suggest about the expert’s role in the process? How does the evidence contribute to the emerging theory? Is transformative participation practical in this context? If not, what will it require?