Communicative Sustainability

Failure to understand communicative practices and preferences of local communities is a frequent reason why development fails to produce expected results. Drawing on field research from settings in Indonesia, Uganda, Namibia and Ivory Coast, the authors address local viewpoints and gender concepts; procedures of deliberation, negotiation and appropriation; and clashes of underlying language ideologies and language-based social and conceptual projections. It is argued that communicative factors (i) are not reducible to economic ones, (ii) need independent attention in development planning, and (iii) are ultimately decisive for outcomes. CD with video sampling enclosed.