AN INTERSECTIONAL ANALYSIS OF COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION, EMPOWERMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY: TOWARDS ELIMINATION OF THE BARRIERS

The paper is a scrutiny of the interface of community participation, empowerment and sustainability of development projects. It problematises the interplay of numerous dynamics which militate against empowerment of participants and beneficiaries in poverty alleviation projects. This analysis proceeded through a juxtaposition of the nature of participation at every level of a development project cycle with the principles of participation in order to identify barriers militating against effective institutionalization of participation for empowerment and sustainability. This endeavor ensued through a multi-case study approach drawn from numerous case scenarios from different development projects. The discussion were guided by the conceptual lens of the People- Centered Development Approach as a framework of analysis and point of departure for the vindication of the deconstruction of the orthodox development paradigms such as the modernisation perspective in their top-down approach which culminated in unintended consequences of massive disempowerment (underdevelopment) of communities due to incompatible prescriptions. This developmental paradox sardonically represents a macrocosm of the microcosm, which if left to proceed unchecked, would erect a bad precedence which reaffirms the futility of effective participation for sustainability of development projects and ultimately empowerment.