Helping People Help Themselves : Toward a Theory of Autonomy-Compatible Help

Ellerman, David

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ACCIDENTS;    ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES;    AID;    AID AGENCIES;    CLASSICAL ECONOMICS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-2693
RP-ID  :  WPS2693

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

If development is seen basically asautonomous self-development, then there is a subtle paradoxin the whole notion of development assistance: How can anoutside party ("helper") assist those undertakingautonomous activities (the "doers") withoutoverriding, or undercutting their autonomy? This conundrumis the challenge facing a theory of autonomy-compatibledevelopment assistance - that is, helping theory. Startingfrom a simple model of non-distortionary aid, the authorexplores several themes of a broader helping theory, andshows how these themes arise in the work of"gurus" in different fields - John Dewey inpedagogy and social philosophy, Douglas McGregor inmanagement theory, Carl Rogers in psychotherapy, SorenKierkegaard in spiritual counseling, Saul Alinsky incommunity organizing, Paulo Freire in community education,and Albert Hirschman, and E.F. Schumacher in economicdevelopment. That such diverse thinkers in such differentfields, arrive at very similar conclusions, increasesconfidence in the common principles. The points ofcommonality are summarized as follows: 1) Help must startfrom the present situation of the doers. 2) Helpers must seethe situation through the eyes of the doers. 3) Help cannotbe imposed on the doers, as that directly violates theirautonomy. 4) Nor can doers receive help as a benevolentgift, as that increases dependency. 5) Doers must be in thedriver seat. One major application of helping theory is tothe problems of knowledge-based development assistance. Thestandard approach is that the helper, a knowledge-baseddevelopment agency, has the "answers", anddisseminates them to the doers. This corresponds to thestandard teacher-centered pedagogy. The alternative underhelping theory is the learner-centered approach. The teacherplays the role of midwife, catalyst, and facilitator,building learning capacity in the learner-doers, so thatthey can learn from any source, including their ownexperience. Development assistance is further complicated bythe local, or tacit nature of much relevant knowledge. Aknowledge-based development agency might function better,not simply as a source of knowledge, but as a brokerconnecting those who face problems with those in similarsituations, who have learned to address the problems.Changing to the approach of helping theory, entails changingthe helping agency itself, transforming it into anorganization that fosters learning internally, as well asexternally - as in a university, where professors engage inlearning, and foster learning in students, but theorganization does not adopt official views on the complexquestions of the day. This means fostering competition inthe marketplace of ideas within the organization, and takinga more Socratic stance with clients, who will then have totake responsibility for, and have ownership of their decisions.