Asset-based and citizen-led development: Using a diffracted power lens to analyze the possibilities and challenges

Alison Mathie
Jenny Cameron
Katherine Gibson

Asset Based Community Development or Asset-Based and Citizen-Led Development (ABCD) is being used in a range of development contexts. Some researchers have been quick to dismiss ABCD as part of the neoliberal project and an approach that perpetuates unequal power relations. This paper uses a diffracted power analysis to explore the possibilities associated with ABCD as well as the challenges. It focuses on the application of ABCD in the Philippines, Ethiopia and South Africa, and finds that ABCD can reverse internalized powerlessness, strengthen opportunities for collective endeavors and help to build local capacity for action.

Suggested citation

Mathie, A., Cameron, J. and Gibson, K. 2017. "Asset-based and citizen-led development: Using a diffracted power lens to analyze the possibilities and challenges." Progress in Development Studies 17(1): 54-66.