African Regional Workshop on Participatory Research, Mzumbe, 2nd - 7th July 1979
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Date
1979-07-07
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African Regional Workshop on Participatory Research
Abstract
This document details the presentation and critique of Lead Paper I, "The Concept of Development in the Social Sciences," at the African Regional Workshop on Participatory Research in Mzumbe. Presented by the workshop's preparatory committee, the paper lays a foundation for discussing development models in the social sciences, divided into sections on OBET, RS, HM, and Socialist Development. Key themes include critiques of capitalist property relations, the scarcity of resources, the universality of capitalist models, and the lack of adequate consideration for Third World specificities. The paper introduces theoretical perspectives on Dependency Theory, the Centre-Periphery Model, and dialectical materialism but receives critical feedback for lacking concrete action-oriented analysis and being too abstract for practical application.
Description
The presentation emphasizes the structural imbalances in global development, where the paper’s critiques center on the capitalist domination of economies and the subsequent social transformations within Third World contexts. Participants challenge the paper’s abstract approach and lack of grounded examples, suggesting that case studies would better illustrate the impact of development theories. The discussion addresses how the theory connects with real-world struggles and the need for more explicit dialectical materialism in examining class struggles and the transition to socialism.
Keywords
Participatory Research, Social Sciences, Development Theory, OBET, RS, Historical Materialism, Dependency Theory, Socialism, Capitalism, Class Struggle, Third World Development
Citation
Anacleti, A. (1979). African Regional Workshop on Participatory Research, Mzumbe, 2nd - 7th July 1979: Presentation of Lead Paper I on "The Concept of Development in the Social Sciences."