Navigating Power Relations in Community-Driven Development: An Exploration of Constructive Work

Community-driven development (CDD) is gaining momentum as the challenges of the top-down economic model are realized. CDD is based on the assumptions that designing and implementing entrepreneurial solutions with and by the communities could enhance efficiency in resource allocation, build capabilities and skills of the members, and lead to transformative social change. Community-based social enterprises are an example of CDD. While important, CDD is also criticized for its problematic conceptualization of community and for overlooking power dynamics in social relations. Critics argue that programs designed and implemented by and with the communities run the risk of exacerbating existing power relations if the social context is overlooked. Therefore, a key question that needs to be asked is how to navigate power relations in CDD. In this chapter, we discuss constructive work as a strategy to navigate power relations in the communities. Constructive work is a prefigurative strategy proposed by Gandhi to create a new just social order while implicitly challenging the old unjust social order. It involves the construction of social relations, practices, systems, concrete structures, and processes to resist oppression and create self-reliant communities. We provide examples to show how constructive work can be applied by scholars and practitioners.