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

Abstract

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 article 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 endeavours and help to build local capacity for action.