Examining the relationship between community residents' economic status and the outcomes of community development programs

Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, Dec, 2004 by Christopher R. Larrison, Eric Hadley-Ives

In designing and implementing community development interventions the economic status of targeted participants is a demographic characteristic worth considering. The findings from this research indicate that even within the limited economies of rural Mexican villages there are variations in economic status that affect the ways in which the outcomes of community development programs are perceived. The poorest of the poor are likely to be less satisfied with development projects than those with average or better-off economic status. This is true whether a development project uses a bottom-up approach or a top-down approach. The more participatory approach does not attenuate the relationship between economic status and satisfaction with development programs. On the contrary, it may exacerbate it.

Key words: community development, economic status, rural Mexican villages

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According to the United Nations Human Development Report (1998) the world population has become increasingly stratified economically with people living in poverty experiencing social and geographic segregation based on class. Jameson and Wilber (1996) provide strong evidence that this stratification and distancing causes hardship.

In Mexico and other developing economies wealth accumulation and capital investment are usually concentrated in urban areas, leaving rural areas largely characterized by poverty and underdevelopment in relation to cities (Lerner, 1958; Todaro, 2000; Coordinating Committee of CASA, 2001). The growing divide separating the rural poor from the sophisticated urban professional or university-educated worker is obvious and its impact upon development goals is well documented. However, the scope and types of economic differences among rural community residents and how these differences may also impact the achievement of development goals is less understood (Lawson, McGregor, & Saltmarshe, 2000).

The purposes of this paper are to estimate the scope and types of differences in economic status that exist in seemingly homogenous rural communities and to examine the relationship between the community residents' economic status and the success of community development programs, with a specific interest in whether program type mediates this relationship. To accomplish these purposes community residents in rural Mexico participating in two types of development programs were surveyed. One of the programs sought community participation and input (bottom-up), while the other did not (top-down). Findings indicate that there are variations in economic status within the limited economies of rural communities in Mexico and that these variations are associated with different perceptions of community development programs regardless of program type.

Economic Status

A frequent problem with development projects has been their exacerbation of inequality, either through their concentration of power and benefit in local elites or their failure to address unjust power dynamics (Deere & Leon, 1982; Esman & Uphoff, 1984; Griffen, 1987; Ugandan Ministry of Finance, 2002). This problem of unbalanced distribution of benefits also occurs in rural communities even though nearly everyone seems to fit the standard textbook picture of poverty (Todaro, 2000). Anthropologists studying poor communities have shown that despite uniform appearances of economic status among families in poor communities, differences in status do exist (Lerner, 1958; Lewis, 1959; Scheper-Hughes, 1992). However, there is no consensus on the how these differences influence the course of development projects particularly on the community level.

It is not difficult to imagine ways in which subtle class distinctions at a local level could impact development project processes and outcomes. In any disadvantaged community among the poor and near-poor there are some who participate in the modern economy's formal sector and others who are alienated from it (Lerner, 1958). There are some people who are desperately poor in the absolute sense and others living above poverty thresholds who face relatively little hardship. Often within society the wealthier benefit disproportionately from government incentives and programs. This general trend is likely to be reflected in the limited economies of rural communities. As a result of these variations in economic status, community development projects probably can not enjoy equal participation from--or deliver equal benefits to--all strata (Norgaard, 1994).

Program Type

The economic status of participants in a development project may determine the form that a project takes, especially when the development experts organizing the project use a bottom-up or empowering approach. In these sorts of Freirian approaches to development the oppressed populations decide what they want to do and how they will do it (Nederveen Pieterse, 2001). Programs using a bottom-up approach may find that psychological and logistical issues play a role in determining who participates most, even when organizers try to elicit equal participation from all community members (Kahn, 1994; Norgaard, 1994).