How to build a better future? Kyrgyzstani development workers and the ‘knowledge transfer’ strategy

Féaux de la Croix, Jeanne (2013). How to build a better future? Kyrgyzstani development workers and the ‘knowledge transfer’ strategy. Central Asian survey, 32(4), pp. 448-461. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group 10.1080/02634937.2013.862964

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The development industry has moved from concepts of aid and technical assistance to the idea that closing ‘gaps’ in people's knowledge is the most effective way of alleviating poverty and injustice. My data show the means through which this ‘knowledge transfer’ is actually supposed to happen. I examine the micro-politics of development: the role and agency of development workers, who are so frequently employed to conduct ‘training’ on a wide range of topics affecting citizens' well-being, such as conflict prevention or sustainable agricultural practices. This paper draws on ethnographic research between 2010 and 2012 with Kyrgyzstani NGO workers to analyse the ‘side-effects’ of development, such as the creation of a new social class and softening age hierarchies. I examine the widespread conviction among trainers that education can solve most social ills, and their concepts of how knowledge, sometimes in the guise of ideologiya, shapes people. I argue that this faith in knowledge reflects both the life course of NGO workers themselves and what they can offer from within the ‘knowledge transfer’ paradigm. An understanding of the friction between different expectations of knowledge content, teaching relationships and aims in creating well-being is not only essential to a critical reflection on these development efforts but also illuminates wider political and social processes and relationships, such as expectations of the state and international community.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Art and Cultural Studies > Institute of Social Anthropology
UniBE Contributor:	Féaux de la Croix, Jeanne Eileen
Subjects:	300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology
ISSN:	0263-4937
Publisher:	Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
Language:	English
Submitter:	Jana Samira Lamatsch
Date Deposited:	04 Jan 2024 08:28
Last Modified:	04 Jan 2024 08:28
Publisher DOI:	10.1080/02634937.2013.862964
Additional Information:	Special Issue: Well-Being in Central Asia
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/191009