ABSTRACT
People who practise a professional skill, whether their knowledge lies in the fields of the social sciences, physical sciences or engineering and associated areas, have long been an integral part of the development process. Although many of them agree with the involvement of local communities in the decision-making associated with their own area of expertise, however, their interpretation of what involvement means will be different. Generally, it will take one of two forms. The first is to be supportive, directly, of the community, building up community expertise in, for example, community management of rural water supplies. Or it would be supportive of the status quo (ie the government or the funding agency). Many professionals would argue that this latter role was non-political, but this was not possible when the very process of development, and particularly the relationship between government and community, functioned as a duality.
