Development from Within

About the Book

"Development from below" is not enough. The key to sustainable social change is development from within- change in individual and group consciousness that leads to collective capacity for self-management among people's organizations. This book is a conversation between a practitioner and a scholar of participatory development exploring the inner and outer journeys of both development facilitators and women villagers. It is grounded in the experience of manavodaya, a non-profit organization that has facilitated self help groups among rural poor and trained development practitioners in methods of dialogue and empowerment for over twenty years. The book presents a successful method of dialogue called collective reflection that has enabled significant changes in the lives of the participants-both development professionals and villagers alike.

About the Author

Varun Vidyarthi has a formal background in engineering and business management. The Indian spiritual tradition of finding a purpose in life led him to abandon a corporate career to live and work in rural India. Formerly a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, and a Research Fellow at the East West Center, Honolulu, he is the founder and Chief Executive of Manavodaya ( Human Awakening ), a center of excellence in self help and values- led development. Patricia A. Wilson, professor of participatory development at the University of Texas, Austin, Graduate Program in Community and Regional Planning, holds degrees in economics and planning from Stanford and Cornell. A practitioner of contemplative traditions herself, she writes and consults internationally on participatory community development planning.