DPU Working Paper - No. 121

Participation, Relationships and Dynamic Change: New Thinking On Evaluating The Work Of International Networks

Authors: Madeline Church et al

Publication Date: 2002

The world is becoming a networked environment. This is having a profound impact on the way we organise at the local, national and international level. We need to find new ways to think and talk and make meaning about our linked work. While many of us now work in formally constituted networks, this way of relating is not new. Informal networks have been the basis of family, community, and even politics for centuries.

However, particularly in the field of international development, the formal network has become the modern organisational form. Many positive characteristics are attributed to networks, not least their capacity to challenge and change embedded power relations. If we are to find our way to counteracting the negative effects of economic liberalisation and globalisation, especially on the marginal and under-represented on the world stage, we need a greater understanding of how to build and sustain powerful networks based on the values of dignity in development for all. 

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