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| Science
is a method of obtaining knowledge, plus the (changing) knowledge gained
by that method. |
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The
method is the application of systematic techniques of empirical (factual)
observation and logical analysis for testing theories. |
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| The
word "self" has different interpretations in different contexts, which
makes it difficult to translate concepts such as self help, self management,
or self reliance into French or Spanish. One meaning is that of the individual
(ego), and that is not the meaning here. |
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Another
is that it refers to independence, even of a group (not individual), so
it may be better translated as "auto." |
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| There
are two levels of self help; (1) an individual helping herself or himself,
and (2) a community or other social organism helping itself. Self
help actions are part of the empowerment methodology, where effort is needed
for anything to become stronger. When you go to the gym to develop
strength, the coach can not do your push ups for you. |
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Training
material on this web site aims at (1) income
generation for individuals to help themselves become more self reliant,
and (2) the mobilization cycle for
a community to help itself become more self reliant. |
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| The
phrase "self management," derived from the Spanish concept of "auto-gestion,"
means that a community makes its own decisions, especially those kinds
of decisions that fit into processes of planning
and management. |
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For
a community to become self reliant, it must have the capacity
to manage its own affairs, and that requires, among other things, that
its community members must have skills
of management. |
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| "Self
reliance" means the ability or capacity to rely on one's self. The
"self" is used rather freely in mobilization and might be (1) an individual
but is more likely (2) a group or community. (The Spanish use of
"auto" is more accurate). |
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Developing
self reliance means "empowerment," and
on this site that is addressed (1) for individuals (see income
generation) and (2) for communities (see principles of strengthening). |
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| It
is important for local authorities and leaders to be sensitive to your
goals and methods. Beware: you may be tempted to hold an early sensitization
workshop without being fully prepared to show the authorities what you
intend, also showing them how they benefit. |
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Make
sure you are clear about what you want to sensitize them about, and plan
your workshop (See Preparing a
Workshop)
accordingly. If you are not careful, you
may raise unrealistic expectations which will work against your goals later. |
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| The
word "sex" has various meanings in different contexts. One way is
as a category of distinction, between "males" and "females." We usually
think that there are only those two sexes, but geneticists now tell us
that there are at least five categories, according to distributions of
"x" and "y" chromosomes, which are the genetic determinants of sex of individuals. |
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More
important to us, as applied sociologists, eg as mobilizers, is the concept
of "gender." Unlike "sex" which has
a biological and genetic definition, "gender" is defined socially ––
the difference between "masculine" and "feminine." The distinction is social.
a product of our culture, and determined by our communal understandings
and evaluations of physical and biological differences –– not always
accurate. |
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| Another
meaning of the word "sex" is as a reference to a physical act of coupling
between males and females, the main method of producing offspring.
The sexual act is one which is fraught with sensitivities in most cultures,
and is therefore one which every mobilizer should seek to understand in
the communities to be mobilized. |
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Stepping
outside what is permitted in a community can be a powerful hindrance to
the effectiveness of any mobilizer. One of the most important instructions
to mobilizers is to avoid looking within client communities for sexual
partners. That will definitely hinder effectiveness of any mobilizer
and, in some communities, even endanger life. |
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| (Deutsch:
sex,
Español:
sexo,
Français: sexe,
Português:
sexo). |
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| A
schism is like a dramatic and deep cut or valley between two mountains.
See Social Schism. |
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When
applied to a community or organization, it means that factions are in conflict
with each other. |
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| When
a client, volunteer or staff member does some thing with which we disagree
or that should never be repeated, we can respond without criticism or complaint.
Please excuse the crude vocabulary, but we can serve what in management
training is called a "sh¡t sandwich." (You might object to the term,
but you will remember it now). In such a sandwich, on either side
of the part we do not like is the bread (which we do like). See
Mistake. |
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It
goes like this: (a) start with honest praise, pointing out the good things,
(b) make a suggestion for improvement - and why, then (c) finish with more
honest praise. The client or staff member is more likely to accept
and listen to the unpleasant "(b)" if it is sandwiched in between the "(a)"
and "(c)." Part "(b)" is not criticism or complaint, but a suggestion
for improvement. |
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| A
"situation
analysis" is a procedure during which the overall characteristics
and priority problems of a community are identified.
See PAR. |
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Your
job as a mobilizer is to ensure that all, or as many community members
as possible, participate in the observation and analysis of the community
situation. |
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These
are the abilities, manifested by individuals, that contribute to the organization
of the community, the capacity of it to carry out its projects, their technical,
administrative, organizational knowledge, their capacity to mobilize.
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| Skills
belong to the sixteen elements of strength, power or capacity of a community
or organization. See: Elements of
Community Strength. The ability, manifested in individuals, that
will contribute to the organization of the community and the ability of
it to get things done that it wants to get done, technical skills, management
skills, organizational skills, mobilization skills. |
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The
more skills (group or individual) that a community or organization
can obtain and use, the more empowered is that community or organization.
When simulating a community to organize and act, the mobilizer needs to
be aware of the role of skills in empowering that community or organization. |
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| The
word "slum" refers to a neighbourhood of a city where average income is
very low, where communal facilities are poor or non-existent, and where
there is a high crime rate. |
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Slums
are where homeless people may find some makeshift shelter, where drug addiction
is
common and public, and where the streets are dirty and filled with trash. |
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For the urban activist
or mobiliser, this is your main target area.
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| Social
animation means to put some life ("anima") into a social institutions such
as a community. |
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Usually
called "Animation" (not to be confused with making animated cartoons for
the cinema). See Animation. |
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| Society
is always changing. Changes in any dimension
affect all other dimensions. |
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The
role of the mobilizer is to try to influence social change so that it is
towards development. |
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| In
sociological theory, Karl Marx wrote
that changes in the economic and technological
dimensions (independent variables) caused changes in the beliefs
and values dimensions (dependent variables). |
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Max
Weber, in contrast, said that changes in beliefs and values (independentvariables)
caused changes in technology and economy (dependent variables). Both Marx
and Weber put social and political dimensions in between. Modern theories
of social change combine both and others. |
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| Where
the pure science is chemistry, its practical applications are in chemical
engineering. Where the pure science is physics, the practical applications
are in civil engineering. (ingeniería
social). |
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We
might be predisposed to extrapolate and say that where the pure science
is sociology, the practical applications should be called Social Engineering. |
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| A
farmer can tell you that if you want a wheat plant to grow upwards, you
do not mechanically pull it upwards. |
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You
provide it with sunlight, water, some minerals and good soil, and it will
grow –– organically
––
from within. |
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| Pulling
from the top is mechanical, crude, rough, and ineffective. Social engineering
is like that. |
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A
social institution such as a community grows from within in an organic
manner. |
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| You
can provide stimulus in the form of your mobilization interventions, but
it develops itself. |
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Using
force, such as the "villigization" attempts during the erstwhile Mengistu
regime in Ethiopia (forced concentration of dispersed rural groups into
nucleated settlements) belong to the category of actions called social
engineering. |
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Encouraging
communities to become stronger, develop their capacity, is one of many
practical applications of sociology, but it should not be called social
engineering.
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| Emile
Durkheim, one of the founders of sociology, wrote of "social facts" as
observed characteristics that are social. |
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It
is necessary to have a "sociological perspective"
in order to recognize a social fact. |
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| In
everyday language, the word "institution" usually means a bureaucratic
organization with persons in it who do not have full legal control over
their lives. It is therefore usually applied to such things as a
prison or a hospital for insane persons. In sociology, it has a very
different meaning. It means a recognized pattern of social interaction. |
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A
"family" is such a pattern of social interaction. A "mother-in-law,"
as well as being a social role, is also an institution. An institution
comes with a set of attitudes, behaviour patterns, expectations and meanings.
A community, which is the object of a
mobilizer's intervention, is a social organization and a social institution. |
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| Social
interaction is the behaviour and beliefs between people that is dependent
upon the behaviour and beliefs of each other and of other people.
See social perspective. |
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Human
beings are social, which means that they do not think or act in total isolation
as individuals. They do so in response to other human beings.
They/we do not merely act; they/we interact. See Interaction. |
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| The
concept "social organization" means that a society is much more than a
collection if human individuals, but is composed of systems which each
have "organs" that are the social equivalent of biological organs.
The mobilizer is concerned with organizations and with communities, both
of which are part of the broader social organization. |
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For
a community mobilizer to be effective, she or he must be able to recognize
the elements of social organization in the community, and to know how these
act or operate. |
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| The
"Social Perspective" is a way of looking at society. It sees society as
something over and above the very people who are in that society. It has
a life of its own –– a sociological
life. In anthropology, this is sometimes called "superorganic,"
where culture (society) transcends the
individuals that constitute it. Society is not seen as a mere collection
of individuals, but as a system of behaviour, interaction, ideas and values,
all transmitted and stored by symbols rather than by genes or chromosomes. |
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It
is a scientific construct ––
social science. As a construct, it is like a model of the atom or of a
solar system. You can not see society as a whole, but only some elements
of it at a time. (See the Elephant
Story). It requires analysis of you, the observer. A community,
which is the object of your intervention (as a mobilizer) is a social organization,
equally a construct, and which requires the social perspective to see and
understand. If you want to effectively empower a community, or stimulate
its development, you need to have the social perspective. |
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| A
social problem is qualitatively different from an individual problem.
What makes it social is that the problem is “systemic” meaning that
it is a problem in the system, not merely an anomaly. |
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The
“system” here is society itself. It may be possible to alleviate
specific manifestations of the problem, but to solve the whole problem
requires social change, and that implies the need for social intervention. |
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| No
community is a natural unity. There are schisms and disunities in every
community. All actions you take must help to increase the unity
of a community. (See Unity). Where
you offer suggestions as to how to obtain resources for a community project,
you must not insist on a particular strategy that the community must take;
some strategies may contribute to disunity. |
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We
must suggest and advise, and ensure that we listen to what the community
members say (especially the quiet ones) and uncover negative
hints about any strategy that might provoke disunity. |
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| Divisions
in any community may be based on many factors: clans, religions, class,
income, education, land ownership, ethnic origins, age, gender, and so
on. The level of tolerance between these divisions may also vary for several
reasons. |
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It
is our job to work in such a way as to minimize the differences, improve
community unity and loyalty, and overcome community schisms. |
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| The
"social services" of a government or agency are services to disadvantaged
persons. Paradoxically, they are usually handled on an individual
case basis, and seldom are practised with a methodology that is based on
social dimensions, or social organization. |
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The
handling of individual problems on a case bases is an inefficient, non
sustainable and costly approach, and is usually only practised in wealthy
countries or by wealthy agencies. A communal or social approach is
more common among poor countries and areas. The best methodology
to adapt is
CBSW (Community
Based Social Work). |
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| The
concept "social system" is one that recognizes that the social level, where
social organizations are seen as more than a mere collection of individuals,
is systemic. At the inorganic or physical level, the solar system or an
automobile engine is a system. At the organic or biological level, a tree
or dog or ant colony is a system. |
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At
the superorganic or cultural level, a community or agency is a system.
Recognizing the systemic characteristics of society, that things interact
with each other, at the social or cultural level, is important in knowing
how communities work and how to influence them. |
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| A
social worker usually works for a social services
department, which is a contradiction because most social services are delivered
(by case work) without reference to social organization, and certainly
seldom through community mechanisms. See: CBSW. |
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Most
social administration departments in universities, however, include the
training of individual case work with what is more appropriate to this
web site: ie techniques and theories of community
development. |
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| Socialization
is the process, which begins at birth (some say earlier) in which we, as
biological organisms, become human –– become social. Being social
means going beyond (transcending) being
biological organisms; it means becoming parts of social systems. |
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The
process, like learning, continues until we are dead. See Enculturation.
During this process, we learn our language,
we learn our values and beliefs,
we learn the symbols we need to participate in the economic,
technological,
political
and interactional dimensions of society.
See Dimensions of Culture. |
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| Society
(Sociocultural System): |
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| The
concept of society is easily misunderstood, in that many people think that
a society is a collection of human individuals. In sociology, in contrast,
a society is something that continues even though all of its individual
humans come and go, through birth, death or migration, thus society transcends
the very individuals through which it is manifested. |
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If
society is not its individual human members, what is it? It is the systematic
behaviour, actions, reactions and interactions, and the beliefs and shared
attitudes that relate to those actions. It is carried on by symbolic communication,
not by genes. See Culture. |
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| The
term "strange fish" is slang for someone who is aware of culture.
It comes from the proverb, "It is a strange fish that knows the
existence of water." We live with in our culture, which we also carry
about with us. To be a fish is to be unaware of water. Perhaps the fish
can move through different kinds of water, such as going from a river to
the ocean, but it is still water. A fish that jumps out of water
to rid itself of lice, experiences non water briefly. For us to be
aware of culture, which is what makes us human, we need to remove ourselves
from culture. |
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Moving
from our culture that we usually live in, to an exotic or different culture,
does not take us out of culture, but is just a move between different kinds
(like the river and ocean, both water). Even that makes us odd, especially
if we shift our values and behaviour. Remember we use the sociological
concept of culture, which is equivalent to the total socio-cultural
system (not just art and dance), composed of everything we learn, and
what gives us our humanity. A community, for example, is a social
or cultural entity, not the individuals which may compose it at any one
time. |
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| Production
that excludes both surplus and profit. |
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The
producers consume the goods they produce. |
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| (Deutsch:
Subsistenzwirtschaft,
Español:
producción de subsistencia, Français: production de subsistance, Português:
produção de subsistência) |
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| The
word "superorganic" sounds a bit odd at first. It is used to summarize
a model of looking at the nature of society. It is based on a sociological
concept that a social organization, such as community,
transcends the biological organisms that compose it. |
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Inorganic
sciences include physics and chemistry; organic sciences include botany
and zoology; super-organic sciences include sociology, economics, anthropology
and political science. Just as an organic system (like a tree
or a dog) transcends the inorganic chemicals that compose it, so a super-organic
system (such as a community) transcends
the organic beings that compose it. |
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| The
word"sustainability"
is important in development assistance.
(The
word is not found in most dictionaries). It refers to the "ability"
of something to be "sustained" (carried on) after outside support is withdrawn.
For the community that builds a water supply, the repairing, cleaning and
using the pump after it is constructed, is the desire. |
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For
an external donor, it is the continuation of the project or its outputs
after the donor withdraws. For you, the mobilizer, it is the continuation
of the community strengthening social process after you move on. For environmentalists
and ecologists, sustainabilty requires that an activity can be sustained
(eg biologically) by the physical environment, that non-renewable resources
are not used up. |
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| Analysis
of Strengths,
Weaknesses,
Opportunities
and Threats.
From time to time (eg annually) you can assist a CBO in its self monitoring
and self evaluation by setting up a SWOT session, obtaining lists
of each from all participants, and consolidating them on a board or sheet
of paper in front of the group. |
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If
the CBO takes this up as a regular feature of its activities (even after
you, the mobilizer, leaves), it will help to empower or strengthen the
group. See SWOT. See Acronyms. |
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