ABSTRACT
Most published work which deals with the theoretical construct of the community participation process can be related to either the paradigm approach model or the project-based model of participation. The one characteristic which is shared by these two models, and which in turn creates a linkage between the different strands of research, is the notion of a duality and the ongoing attempts to reduce the participation process to this state. This is most commonly expressed either as a duality centred around power relationships, eg between governing and governed, oppressor and oppressed (the first model), or as a relationship between the community and a project (the second model). Even where researchers look at specific problems which operate outside these models they still attempt to describe relationships in terms of dualities, eg the community and the planner, 1 the community and the World Bank, the community and the NGOs. It is as if development comprised a hub (the community) with a series of radiating spokes which connect the hub to satellite stations.
