Demystifying Pseudo-Freirian development. The case of Laedza Batanani
Kidd, R.; Byram, M.
Community Development Journal 17(2): 91-105
1982
ISSN/ISBN: 0010-3802 DOI: 10.1093/cdj/17.2.91-aDocument Number: 496619
The paper is a case study of a non-formal education project in Botswana which attempted to follow a Freirian model. The project name Laedza Batanani -- loosely "Community Awakening" -- indicates its espoused Freirian ideology. One of the key features of the programme is the use of popular theatre as the medium for encouraging participation, raising issues, fostering discussion, and promoting collective action. The paper attempts to demystify much of the earlier writing which, it suggests, failed to portray some of the key contradictions in this work and tended to mystify the popular base of this activity. In particular it focuses on the pseudo-participatory nature of the programme -- the involvement of villagers as actors, audience and discussion members without allowing popular control over the process and direction of change. Popular theatre is shown to have a dual potential: on the one hand, authentic popular expression and raising critical class consciousness, and on the other, disseminating dominant class ideas and inducing acceptance of the status quo. The paper aims to show that highly "participatory", "engaging", "entertaining", locally understandable forms of communication can be used not only to "liberate" but also to "domesticate". The paper begins with a description of the programme and then analyzes the methodology, content, and outcomes. The case study is one example of how Freire's ideas have been distorted and used in ways which could potentially intensify the oppression of powerless groups in the Third World. It shows how progressive-sounding development rhetoric can obscure the reality of class stratification and power structures and mystify the actual impact of development programmes. It points to the need on a much wider scale for political economic analysis of development programmes.