Cornwall, A.

The author argues that much of the time in development, "gender" is taken to mean "women", and women are treated as an identifiable single category, thought of in a narrow range of stereotypical ways, and that "gender analysis" does not extend to analysing men's positions, views and reactions as men. For "gender-aware PRA" to be genuinely aware of gender and to be really participatory, it is crucial that facilitators reflect on their own preconceived ideas and prejudices.

The use and abuse of PRA has attracted considerable criticism from social anthropologists. This overview article discusses some of the wider concerns voiced about the practice of PRA by practitioners and academics working in development settings. The relative strengths and shortcomings of a PRA approach versus an anthropological approach are discussed. The article suggests that "anthropological concerns with reflexivity, social processes and context can help inform the practice of PRA and enable practitioners to appreciate the complex realities of the urban and rural poor.

Este ßrticulo analiza el concepto de "participaci¾n" como reto metodol¾gico a las corrientes mßs convencionales de la investigaci¾n y extensi¾n agrÝcolas. Los autores primero hacen una distincci¾n semßntica entre "metodologÝa" como enfoque general y "mÚtodo" como instrumento particular. Si la participaci¾n es un reto real a las corrientes existentes, implica un cambio metodol¾gico, y no s¾lo la adopci¾n de nuevos mÚtodos.

PRA is set in the context of other participatory approaches to development, such as PAR. A table is used to present the varying ways of using "participation" showing to what extent local people are involved. This paper looks at PRA 'in terms of the potential it offers for colearning within a process oriented toward a goal of collective action'. Drawing on personal experiences, the process of using visualisations within PRA is analyzed in detail.

Report from a community woodland resource management project run by ENDA (Environment and Development Activities), Zimbabwe. A workshop was held to identify key concerns, their solutions and any constraints which were then all worked into a piece of theatre which would expose conflict over trees. The play was then used to stimulate discussion in a community workshop. Community members were given questions to discuss and dramatise as short sketches. Through this process, participants identified more closely with the issues raised and were more motivated to tackle them.

This brief article describes a modelling exercise which was carried out with different groups of villagers during a PRA training in North Omo, Ethiopia. Different perceptions and concerns were revealed when models of the village were made by separate groups of women, men, and children. The exercise illustrated how the issues brought up by the women and children would have been submerged if only one model had been created. A wealth of interesting information was gained, both through the exercise itself and through the contrast between the models.

This report describes the technique of body mapping - a crucial innovation for anyone working with women (and possibly men?), on issues of reproductive health, health generally and sex education. The article begins with a description of the author's observation that traditional concepts and language about the body were being used to communicate contraceptive methods. Body mapping was developed from there.

Body mapping (pictures of the perceived working of the female reproductive system) was conducted with women in southern Zimbabwe. The study aimed at bridging local knowledge and western medical explanations of non-indigenous contraception. Maps were drawn on the ground with a stick. The use of body maps helped to generate discussions from which an understanding of local idioms and ideas of contraception emerged.

Participatory modelling was organised by a team on a training course in North Omo. To avoid the men dominating the activity, as is usual if only one group is formed, the group was divided into men, women and children. Each group created a model which showed their different perceptions and " a version of their area which begs certain emphases and areas for intervention."

Discusses an ENDA project working on community woodlands, where community theatre was used to stimulate discussion on the local forest resource. Group discussions focused on the woodlands, trees and changes in the forest over time. There was agreement that there were few trees, and that they were declining in number, due to drought, overpopulation and mismanagement. Constraints and potential solutions were identified. There were few gender differences in awareness.