ABSTRACT
Participation involves not only an authentic attempt to include others in decision-making, it is also a fundamental way of thinking about social change. However, making development practice truly participatory remains challenging. It is important to keep in mind that the political spaces into which people are invited are structured and owned by those who provide them. DROs have the potential to empower their members individually through the latter’s engagement in the DRO, as well as economically through collective savings and credit arrangements and processing and marketing activities, and to gain voice through collective engagement with both invited and claimed political spaces.
