Smith, Thomas Aneurin (2012) At the crux of Development? Local Knowledge, Participation, Empowerment and Environmental Education in Tanzania. PhD thesis, School of Geographical and Earth Sciences The University of Glasgow.
![[img]](http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png) |
PDF (Smith, Thomas Aneurin (2012) At the crux of development? Local knowledge, participation, empowerment and environmental education in Tanzania.)
2015_06_47.pdf - Accepted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (10MB) | Request a copy |
Abstract
Development appears to have gone through a paradigm shift, from top-down, state-led projects to bottom-up, participatory schemes which seek to take account of local knowledges. Tanzania is a country which, like many others in the ‘Global South’, faces a myriad of interlinked environmental and development problems, particularly as much of the population’s livelihood needs are deeply entwined with local environmental resources. Current environmental policies and conservation practise in Tanzania appear to reflect this new shift in development, and increasingly the Tanzanian state and a number of NGOs have aimed to increase the participation of local people in environmentally sustainable practices. Education about the environment, for both adults and young people, has become key to this approach in Tanzania since the 1990s. This thesis aims to explore the many practical and theoretical questions which remain about the suitability of participatory projects that utilise local knowledges, considering questions which are fundamentally at the heart of how development is and how it should be done, questions which are ultimately at the crux of development itself. Specifically, I aim to answer questions about how participants and communities can become ‘empowered’ through participatory initiatives, and to this end I investigate the important yet presently neglected role of young people. I further explore the nature of ‘local knowledge’, questioning its current use in development projects whilst seeking to re-conceptualise and re-orientate how ‘local knowledge’ is understood and employed. I utilise a qualitative and participatory methodology through three communities in Tanzania, each of which offers a contrasting picture of environmental issues throughout the country.
| Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) |
| Divisions: | Africana |
| Depositing User: | JHI Africa |
| Date Deposited: | 17 Jun 2015 13:40 |
| Last Modified: | 17 Jun 2015 13:40 |
| URI: | http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/196 |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |