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Ineptitude, ignorance, or intent: The social construction of failure in development

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  • Venugopal, Rajesh

Abstract

This paper explores the social construction of failure in development policy and academic narratives. Talk of failure is commonplace in development, and this paper seeks to use that as a heuristic to understand what that it signifies beyond face value. Drawing on a wide range of primary and secondary texts to provide illustrative evidence, the paper explores how failure is constructed, and advances a three-fold typology of failures that vary in terms of their positionality, the critical variables they identify as responsible, their epistemological stance, and the importance they accord to politics.

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  • Venugopal, Rajesh, 2018. "Ineptitude, ignorance, or intent: The social construction of failure in development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 238-247.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:106:y:2018:i:c:p:238-247
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.01.013
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