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Nice target, wrong idea

A response from David Marsden to Rick Davies’ ‘Nice idea, wrong target’

In Section 5 of the latest edition of M and E News - Editor's Questions and Comments - Rick Davies comments on the theme of the forthcoming evaluation conference being organized by INTRAC.

He titles his comment 'Nice idea, wrong target' but it is not clear what he sees as the 'target'. Is it the 'Us -v- Them' theme that is controversial? Or the large donors, identified as 'bogeymen' later in the comment? If it is the former then one can legitimately question the value of addressing that theme. I would hope that questions addressed to that theme might figure prominently in the conference agenda. My article (a shortened verion of which is reproduced in this issue of ONTRAC) tries indeed to address some of the important questions that lie behind the construction of such dichotomies. The cultural and historical contexts that lie behind their construction are seldom examined. The article is not about supposed differences between qualitative and quantitative methods or about the differences between 'bottom up' and 'top down' approaches, as Rick seems to suggest. Like Rick, I recognize that such dichotomies are simplistic and as heuristic devices they hide more than they reveal. It is, rather, about the issues of power that lie behind the deployment of particular simplifying devices and methods, and the investigation of the motives of the navy and the sociology department, to use Rick's own analogy. These often get submerged (excuse the pun!) in discussions about definitions and methods. It is not about 'getting the right mix' rather it is about understanding who is doing the 'mixing' and why. I am not clear why this should be perceived as 'one-sided' or 'decontextualized' when the whole point is to reveal the many sides and the particular places and histories in which reality is negotiated.

I would argue that organizations do not find a 'balance'. To suggest that they do implies a perspective that is informed by an equilibrium theory. Individuals in organizations negotiate contextually specific accomodations at particular times as they evolve. What they choose to call it depends on who is controlling the discourse.

INTRAC will be happy to provide a platform for both fieldworkers and CEOs - to provide an opportunity for those who normally have no voice, to question the controllers of information (the 'mixers'). The evolving negotiations within these participating organizations will surely depend, however, on who has control over perceptions about what the value of the conference is. Sending two people with very different stories to tell would indeed be very valuable, but who would choose them? And what would happen to the social capital of the organization as a result of such an exercise. There is a limit to how much 'dirty linen' you might want to wash in public. What is that limit?

I would therefore argue that INTRAC's proposed conference, rather than being 'off target' is precisely on target in trying to get beyond the simple dichotomies that restrict an effective understanding of complex realities. Lets use the tools rather than be used by them!

As to the 'bogeymen', are they evil or mischieveous spirits who plan to disrupt, or imaginary windmills to be tilted at? I hope that the conference can help in destroying them by bringing together different 'voices' that can transcend some of these false dichotomies. I don't recall addressing in my article any of the 'bogeymen' that Rick refers to? if we were just seeking to provide a platform for bashing the large agencies INTRAC would not have entered into a partnership agreement with the Bank and obtained DFID support for this conference!

I welcome contributions to this debate. A slightly extended version of the article in ONTRAC can be found on INTRAC's web page here at http://www.intrac.org/Of Management.htm and INTRAC invites responses.

For Rick Davies' reponse to David's comments above, look here

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