Cultural Issues in Making and Using the Visual Problem Appraisal Keralas Coast

8/13/2019 Cultural Issues in Making and Using the Visual Problem Appraisal Keralas Coast

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Cu l tural Is sues in M aking and U s ing theV isual Pr ob lem A ppra isal K erala's Coast l

Loes Witteveen and ert Enserink

I n t eg r a t ed C o as t a l Z o n e M an ag em en t ( I C Z M ) i s a co m p l ex m u l t i - a c t o r i ss u e . S t a f fm e m b e r s o f C o c h i n U n i v e r s i t y (C U S A T ) f r o m I n d i a a n d c o l l e a g u e s f r o m t h eN e t h e r l an d s i n t e r p r e t ed t h i s i s s u e a s a ch a l l en g e t o i n i t i a t e an d en h an ce m u l t i -s t ak eh o l d e r d i a l o g u e an d ac t i o n an d t h e i d ea w as b o r n t o p r o d u c e a V i s u a l P r o b l emA p p r a i s a l ( V P A ) . V P A i s a f i l m - b as ed le a r n i n g s y s t em t h a t a i m s t o i n d u ce s o c i a ll e a r n i n g , t o i n c r ea s e p r o b l em an d p o l i cy an a l y s i s co m p e t en c i e s , t o r ed u ce s e l f -r e f e re n t i a li t y , t o i n c r e a s e c o m m i t m e n t f o r c o n c e r n e d s t a k e h o l d e r s, a n d t o e n h a n c ei n t e rs u b j e c t iv e c o n s e n s u s . I n 2 0 0 3 I n d i a n a n d D u t c h u n i v e r s i ty s t a f f m e m b e r s a n dI n d i a n f i lm m a k e r s p r o d u c e d t w o d o c u m e n t a r ie s a n d 2 3 f i lm s p o r t r a y i n g t h e K e r -a l i t e s t ak eh o l d e r s i n t h e i r n a t u r a l en v i r o n m en t , ex p o s i n g t h e i r en g ag em en t w i t h ,a n d d i f f e re n t p e rs p e c t iv e s o n , I C Z M . A l t h o u g h p r o d u c e d f o r f o r m a l e d u c a t io n ,t h e n o t i o n e m e r g e d t h a t t h e V P A m i g h t a s w e l l w o r k i n t h e r e a li t y o f I C Z M i nK er a l a . I t w as a f a s c i n a t i n g co n v e r s i o n o f q u es t i o n i n g t h e n a t u r e o f s o m e ev en t san d f r i c t i o n s t h a t o ccu r r ed d u r i n g t h e p r o d u c t i o n p r o ce s s . A s c r i t i c a l i n c i d en t sw e r e a t t r i b u t ed t o v a r i o u s cu l t u r a l d is p a r i t ie s s u ch a s l o ca l / f o r e i g n , m a l e / f em a l e ,h i g h e r / l o w e r s ta t u s, t h e h y p o t h e s i s w a s f o r m u l a t e d t h a t i f p r o d u c i n g t h e V P A h a da l r ead y s e t a d eep i m p ac t ; h o w ab o u t u s i n g i t d i r e c t l y w i t h i n v o l v ed s t ak eh o l d -e r s ? T h i s h y p o t h e s i s w as t e s t ed i n 2 0 0 4 i n w o r k s h o p s w i t h p u b l i c s , r an g i n g f r o mC U S A T s t u d en t s to l o ca l s tak eh o l d e r s o f t h e T h y ca t t u s s e r y P an ch ay a t . T h e p r o ce s so f p r o d u c i n g a n d t e s ti n g t h e V P A K e r a l a s C o a s t w a s a c o m p l e x a n d i n t ri g u i n gm u l t i d i s c i p l in a r y an d m u l t i cu l t u r a l p r o j ec t . W e w o n d e r ed w h a t m ad e t h e p r o j ec t as u cce s s. F r am i n g t h e p r o j ec t a s a s p ace o f cu l tu r a l co m m u n i ca t i o n g av e g u i d an cet o t h e q u es t io n s t h a t a rt i cu l a ted o u r s ea r ch t o u n d e r s t an d t h e p r o ce s s w e h ad b een

Loe s Witteveen is a lecturer in Com munication and Innovation Studies at Larenstein U niversity ofProfessional Education in T he N etherlands. She coordinates the master programme T raining, RuralExtension, and Transformation (TRE AT) and produces educational f i lms. Her intemational work andresearch interests are in rural developme nt, (visual) learning strategies, participatory comm unicationand media.Be rt Ensefink is associate professor o f policy analysis at the faculty o f Technology, Policy, andManagem ent o f Delft University of Technology. His main a reas of interests are participatory policyanalysis, quick scan and rapid appraisal techniques, and scenario analysis. Recent research topicsare public participation and social learning in coastal zone management and integrated fiver basinmanagement.Kno wledge, Technology, Po licy, W inter 2007, Vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 94-11 8.


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W itteveen and Enser ink 9

imm ersed in. In this article we de scribe the events and analyze critical incidents thatoccurred during the production and the use o f the VPA . The outcome leads to valu-able recom men dations for international and intercultural teams working o n similarproduction and research projects.I n t r o d u c t i o n

I n teg r a ted C o as t a l Zo n e M an ag em en t ( I C ZM ) is a h i g h l y co m p l ex i s su e e s p e -c i a ll y i n t ro p i cal r eg io n s . Th e n eed s f o r eco n o m i c d ev e l o p men t an d d em an d s o fthe l oca l f i sherman popu la t i on on the n a tu ra l resources conf l i c t wi th t he l on g- t e rmin t eres t o f sus t a inab l e management o f t hese scarce and vu lnerab l e r esources . Ina w i d e r co n t ex t ( eco n o mi c ) p o w er , eq u i t y , an d acces s t o k n o w l ed g e r e s o u r cescon t r ibu t e to t he com plex i ty o f t he i s sue (Ram achand ran e t a l. , 2002, 2005) . Thet ra in ing too l know n as Vi sua l Prob lem Appra i sa l (VPA) has bee n deve loped by Lo esW i tt eveen (1999) fo r t he t r a in ing o f s t uden t i n he lp ing them acqu i re t he ana ly t ica lsk il ls t o assess com plex i s sues such as ICZ M . VPA sp rung f rom a s tudy af t e r t hesuccesses and f a i l u res o f accommodat ing d i f f e ren t l earn ing s ty l es i n s ide o f t hein ternat ional class room (B r inkm an and W it teveen , 1998). This sy stem f i ts in to theProb lem Based Learn ing approach as r ea l -wor ld p rob lems p rov ide t he con tex t o fthe s imula t i on (Ma xw el l e t a l ., 2004 : 488-489) . Along w i th M aye r and Ve enem an(2002: 30 ) VPA can b e charac t e r i zed as a r ea l i st ic open- s im ula t i on gam e as t herei s no und i spu ted bes t p rac t i ce whe re the s tuden t wo rks as a consu l t an t execu t ing acom plex ass ignmen t and me et ing wi th rea l s t akeho lder s (Wi t teveen and Enser ink ,2007) . At the h ear t of the VPA are f i lms as the expl ici t ar t iculat ion of the va r iousprob lem percep t ions o f t he s t akeho lder s encapsu l a t ed i n t he i r f ilmed in t e rv i ews andacco m p an y i n g d o cu men t a r i e s .The VPA se t Kera l a ' s Coas t was p roduced in 2003-2004 and com pr i sed 25 f ilms:the in t roductory docu m entary Ke rala ' s Coast , 23 fi lms wi th s takeholde r in terviews,and the docum entary Janam, Peop le on S t age The o ther e l emen t s o f t he s imula ti onare included in a learner workbook that i s com plem ented wi th a faci l it a tor 's guide. Thelat ter presents faci l i t a tor ' s ins t ructions an d bac kgrou nd informat ion, shares e xper i -ences , and includes fu l l t ranscr ip t ions o f al l the in terviews (W it teveen et a l . , 2003a,2003b). The V PA product ion on Coas t a l Zon e M anag em ent i n Kera l a , Ind i a r esu lt edf rom coo pera t i on on course dev e lopm ent be tw een D utch and Kera l i t e un iver s it ies ,wh ere new l earn ing approaches w ou ld be i n t roduced in Ind i a .zVPA proved to be a s t rong and mot iva t ing l earn ing env i ronm ent i n fo rmal h ighereduca t ion tha t enhan ced s tuden t s ' per sona l l earn ing o r i en ta t i on and gen era t ed en -thus i asm (Wi t t eveen , 2003a) . T he hypo thes is t ha t VPA m igh t be an e f fect ive too l fo rsoc ia l l earn ing and s t akeho lder s ' empow erm en t was t es ted i n a se r ies o f w orkshopswi th local Ke rala s takeholders in 2004. F or extensive informa t ion on the impacts ofVPA on s t akeho lder em pow erm en t and i ts e f f ec ts o f soc i al learn ing we re fer to W i t-teveen an d E nser ink (2007).Th e VPA, as exper ien ced by i ts par t ic ipants , i s a s imu lat ion of a problem analysisthroug h in terviews w i th s takeholders on loca t ion in l ine wi th rapid appraisal pr in-cip les (RA) (C onw ay et a l . , 1987; Ch am bers , 1994; Pret ty et a l. , 1995) . Th e actualm ak ing o f t he VP A the search fo r, and se l ec ti on o f , t he s takeho lder s , t he way thes t ak eh o l de r s w e r e en g ag ed an d ac ti va t ed , th e w ay t h ey ex p re s s t h em s e l v es - - u s e s


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96 Know ledge, Technology, Pol icy / W inter 2007

R A m e t h o d o l o g i e s a n d f o l l o w s R A p r i n c ip l e s . V P A d e v i a t e s f r o m t h i s c l as s o f ex -p l o r a t o ry m e t h o d s a s v i s u a l d i a g r a m m i n g is l e s s p r o m i n e n t as a t o o l f o r e x t ra c t in gi n f o r m a t i o n o n b e h a l f o f t h e o u t s i d e r s . I n V P A t h e i n f o r m a t i o n is i n t h e s t o r y t o lda n d i n t h e v i s u a l s t h a t p o r tr a y t h e c o n t e x t o f t h e p e r s o n b e i n g i n t er v i e w e d . A V P Ai s l ik e w i s e p r o d u c e d - - a m u l t i d is c i p l i n a ry t e a m w o r k i n g w i t h p r i m a r y a n d s e c o n d -a r y s t a k e h o l d e rs o n l o c a ti o n , s t i m u l a t i n g t h e m t o e x p r e s s t h e i r c o n c e r n s a n d i s s u e si n t h e i r o w n w o r d s .T h e V P A p r o d u c t i o n t e a m f o r th e V P A K e r a l a 's C o a s t t e a m d i d n o t r e f l e ct t h em u l t i d i s c i p l i n a r i t y o f i n t e g r a t e d c o a s ta l z o n e m a n a g e m e n t b u t w a s a r e f l e c ti o no f t h e p r o d u c t i o n re a li ty . I t w a s m a d e u p o f u n i v e rs i t y s c h ol a rs f r o m D u t c h a n dI n d i a n u n i v e r s i t i e s a n d a c r e w o f I n d i a n f i l m m a k e r s a n d t e c h n i c i a n s p l u s a D u t c hdirec tor .

Th e p ro duc t ion p rocess , a l though success fu l and e f fec tive , was a l so hec t ic , t ough ,w i t h s o m e t e n s e a n d i n t r i g u in g m o m e n t s . W e k n e w b e f o r e h a n d th a t t h e p r o d u c t i o na im and t a rge t was amb i t ious to ach ieve work ing toge the r fo r the f i rs t t ime w i th anin te rna t iona l and in t e rcu l tu ra l t e am w hi l e dea l ing w i th t ime and b udge t l imi t a t ionsa s w e l l a s t e c h n ic a l c h a l le n g e s . U n d e r t h e g i v e n c i r c u m s t a n c e s w e e x p e c t e d s o m ec o n f l i c ts w i t h t h e i n d u c e m e n t t o t h e c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f t h e p r o d u c t i o n p r o c e s s a s as p a c e o f i n t e r cu l t u r a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n . I n t h i s p a p e r w e a i m t o d e s c r i b e a n d a n a l y z et h e e v e n t s t h a t o c c u r r e d i n t h a t s p a c e o f i n t e rc u l t u r a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n d u r i n g t h ep r o d u c t i o n o f t h e V P A a n d t h e V P A w o r k s h o p s i n a n a t t e m p t t o d e f in e t h e f a c il it a -t i v e a n d c o n s t r a i n i n g f a c t o r s t h a t c o n t r i b u t e d t o t h e f i na l s u c c e s s f u l o u t c o m e o ft h e p r o d u c t i o n p r o c e s s a n d a t w o - y e a r i n t e n s i v e r e l a t io n s h i p .I n t h e n e x t f e w p a r a g r a p h s w e w i l l i n t r o d u c e t h e c o n c e p t c r it i ca l i n c i d e n t a n ds k e t c h a f r a m e w o r k b a s e d o n n o t i o n s o f c u l t u ra l d i f f e re n c e s a n d i n t e r c u lt u r a l c o m -m u n i c a t i o n f o r t h e i n t e r p r e t a t io n o f t h e s e i n c id e n t s . A n u m b e r o f c ri t ic a l i n c i d e n t sw i l l b e p r e s e n t e d t h a t o c c u r r e d d u r i n g p r o d u c t i o n o f t h e f il m s a n d d u r i n g a s e r ie so f w o r k s h o p s h e l d o n l o c a t i o n . W e a re a w a r e t h a t t h e f r a m i n g a n d i n t e r p r e t a t io no f t h e s e i n c i d e n t s c a ll s f o r c u l t u r a l r e la t i v is m , a n d p r o b a b l y t e ll s u s m o r e a b o u to u r W e s t e r n f r a m e o f r e f e r e n c e a n d c u l t u r a l s e n s i t iv i t y t h a n t h o s e o f o u r I n d i a np a r t n e r s a n d f r i e n d s . W e f u l l y a g r e e w i t h H o f s t e d e ( 1 9 9 7 : 7 ) w h e n h e s t a t e s th a t :n o s c i e n t i f i c s t a n d a r d s f o r c o n s i d e r i n g o n e g r o u p a r e i n t r i n s i c a l l y s u p e r i o r o ri n f e ri o r . W e w i l l a s s e s s t h e q u a l i t y o f o u r a n a ly t i c a l f r a m e w o r k a n d d i s c u s s t h eg e n e r a l f i n d i n g s en v i s a g i n g r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s f o r w o r k i n g i n i n t er n a t io n a l a n di n t e r c u l t u r a l p r o j e c t t e a m s o n a d e m a n d i n g t a s k i n t h e f i n al p a r t o f th i s p a p e r.W e r e c o g n i z e t h a t t h is a r t i c le w i l l r e f le c t o u r D u t c h p e r s p e c t i v e . A s w e h a v et a k e n t h e f r e e d o m t o i n t e r p r e t c e r t a in c r i t ic a l i n c i d e n t s , w e a l s o l i k e to h i g h l i g h ta c e r t a i n d i s r e g a r d o f c i r c u m s t a n c e s o f t i m e p r e s s u r e , b u d g e t l i m i t a t i o n s , a n dt h e v a r ie t y o f l a n g u a g e s i n v o l v e d . W e a c k n o w l e d g e t h e i g n o r a n c e o f t h o s e i n c i-d e n t s t h a t w e r e f e l t a s c ri ti c al b y o t h e r t e a m m e m b e r s b u t w h i c h h a v e n o t b e e ni d e n t i f i e d b y u s d u e t o o u r l a c k o f s e n s i ti v it y , u n d e r s t a n d i n g , o r e n g a g e m e n t ina c o n c r e t e t a s k s o m e w h e r e e l s e o n t h e s e t . A f t e r H o f s t e d e ' s ( 1 9 9 1 ) d e f i n i t i o n o fc u l t u r e a s a c o l le c t iv e p r o g r a m m i n g o f t h e m i n d w e a l so h a v e n o t p a i d a t te n t io nt o t h e i n d i v i d u a l l ev e l o f m e n t a l p r o g r a m m i n g a n d t h e r e f o r e d o n o t a d d r e s s i s s u e so f pe r sona l i ty .


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W itteveen and Enserink 9

A Space o f Intercul tura l Com mu nicat ionA com plex and s t ress fu l p ro j ec t li ke t he m ak ing o f VP A K era l a ' s Coas t i s no t

jus t a he l l o f a j ob , i t is an adven tu re . I t was a mi rac l e t ha t no ser ious dam age o rhardsh ip o ccur red excep t fo r an occas iona l dead ba t te ry , a l i gh t ing ass is t an t be-ing a t t acked by a l i zard and the t ears o f an i n t e rv i ewee r eme m ber ing a f l ood tha td es t r o y ed h e r h o me .The r ea l iza t i on o f t h is p ro j ec t occu r red aga ins t a backg round o f a var i e ty o f c l ass ,na t iona l , and p ro fess iona l cu l tu res . W e rea l i zed tha t w e w ere cha l l eng ing a va r i e tyo f mindse t s a nd cu l tu ra l no t ions i n a s i tua t ion o f c lose coop era t i on and phys i ca lt oge therness , as work ing on loca t ion was a m ain p re- requ is i te o f VPA f i lming . Theoccu r rence o f conf l ic t s due t o c u l tu ra l s tr ess , f a t i gue , f i nanc ia l , and t echn ica l con-s tr ai nt s w as ex p ec t ed , w e ju s t d i d n o t k n o w w h en , h o w , an d w h e r e . W e f r amed t h eVP A design and product ion process as a space of in tercultural com m unica t ion af terLie (2003) t o p reven t any m ajo r p rob l ems t ak ing over and main t a in som e harmony .W e cons idered t he p ro j ec t as a com bina t ion o f v ir t ua l and t ang ib l e mee t ing p laces i nwh ich na t iona l and p ro fess iona l cu l tu ra l no t ions m igh t p l ay an impor t an t par t. W ewo rked toge ther fo r two year s , som et imes phys i ca l l y over each o ther ' s l ap , work-ing i ns ide t he conf ined space o f a smal l f i sh ing boa t; i n s ide a f i sherman ' s she l t e ron a beach , o r a co ld a i r - cond i t ioned s tud io room. S om et imes w e w ere separa t edby thousands o f mi l es . W e had ex t rem ely long days , wa k ing up in t he midd le o f t hen igh t i n o rder t o t rave l a l ong d i s t ance and h ave t he ear ly m orn ing l i gh t fo r shoo t ingn ice t akes . W e wo rked on t ang ib l e p roduct s li ke f ilms and books an d w ere enga gedin a cont inuous d iscou rse on publ ic par t icipat ion , representat ion , pol icym aking , andsustainabi l ity . I t m ay no t com e as a surpr i se that fr ic t ions an d con grue ncie s in ourV P A s p ace o f in t e rcu l tu r a l co m mu n i ca t io n w er e m an i f e st an d d y n ami c . O u r w ewas m ade up o f two D utch scho lar s f rom d i f f e ren t Du tch un iver si t ies , a team ofthree to f ive Indian unive rs i ty scholars , and a f ive- to ten-p eop le Indian f i lm crewand other support staff .Th e s t rategy to ana lyze and exper ience the project as a space o f in tercul tural com -mu nica t ion r equ i res r a t iona l i za ti on o f a p rocess o f wh ich you are part and parce l.Th e d i s t ance c rea t ed by c ons ider ing da i ly even ts as par t o f t he ( exper imen ta l ) spaceof i n t e rcu ltu ra l com m unica t ion som et imes c rea t es a sch i zophren i c f ee l i ng bu t a l soma kes t h ings t o l e rab le and f asc ina ting . The abov em ent ioned r a t iona l i za ti on t ookp lace by a con t inuous d i scuss ion , r epor ti ng , and r e f l ec t ion on the p rocess by t heau thor s and dur ing r egu lar debr ie f ings wi th t he w ho le t eam af t e r fu ll days o f f i e ldwork . T he au thor s m ade an e f fo r t to r eco rd carefu l ly a ll da i l y even t s , fi nd ings , anddiscussions on paper , p ictures , and/or v ideotapes .W e com pi l ed , a f t e r f ina l iza t ion o f t he en t i re p roduct ion p ro j ec t, a l l fo rma l andin fo rmal docum ent s , no tes , e -mai l s , d rawings , and o ther paperbou nd record ings i nt w o d o cu m en t s i n a ch r o n o l o g i ca l f o r ma t t o m ak e t h e s e d a t a m ean i n g f u l f o r co n t en tana lys is ; one i n r e l a t ion t o t he p roduct ion , t he f i lming , and ed i t ing o f t he VPA; t heo ther one conc ern ing the workshops wi th s t akeho lder s.Bo th docum ent s p rov ide an overv i ew tha t is com ple t e i n t he sense t ha t a l l work -ing days and m ajo r ac t iv i ti es and i s sues a re covered , and o f t en r epor t ed i n var iousways f rom d i f f e ren t ang les and in d i f f e ren t ways such as conver sa t i on no t es , e -mai l s , r eport s , d rawings , and o ther fo rms o f docum ent s . Th is e l abora t e descr ip t i on


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and dep iction of the events and issues perm itted selection of the C ritical IncidentsTheory to an alyze the data further.Critical Incident Approach

Critical incidents refer to real experiences in which a co mm unication issue wasinvolved and wh ere appropriate responses we re notclear. M ost com mo nly the termcritical incide nt is associated with the six-stage m odel o f critical incident debriefingdescribed by Mitchell (Everly Mitchell, 1995; Mitchell Ev ery , 1996; Fay, 2000).This form al, structured process is mostly led by trained facilitators (not exclusivelymental health professionals) and occurs soon after a potentially traumatizing event.It involves the telling of a traumatic story, the sharing o f emotions, and th e teachingof com mo n reactions of traum a and coach ing in coping skills (Carr, 2003).We used such a narrative approach to critical and subcritical incidents that we reaffecting our work, hurting ourselves and/or others emotionally, or were ob structinggood and pleasant cooperation betw een the various groups involved in the project.We held a debriefing session after each day o f work. During filming operations weheld after-dinner debriefing sessions with the entire team to have the m speak outand release tension.The pu rpose of this paper is to show a reflection on spaces of intercultural com-munication; because of this, i t is advantageous to give this wo rk a critical approach.This article focuses on observab le, measur able behaviors as it occurs in real situa-ti o n s -n o t artificial (laboratory) ones. It focuses on behavioral extremes that leadto success or failure that can be recognized and internalized easily by the reader.A drawb ack is that critical incidents theory (CIT) relies on observers to recognize,remem ber, and report these incidents accurately. Observers reporting on the sameincident should have the same factual description, in principle, of the actual occur-Figure 1Debriefing Session at T hiruvananthapuram


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W i tt e ve e n a n d E n s e r i n k

r e n c e b u t , i n p r a c t i c e , m a y r e p o r t d i f f e r e n t t h i n g s a n d c a n h a v e d i a m e t r i c a l o p p o s i n gp e r s p e c t iv e s o n w h a t h a p p e n e d d u e t o p e r s o n a l a n d c u l t u r a l b i a se s . I n t h i s p a p e r w es ta r t f r o m t h o s e i n c i d e n t s th a t w e ( t h e D u t c h t e a m m e m b e r s ) n o t i c e d a n d r e p o r t e da s ta n g i b l e a n d c r u c i a l i n c i d e n t s . W e s e l e c t e d 1 5 c r i ti c a l i n c i d e n t s f r o m t h e d o c u -m e n t t h a t r e p o r t s o n t h e d e s i g n a n d p r o d u c t i o n p h a s e o f th e p r o j e c t , a n d s i x f r o m t h eV P A t e s ti n g p h a s e . A l t h o u g h w e f e e l s e cu r e a b o u t t h e o c c u r r e n c e o f th e m e n t i o n e di n c i d e n ts , w e c a n n o t c o m m e n t o n h o w r e p r e s e n t a ti v e t h e y a re a s w e m a y a s s u m et h a t w e h a v e m i s s e d o t h e rs d u e t o o u r o w n b i a s e d W e s t e rn p e r s p e c t iv e . W h a t a d d st o t h e v a l i d i t y o f t h e s e l e c t i o n o f c r i ti c a l i n c i d e n t s a n d t h e n a r r a t iv e s i s t h e c o n t e x to f a f i lm p r o j e c t a s s e v e r a l i n c i d e n t s c a n b e e x e m p l i f i e d w i t h o r i g i n a l f i l m r u s h e s .

A F r a m e w o r k t o A n a l y z e C r i ti ca l I n c i d e n ts

W e r e - c o n s t r u c t e d t h e f r a m e w o r k d e v e l o p e d t o f o c u s o n t h e a n a l y s is o f c u lt u r a lc o n s t r a i n t s i n e d u c a t i o n t o a d a p t t h e c r i t ic a l i n c i d e n t t h e o r i e s t o t h e a n a l y s i s o f o u rs p a c e o f i n te r c u lt u r a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n ( B r i n k m a n a n d W i tt e v e e n , 1 9 9 8 : 7 1 ) . I t i sm a d e u p o f a m a t r i x th a t c o m b i n e s r e l e v a n t p e r s p e c t i v e s o n t h e p r o b l e m a t i c s i t u a t i o nw i t h s e v e r a l le v e l s o f i n te r p r e t a t io n . A n a l o g o u s t o E v e r l y & M i t c h e l l ( 1 9 9 5 ) d o f o rc r i ti c a l i n c i d e n t d e b r i e f i n g w e d i s c e r n e d t h r e e l e v e l s o f i n t e r p r e t a ti o n :

1 . the v is ib le inc ide n t descr ib ing the fac ts as seen by a re la t ive ou ts ider (the narra -tive),2 . the conf l ic t ive in te rpre ta t ion o f the invo lv ed peop le ,3 . t h e d e t e rm in a n t s o r n o t io n s t h a t p ro v id e t e rm s a n d th e o r ie s e x p la in in g th e in c i -den t .

I n c a se o f t h e V P A p r o j e c t, th e d e t e r m i n a n t s o r p e rs p e c t iv e s w i t h i n o u r s p a c e s o fi n t er c u l tu r a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n a r e d i m e n s i o n s o f n a t i o n a l c u l t u re s , a n d d i m e n s i o n sp r o f e s s i o n a l c u l t u r e s , a n d w e w i l l g o i n t o m o r e d e t a i l f o r t h e s e t w o i n t h e n e x t s e c -t io n . H o w e v e r , f r o m o u r 2 1 c r i ti c a l in c i d e n t s, w e n o t i c e d t h a t m a n y o f t h e m d i d n o tj u s t h a v e t o d o w i t h th i s li m i t e d n o t i o n o f c u lt u r e ; s o m e i n c i d e n t s s e e m e d t o h a v en o t h i n g t o d o w i t h c u l t u ra l b a c k g r o u n d , b u t h a d t o d o w i t h d i f f e r e n c e s i n p ro f e s -s i o n a l j u d g m e n t , m e t h o d o l o g i c a l r ig o r , an d p e r s p e c t i v e o n m e d i a u se . O n e c o u l da r g u e t h a t th e s e f a c to r s a r e r e la t e d t o p r o f e s s i o n a l c u l tu r e b u t w e c h o s e t o a d d t h e mt o o u r f r a m e w o r k a s t h e i n c i d e n t s w e r a n i n t o a r e t y p i c a l l y f o r r a p i d a p p r a i s a l a n df i lm i n g p r o j ec t s . F o r n o w w e l a b e l e d t h e m v i e w o n s t a k e h o l d e r a n a ly s i s a n d s o c i all e a r n i n g a n d v i e w o n f i l m i n g W e w i l l c o m e b a c k t o t h is l at er .C o m b i n i n g t h e C I T a n a l y si s w i t h t h e a f o r e m e n t i o n e d p e r s p e c t iv e s l e a d s t o am a t r i x , p r e s e n t e d i n T a b l e 1 t h a t w e u s e d a s a f r a m e w o r k f o r a n a l y s i s o f th e c r i ti c a li n c id e n t s . T h e a p p l i c a ti o n o f t h i s f r a m e w o r k f o r c o n s t r a i n t a n a ly s i s d o e s n o t p r e t e n dt o g i v e a f in a l c o n c l u s i o n o r r e c o m m e n d a t i o n ; r a th e r i t a i m s a t a n e x t e n d e d a n a l y s iso f a c u l tu r a l ly d e f i n e d c o m p l e x s i tu a t io n . W e s e a r c h e d f o r e l e m e n t s w e r e c o g n i z e df r o m e a c h o f t h e f o u r p e r s p e c ti v e s t o h a v e b e e n a t s ta k e d u r i n g t h e V P A p r o j e c t. W ew o u l d l i k e t o s tr e ss h e r e t h a t t h e c o n s c i o u s e l a b o r a t io n a n d u s e o f t h is f r a m e w o r kt o o k p l a c e o n l y a f t e r f in a l i z i n g t h e p r o j e c t .


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T h e n e w d i m e n s i o n w a s d i s c o v e re d w h e n p e o p l e ' s v a l u e s a r o u n d t h e w o r l d w e r es t u d ie d u s i n g a q u e s t i o n n a i re c o m p o s e d b y E a s t e r n ( in t h is c a s e , C h i n e s e ) m i n d s( H o f s t e d e , 1 9 9 1 ) . U s i n g c u l t u r a l d i m e n s i o n s p r o v i d e s a c u l t u r a l v o c a b u l a r y ; t h ef o c u s o n r e v e l a ti o n a n d d e s c r i p t io n o f t h e se f u n d a m e n t a l d i f f e re n c e s p r o v i d e s a ni n s t r u m e n t f o r c u lt u r a l a n a l y s i s , r a t h e r t h a n a s s e s s i n g o r v a l u i n g .D i m e n s i o n s o f P r o f e s s i o n a l C u l t u r e s

I n l in e w i th H o f s t e d e ' s d i m e n s i o n s o f c o r p o r a te c u l tu r e w e d e s c r i b e p r o f e s s i o n a lc u l t u r e a s m o t i v a t i o n , r e la t i o n s h i p , id e n t it y , c o m m u n i c a t i o n , c o n t r o l , a n d c o n d u c t( N e u i j e n , 1 9 9 2 ; H o e c k l i n , 1 9 9 5 ) .

9 M o t i v a t i o n re fe rs t o the ex t en t to wh ich the memb ers of a p rofess iona l cu l ture focuson the process , t he ac t iv i ti es to be prec i se , cons i s t en t and accura t e or fo cus on theoutput , pursue ob jec t ives t ha t a re i nn ovat ive and progress ive .9 R e l a t i o n s h i p re fe rs t o the ex t en t t o which the mem bers of a p rofess iona l cu l ture focuso n t h e n eed o f t h e i n d iv i d u a l o r o n t h e n eed s o f t h e j o b .

9 I d e n t i t y re fe rs t o t he ex t en t to w hich the mem bers o f a p rofess iona l cu l ture i den t i fywi th the profess ion or wi th the em ploying organiza t ion .9 C o m m u n i c a t i o n re fe rs to t he ex t en t t o wh ich the mem bers of a p rofess iona l cu l tures t im u l a t e an o p en co m m u n i ca t i o n sy s t em fo cu sed an d sh a r i n g an d ex ch an g e , o r fo cu son a c losed sy s t em, moni tor ing and cont ro l l i ng shar ing and access t o i n format ion .9 C o n t r o l r e f e r s t o t h e ex t en t t o w h i ch t h e m em b er s o f a p ro fe s s i o n a l cu lt u r e fo cu s o nt igh t sys t ems an d procedures or wo rk f l ex ib le and adapt ive .9 C o n d u c t re fe rs t o t he ex t en t t o which the mem bers o f a p rofess iona l cu l ture focus on

conve nt ions , pu t t ing profess iona l exp er t ise and s t andards f i r s t, o r have a pragm at i cv i ew t o p rev a i l d em an d s o f cu s to m er s .V i e w o n S t a k e h o l d e r A n a l y s i s a n d S o c i a l L e a r n i n g

A s w e e x p l a in e d b e f o r e s o m e i n c i d e n ts s e e m e d t o h a v e t o d o w i t h d if f e r e n c e s inp r o f e s s i o n a l j u d g m e n t , m e t h o d o l o g i c a l r ig o r, a n d p e r s p e c ti v e o n m e d i a u s e r a t h e rt h a n c u l t u r e . W e s u g g e s t e d t h e s e i n c i d e n t s t y p i c a l f o r r a p id a p p r a i s a l a n d f i l m i n gp r o j e c t s . F r o m t h e l i t e r a t u r e o n R A a n d s o c i a l l e a r n i n g w e c a m e u p w i t h t h e f o l -l o w i n g d i m e n s i o n s :

9 P a r t i c i p a t i o n i nd i ca t es t he typo logy of par t i c ipa t ion . Af t e r Pre t ty (1995: 60) par -t i c ipa t ion ranks f rom p ass ive par t i c ipa t ion , par t i c ipa tion in i n form at ion g iv ing , bycon sul tat ion, for material incent ives, func t ional part icipat ion, interact ive part icipat ionto se l f -mobi l i za t ion . Robb (1999) ca t egor i zes t h i s d imens ion as ex t rac t ive versusem p o w er i n g t h e p o o r .9 R e p r e s e n t a t i v i t y i nd i ca t es the ex t en t to w hich par t i c ipant s in a s t akeho lder ana lys i sor rap id app ra i sa l p rocess represen t s t he rea l i t y of t he i ssue a t s t ake .9 L e a r n i n g v e r s u s t e a c h i n g af t e r Pre t ty (1995: 72) re fe rs t o t he ex t en t t o w hich the ou t -s iders ac tua l ly l is t en to t he people i nvolved or main t a in a prefe rence to t each co rrec tmessa ges . L earn in g a l so re fe rs to t he ex t en t to w hich l earn ing i s seen as an e f fec t forloca l people or as an e f fec t for researchers , l oca l people , and o thers i nvolved (Robb,

1999: 67).9 M a s t e r i n g after Pre t ty (1995: 72) refers to the exten t to wh ich the fa ci l i tator i s s t il lskept i ca l and na 'fve versus exper i enced and mot iva t ed . Robb (1999: 67) descr ibes t h i s


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1 0 2 K n o wle d g e , Te c h no lo g y, P o l i c y / W in t e r 2 0 0 7

as t he RR A/P LA i s eas y and cheap not ion versus i t i s p rofess iona l , t oo l s se l ec t ion ,t i m e sp en t i n co m m u n i t i e s .

9 Intrusion versus engage ment i s t he ex t en t t o wh ich s t akeh older ana lys i s ac t iv it i esare assumed to be in t e rvent ions in i t se l f , resu l t i ng f rom the process and thereforecons ider ing the ro l e o f ou t s ider , methodo logy , and impact (expec ta t ions ra i sed) versusthe con s idera t ion o f t he ac t iv i ti es as ob jec t ive , ou t s ide , t emporar i l y , d i s tanced , andnon int rusive (Sl im, 1993 : 147, 151).

9 Reliability: val id i ty and t ru th , t he academic t ru th and da t a -based ev idence versuss tor ies and com bined da t a sources , Can the loca l s takeho lder be an expe r t ?9 17me: value of t ime; wh at i s mo re v a luable , t ime o f the s t akeholders or o f t ha t o f t hefac i l i ta tor ' s . T im e a l so re l a t es to t he l eng th and speeds of t he process , shou ld i t becar r i ed ou t qu ick ly or i s t here t he sensa t ion o f suf f i c i en t t ime ava i lab l e . Roche (1999)r eco m m en d s th i n k i n g ab o u t b a l an c i n g l en g t h an d d ep t h o f en g ag em en t .

View on Fi lmi ngD i m e n s i o n s o n v i e w o n f i lm i n g c a n b e d e f i n e d a s f o ll o w s :9 Footage versus treatment re fe rs t o t he ex t en t t o w hich the f i lming rea li ty , the ac tua l i t yi s suppo sed to be suf f ic i en t ly fasc ina t ing to presen t a lmo st me re foo tage versus thecrea t ive trea tmen t of foo tage , where the audienc e rece ives a t ransforme d ev idence of

rea l i ty (Nicho ls, 2001: 38).9 Parallel versus popu lar cinema (Dat t a , 2003) re fe rs t o com me rc ia l ly based , p rof i t-dr iven pop ular fa i ry t a l e s tory l ine c inem a versus rea l is t i c and a r t c inem a tha t i sof t en base d o n journa l i s ti c o r l i t e ra ry sources .9 Holl ywood versus Bollywood. Iyer (1988: 279-330) descr ibes Bol lyw ood or Hindi

f il m s i n co m p ar i so n t o H o l l y w o o d a s p ro d u c t s o f a m ass -p ro d u c ti o n sy s t em , w h i chcom bine a l ove s tory, a c r ime m elodram a, a musica l , and a mora l parab le i n one s ing lef i lm. In com par i son wi th Ho l lywo od f i lms the Hind i fi lms a re sugg es t ive (no k iss ingor bedroo m scenes) and exce ss ive- -b igger , b roader , louder , and longer ( two-and-a-h a l f h o u r s r a t h e r t h an 9 0 m i n u t e s ) .9 Stage actors versus social actors. Actors w ho are f i lmed can be t rea t ed l ike peoplew h o ju s t sh o u l d d o w h a t w e w a n t th em t o d o s i m i la r t o t h ea tr e a c to r s , o r in li n ew i t h e t h ica l n o t i o n s o f d o cu m en t a ry m ak i n g a r e co n s id e red as so c i a l a c t o r s w h oshare w i th the f i lm crew the s tory of t he i r l ive wi thou t mu ch in t e r fe rence on the i rda i ly rou t ines ra ther t hen t ak ing the i r t ime (N ichol s, 2001) .9 Audience approach re fe rs t o t he cons t ruc t ion by m edia indus t r i es of the audience .

The ex t reme app roaches a re kno wn as t he e f fec t s mod el and the uses and gra ti f ica-t ions mo del (Gi l l Brans ton , 2003: 148). The e f fec t s mo del emph as i ze wh at mediado to t he aud ience w hi l e the uses and gra t i fi ca t ions mo del sees t he audience as anindiv idua l consumer who se l ec t s media for par t i cu l a r needs such as d ivers ion andinformat ion .

A n a d d i t i o n a l e l e m e n t i s t h e n o t i o n t h a t f i l m i n g r e q u i r e s c a r e f u l c o n s i d e r a t i o nr e g a r d i n g t h e t e c h n i c a l i t i e s in o b t a i n i n g s u f f i c ie n t q u a l i t y f o o t a g e . F o r e x a m p l es o u n d r e c o r d i n g i s d o n e a c c o r d i n g t o a d e t e r m i n e d s t y l e b u t it a l s o r e q u ir e s p r o p e rc o n n e c t i o n s , l e v e ls , a n d o t h e r c o n s i d e r a t i o n s t h a t a r e u n d i sp u t a b l e . A n o t h e r e x a m p l ea r e i s s u e s r e g a r d i n g a m b i e n t l i g h t. I t i s a l m o s t i m p o s s i b l e t o d o a n y n o o n t i m e f i lms h o o t i n g . A r o u n d t h a t t i m e t h e r e a r e h a r d l y a n y s h a d o w s l e f t . T h i s r e s u l t s i n t o om u c h c o l d b l u i s h l i g h t a n d c o n t r a s t s d is a p p e a r .


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Cr i t i ca l In c id en t s

I n th e n e x t c o u p l e o f p a ra g r a p h s w e w i l l tr e a t s e v e n c r it i ca l i n c i d e n t s - - - o n e b e f o r et h e s t a rt o f th e p r o j e c t , t h r e e d u r in g t h e m a k i n g o f th e V P A f i l m s i n 2 0 0 3 , a n d t h r e ei n c i d e n t s t h a t o c c u r r e d i n th e f i e l d t e s t w i t h t h e m a t e r i a l s i n K e r a l a i n 2 0 0 4 . T h ei n c id e n t s a r e t a k e n fr o m o u r w o r k d o c u m e n t s a n d d e s c r i b e d a l o n g t h e fr a m e w o r kd e p i c t e d i n T a b l e 1 . T h e v i s i b l e i n c i d e n t s a r e p r e s e n t e d a s a n i n t r o d u c t o r y e x t r a c ta t t h e s t a r t o f e a c h s e c t i o n ; t h e i n t e rp r e t a ti o n ( e m o t i o n s ) o f t h e p e o p l e i n v o l v e d a n dt h e d e t e r m i n a n t s a n d n o t i o n s a r e e l a b o r a t e d i n t h e te x t .M any Assistants No Soun d

In the months preceding th e filming activities in K erala, our Indian counterpart hired aprofessional filming a gen cy to do the job . During the negotiations with o ur counterpartand thi s com pany w e wo ndered about the huge num ber of camera ass is tan ts and theabse nce of any soun d operators o r assistants in the presented bu dge t proposal. U rgen trequests from o ur s ide remained unansw ered and only we reluctant ly agreed upo n theoffer because of t ime constraints . During our f irs t meeting w ith our counterpart w echallenged o ur partner for not answering ou r questions and ask ed him to explain w hyso many assi stan ts were needed and no sound w as inc luded wh en w e had expl ic i tlyasked for i t? Our counterpart repl ied that he had arranged things we ll and had hiredrea l profess iona ls jus t as we had asked h im to do . Only w hen w e me t the fu ll c reww e learned that it is qui te normal in India to have man y cam era assis tants and nospecif ic sound operator . The use of natural sound is uncommon; spoken texts aredub bed in the s tudio and so und effects are added during edi ting.Th i s i nc iden t 4 occu r r ed be f o r e and a t t he s t a rt o f t he f i e l dwork i n I nd i a . W e dou b t ed

w h e t h e r o u r c ou n t e rp a r t k n e w w h a t h e w a s d o i n g a n d w e a l s o w o n d e r e d w h a t k i n do f ar r a n g e m e n t s w a s b e i n g m a d e . W h y d i d h e n o t a d d r es s o u r c o n c e r n s o r a n s w e ro u r p r e t ty s t r a i g h tf o r w a r d q u e s t i o n s ? W e f e a r e d a c o n f r o n t a ti o n w i t h a n a m a t e u r f i l mc r e w w h o d i d n o t e v e n p u t " s o u n d " o n th e i r o f fe r O u r c o u n t e rp a r t w a s p u z z l e d b y o u rc o n c e r n s ; h e h a d m a d e a m a j o r e f fo r t t o a r ra n g e r e a l p r o f e s s io n a l s w h o t o l d h i m t h a ts o u n d w a s n o p r o b l e m a n d t h e n u m b e r o f a s si s ta n t s n e e d e d w a s c o n s i d e r e d n o r m a l .

The exp l ana t ion o f t h is i nc iden t c an be foun d i n d i f f e r ences i n na t iona l cu l t u r e w he rew e c h a l l e n g e d o u r c o u n t e r p a r t 's s e n i o ri t y a n d m a s t e r s h i p o f t h e s i t u a ti o n ( p o w e r d i s -t ance ) . The s econ d exp l ana t i on ha s a p ro f e s s iona l and econ om ic d imens ion : i n con t r a s tt o t h e N e t h e r l a n d s w h e r e l a b o r is v e r y e x p e n s i v e , in I n d i a s k i l le d a n d e x p e r i e n c e dl a b o r e r s s h o u l d n o t w a s t e t i m e a n d e n e r g y o n m a n u a l l a b o r. A f u r th e r e x p l a n a t io n w a sf o u n d r e g a r d i n g d i f f e re n t v i e w s o n f il m i n g a n d f i l m te c h n i q u e . O n c e w e u n d e r s t o o dt h a t n a t u ra l s o u n d r e c o r d i n g w a s u n c o m m o n i n K e ra l a, w e c o n v i n c e d t h e f il m te a mt h a t n a t u ra l s o u n d w a s a r e q u i re m e n t f o r th e V P A p r o d u c t i o n . O n c e t h e y u n d e r s t o o dthe de f i ned f i lm s ty l e t hey m anag ed t o adap t .Preferably a Woman

Af ter filming three interviews with senior m ale indirect stakeholder the production directordec ides it is time to film direct stakeholders, pref erab ly a wo m an. Indian scholars argue


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104 Kno wledg e, Technology, Policy / Winte r 2007

that no wo me n are engaged in fisheries. The D utch team me mbe rs are not convinced butthey do not have sufficient local know ledge to com e up with con crete proposals. Indiancrewmem bers keep quiet. T he D utch propose to give it a try and go out into the com -mun ity close to the backwaters. Without enthusiasm o r conviction this is agreed upon.We meet a lady engag ed in clam picking w hom w e interview the following day on theshore side and while working in the backwaters.

This incident has e lem ents of var ious determ inants or cul tural dimensions . Fr oma profes s iona l pe rspec tive of want ing to use RRA /PLA-l ike m ethodology , and forthe sake of s takeh older representa t ion in our se lect ion, we need ed to eng age an ap-propr iate nu mber o f pr imary s t akeholders. RRA /PRA i s about f ie ldwork; mee t ingpeople a t thei r hom es and place o f work. Unt i l then, we had on ly been speak ing tomale bureau crats in c i ty environm ents . Also fr om a f i lming perspect ive , image s ofbureaucrats in thei r off ice do not provide very a t t ractive visual materia l . Mor eov er50 of the popula t ion i s female and we had not met any female spokesperson ye t.The Indian scholars were hes i tant and re luctant to the idea of interviewing someo neunkn own wi th wh om no f ixed a r rangem ent had been es tab l ished be forehand. I t wassugges ted that we should s t ick to the or iginal idea of making pr ior arrangementswi th in te rv iewees . S ince they d id not know of any w om an en gaged in f i sher i es sheprobably do es not exist . Our proposal to f i lm someo ne they had never met before wastherefo re re jected. This re la tes to the profess ional cul ture dime nsion of control .

Based on our s tanding experience in rural area projects in var ious par ts of thewor ld w e d id not accept the i r a rguments as convinc ing ev idence . We were t i ed tothe convict ion that di rect s takeholders cannot be t race d throug h convent iona l (aca-demic) n e tworks but can of t en be met by mov ing to the ir communi t i e s and p lacesof w ork . This re la tes to the R RA/P LA dimens ion o f mas ter ing.

Figure 2Interviewing the Female Clam Picker


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A n o t h e r a r g u m e n t w a s b r o u g h t t o t h e f o re f r o n t; e v e n i f w e c o u l d f i n d a w o m a ne n g a g e d i n f i s h e r ie s s h e w o u l d p r o b a b l y n o t b e w i l li n g o r b e a b l e t o g i v e a n i n t e r-v i ew . T h e p r o j e c t a s s is t an t s a n d f i lm c r e w k e p t q u i e t d u r i n g t h e d i s c u s s i o n ; t h e yk e p t t h e m s e l v e s n e u t r a l a s t h e s e n i o r s e n g a g e d i n t h e d e b a t e .I n th i s i nc i den t na t i ona l cu l t u r e is i nvo l ved , bo t h po w er d i s t ance and gen de r i s s uesa r e a t s t a k e . S u p p o r t s t a f f , p r o b a b l y m o r e k n o w l e d g e a b l e o f l o c a l c i r c u m s t a n c e sa n d p e o p l e ' s b e h a v i o r , d o e s n o t c o n t r a d i c t th e s e n i o r s t a f f ( p o w e r d is t a n c e ) . T h em a s c u l i n e c h a r a c t e r o f I n d i a n s o c i e t y l a r g e ly e x p l a in s w h y w o m e n a r e c l a s s i fi e d asn o t v e r y i n te r e s ti n g r e s o u r c e p e r s o n s w h i l e t h e D u t c h f e m i n i n e c u l tu r e f e e l s h e s i ta n ti n c a s e o f m a s c u l i n e o v e r r e p r e s e n t a t io n . T h e r e i s a n a d d i t i o n a l e l e m e n t o f u n c e r -t a i n ty a v o i d a n c e i n c o m b i n a t i o n w i t h a s p e c i fi c p r o f e s s i o n a l / a c a d e m i c c u l t u r e ; tos m o o t h e n o u r p r o j e c t o u r I n d i a n c o u n t e rp a r t s h a d e n g a g e d a l a r g e n u m b e r o f p o te n t ia lr e s o u r c e p e o p l e a n d h a d s e n t o u t i n v it a ti o n s f o r p r e - a r r a n g e d m e e t i n g s ; a n o f f ic i a lu n i v e r si ty l e tt e r c o n f i r m e d a ll m e e t in g s . C h a n g i n g t h e s c h e m e w o u l d g e n e r a t e e m -b a r r a s s m e n t a n d h a s s le a n d p e o p l e w o u l d h a v e t o b e c o m p e n s a t e d f o r l o ss o f ti m e .A c l e a r m e t h o d o l o g i c a l ( p r o fe s s i o n a l ) is s u e i s a t s ta k e t o o : t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i v e n e s so f th e s t a k e h o l d e r s s e l e c t e d f o r th e i n t e rv i e w s . D i s r e g a r d i n g t h e w o m e n ( 5 0 % o ft h e c o a s t a l p o p u l a ti o n ) i s n o t th o u g h t o f w h e n d o i n g a R R A - l i k e f i e ld s tu d y . H e r em a s t e r in g t h e m e t h o d o l o g y a n d e n g a g e m e n t w e r e t h e m a i n d i m e n s i o n s w h e r e d i f-f e r e n c e s w e r e t a n g i b le a s t h e I n d i a n a c a d e m i c c o u n t e r p a r t s at th i s s t a g e w e r e o n l ys ta r ti n g to l e a r n a b o u t R R A m e t h o d o l o g y . A s R R A / P L A - l i k e a p p r o a c h e s a r e v e r ym u c h o r i en t e d to w a r d s d i r e c t e n g a g e m e n t w i t h l o ca l p e o p l e a n d h a v e t h e m e x p r e sst h e i r c o n c e r n s a n d i s su e s , t h e p r o f e s s io n a l c u l t u r e a t m a n y I n d i a n u n i v e r s i t ie s i s a na c a d e m i c o n e w i t h a fo c u s o n d e s k r e s e a r c h a n d l a b o r a t o r y t es ts .The All Knowing Translator

A translator is ne ed ed to translate ou r carefu lly prepa red non-directive gene rativequestions since neither of the Du tch observers spoke M alayalam. H e also needs toreport back on the answers in order to know how to continue. O nce intervieweesstart telling stories the y bec om e mor e enthusiastic, they talk faster, an d translationgets harder . At t imes the only back report ing we get is that is a v ery good answer,very interes ting Esp ecially during the first interviews w ith prim ary stakeholderswe somet imes wondered about the l ength of the quest ions asked. Or w e w ould hearour t ranslator men t ion Tamil N ad u wh ich is the neighboring s tate f rom w herecocon ut husk is imported, an issue wh ich was not m ent ioned in the quest ion thatwa s to be translated.T h i s i s a n e x a m p l e o f a c o m m o n p r o b l e m i n m a n y p r o j e c ts w h e n r e s e a r c h e rs d o

n o t m a s t e r t h e l o c a l la n g u a g e .W e h a d n o t h i r e d a tr a n s l a t o r d u r i n g t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f t h e V P A , s o d i f f e r e n tm e m b e r s o f t h e t e a m h a d t o t a k e o n t h a t r ol e. T h e r e w e r e p r o b l e m s ; t h e y d i d n o tt r a n sl a te , t h e y i n t e r p r e te d . T h e u n i v e r s i t y s c h o l a r th o u g h t t h a t t h e a n s w e r s g i v e n b yt h e l o c a l s ta k e h o l d e rs w e r e n o t t o t h e p o in t ; h e k n e w b e tt er . W e w e r e a n n o y e d a n dd i s ap p o i n te d ; i t s e e m e d t h at o u r e x t e n s iv e i n t ro d u c t i o n o n R R A / P L A m e t h o d o l o g ya n d t h e e x p l a n a t i o n a s t o w h y i t w a s i m p o r t a n t t o h a v e p e o p l e t e ll t h e i r o w n s t o ri e sh a d b e e n m i s u n d e r s to o d . O u r I n d i a n c o l l ea g u e s w e r e c o n f u s e d a n d p e r h a p s i n ti m i -d a t e d b y o u r a r r o g a n t i n t e r p re t a t io n o f t h e m h a v i n g p o o r t r a n s la t i o n s k i ll s. T h e y


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h a d t r a n s la t e d w i th t h e i n t e n t io n t o i m p r o v e t h e q u a l i ty o f th e a n s w e r s r e c e i v e df r o m t h o s e b e i n g i n t e rv i e w e d ; o t h e r w i s e , w o u l d n ' t t h e s t u d e n ts l e a r n t h e w r o n gt h i n g s ? T h e y a r g u e d t h a t o u r e x p e c t a ti o n s , w i t h r e g a r d t o t h e i n t e ll e c tu a l c a p a c i t yf o r a b s t r a c ti o n o f o u r i n t e r v ie w e e s , w e r e t o o h i g h .T h e r e is a R R A / P L A d i m e n s i o n h e r e . T h e i n t e r v i e w e e is a l w a y s ri g h t w h e n i tc o m e s t o t e l l i n g t h e i r o w n s t o r i e s . F o r t h a t , w e r e c o r d e d t h e i n t e r v i e w e e ' s t r u t hn o t t h e t r u t h o f t h e a n a l y s t. O u r I n d i a n c o l l e a g u e s r e l u c t a n t ly w e n t a l o n g , a st h e y p r e f e r r e d to i m p r o v e t h e a n s w e r s t h a t w e r e b e i n g g i v e n . T h e y w o u l d o f t e nm o d i f y t h e i n t e r v i e w e r ' s w o r d s w h e n t h e a n s w e r g iv e n w a s n o t in l i ne w i t h t h em o n o d i s c i p li n a r y b a c k g r o u n d o f t h e u n i v e r s it y s c h ol ar . T h e y h a d n o t r e a li z e d t h em e t h o d o l o g i c a l r e q u i r e m e n t s o f w o r k i n g o n a V P A . I t s h o u ld b e n o t e d t h a t a f t e rt h e i n c i d e n t t h e I n d i a n c o l l e a g u e s t u r n e d o u t t o b e q u i c k s t u d ie s . I n o n e o f t h ef o l l o w i n g i n t e r v ie w s t h e i n t e r v i e w e e w a s d e n y i n g t h e p r e s e n c e o f s a n d - m i n e r s i nt h e b a c k w a t e r s , a n a c t iv i t y w e h a d f i lm e d t h e d a y b e f o r e . N o o n e b a t t e d a n e y e ,h o w e v e r o n o u r w a y b a c k i t t u r n e d o u t t o b e t h e t a lk o f th e d a y .

D i f f e r e n c e on t h e w a y f i l m i n g w a s v i e w e d a ls o p l a y e d a r o l e. V P A i n t e rv i e w sa r e m a d e u p o f ra t h e r r a w f o o t a g e a s c o m p a r e d t o d o c u m e n t a r i e s b a s ed o ne l a b o r a t e t r e a t m e n t s o r i n t e r v i e w s w i t h a n a n a l y s t t e l l i n g t h e " o b j e c t i v e t r u t h . "I n a V P A i n t e r v i e w o n e p e r s o n i s b e i n g p o r t r a y e d a n d i t i s h i s o r h e r s t o r y t h a ti s be i ng t o l d .

O n e t h i n g d o e s s t a n d o u t a f te r e v e r y t h i n g th a t w e w e n t t h r o u g h w o r k i n g o n t h eV P A s . T r a n s l a t i o n i s a h a r d j o b . I f y o u h a p p e n t o c o m e a c r o s s a g o o d t r a n s l a t o r,h o l d o n t o h i m t i g h t S p e a k i n g f i g u r a t iv e l y , o f c o u r s e .The Night Fisher

We co me across a m an w ho f ishes for shr imp a t n ight us ing a cas t ing ne t whi le onscout ing locat ion in Cherai . Both his profession and the pecul iar roadside/pondside locat ion cal led for a VPA interview. However , the Indian coo rdinator decidedthat "w e are no t going to f i lm the sh r imp f isher late in the ev ening becau se we wil lhave problem s w i th the l ight. " A f te r ins i s tence f rom the D utch d i rec tor tha t theinterview seem s to match establ ished cr i ter ia for stakeholders to include, and up onconfirm at ion of the Indian associate director that he is the one to take decis ions onl ight ing issues, w e agree to com e back. T he director and associate director wa ntto use the last gl impse o f dayl ight for an int roduc tory shot upon arr ival that night.I t i s then d ecide d that "there is no bod y" and the un iversi ty team go es out for tea.Th e f i lm crew stays behind an d prepares the set. O nce the f isherman arrived, wefi lmed a very tou ching and m eaning ful interview.The n igh t f i sher i n c i d e n t o c c u r r e d d u r i n g t h e f i r st d a y s o f f i l m i n g .

G r o u p d y n a m i c s m i g h t h a v e p l a y e d a r o l e a t t h i s s t a g e a s t h i s i n c i d e n t h a st o d o w i t h c o n t r o l a n d a c l a s h o f n a t io n a l a n d p r o f e s s i o n a l c u l t u r e s . T h ea u t h o r i t y o f t h e f e m a l e d i r e c t o r is o v e r r u l e d w h e n t h e I n d i a n c o o r d i n a -t o r d e c i d e s t h i s i s n o t t h e ri g h t m o m e n t a n d t h e l ig h t i n g i s a ll w r o n g . T h ed i r e c t o r , a n n o y e d b y t h i s i n t e r f e r e n c e in f i lm m a t t e r s , tr i e s to c o u n t e r t h ec o o r d i n a t o r b y m e t h o d o l o g i c a l r i g o r a n d b y s e e k i n g s u p p o r t f r o m h e r f i lmc o l l e a g u e s . T h e t w o s u b t e a m s s e p a r a t e u p o n a r r iv a l . A t l e a s t n o o n e l o s e sf a c e a n d p r o d u c t i o n c a n c o n t i n u e .


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Witteveen and Enserink 1 7

Figure 3Interviewing the Night Fisher

An important e lement here is masculini ty; i t being important for the Indiancoordinator to be recognized as being in charg e even whe n i t is not his domain.An element of uncerta inty avoidance might be there too since fi lming along acongested road in the dark is not a very comm on w orking environm ent for a sc i-entist. Here we also conn ect to profession al dimen sions as control, conduct, andidentity. The stakeholder dimension of time also plays its role, fi lming a nightfisher will definitely take place after office working hours. Representativity isanother determining elem ent as the night f isher exemplifies a bias for work ingduring office hours 9 to 5) that we had almost overlooked during the stakeholderselection. We did not real ize the divergence between the w orking hours of theprodu ction team as opposed to w orking hours o f stakeholders enga ged in fisheries.The factor identity played along wh en calling for the Indian co-director for supporton l ight ing issues. The co-director was t rapped. The joine d fi lm ident i ty with thefemale director confl ic ted with the pow er distance of the Ind ian coordinator. Hisfi lm ident i ty prevailed when he indicated that l ight ing issues were to be tackledby the film crew and not be a constraint in this case.Final ly, as i t can be seen here from the story, the foo tag e-- the nice pic ture ,the pecul iar locat ion o f these fishing act ivi t ies in ponds a longs ide a congeste droa d- -tr i gg ere d the fi lm team on doin g locat ion scouting in the firs t place. Lo-cat ion scouting is a typical f i lm thing that analysts w ould no t go for except forthe stakeholders . Locat ion scouting in this project was re la ted direct ly to thein t roduc tory docum enta ry and not to the RRA /PLA inte rviews and s takeholderselect ions. In this case the images seemed to coincide with re levant groups ofstakeholders often neglec ted in officia l s tudies as their act ivi t ies are do ne afteroffice hours.


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u n n a r o n S t a g e

The fourth gro up's presentation, the interview with G racy, culminated with the discussionthat Gracy did not have any relevance to oar problem and she was a perfect actress anddeserves an award. Th e grou p mem bers ' visual solution appraisal and their criticism o nthe fishermen folk were formulated, as a change of m inds et is needed. The presenteradded, Th e answers the interviewee has given are not to the point and we used discus-sion within the group to determine her problem. W e felt a n ee d to d ef en d G racy.O u r f e m a l e f ac i li t at o r g a v e f e e d b a c k b y a s k i n g I f G r a cy w a s a g o o d a c to r , w h ot h e n w a s d i r e c t in g h e r ? T h e p r e s e n t e r s e e m e d c o n f u s e d n o ti c i n g t h a t a l a d y w a sr e b u f f in g h i m , b u t k n e w n o t h o w t o r e ac t. H e s h i f te d t o t h e f r o n t o f h is c h a i r a n ds ta r ted sp eak ing in a loud vo ice . She to ld h im tha t she was pe r fec t ly ab le to hea rh i m a n d a s k e d h i m t o s i t b a c k . T h e l a d ie s i n h is g r o u p s m i l e d w h e n t h e s p o k e s -m an w as rebuf fed . Our m a le fac i li t a to r add ed to the c r i t i c i sm by s t r e ss ing theyw e r e t o a n a l y z e th e s i tu a t io n a n d n o t t o g o l o o k i n g f o r a n s w e r s t o a p r o b l e m t h a tt h e y d i d n o t k n o w a b o u t y e t. M o r e o v e r, i t s e e m e d t h e y w e r e o n l y l o o k i n g f o rc o n f i r m a t i o n o f t h e i r o w n p r e c o n c e i v e d i d ea s . S h o u l d G r a c y n o t k n o w b e s t w h a th e r p r o b l e m s a r e ? A F o r e s tr y D e p a r t m e n t e x e c u ti v e , w o r k i n g w i t h i n d i g e n o u sp e o p l e , f u l ly s u p p o r t e d o u r a n a l y s is o f s o c i a l c l a ss b i a s e s a n d m e t h o d o l o g i c a lf la w s . T h e s p o k e s m a n f o r t h e g r o u p t h e n s t ar te d t a l k i n g lo u d t o h i s s u b g r o u pm e m b e r s a n d a n n o u n c e d h e h a d t o g o t o t h e b a th r o o m . H e n e v e r c a m e b a c k.

T h i s i n c i d e n t s p r o ut s f r o m a p i l o t p r o j e c t w e d i d i n 2 0 0 4. F o u r t w o - d a y w o r k s h o p sw e r e h e l d t o te s t th e i m p a c t o f th e V P A w i t h s t a k e h o l d e r g r o u p s . M u n n a r w a s t h es e c o n d w o r k s h o p .T h e r e w a s a c l e a r p re f e r e n c e in t h e w o r k s h o p s to c h o o s e i n f o r m a n t s th a t w ec a t e g o r i ze d a s s e c o n d a r y s t a k e h o l d e r s - - p e o p l e p r o f e s s io n a l l y i n v o l v e d w i t h t h ep r o b l e m s o f t h e c o as t a l z o n e ( S e e T a b l e 1 ). E s p e c ia l l y w i t h h i g h e r e d u c a t e d a n dh igh e r soc ia l s t r at a peop le th i s b i as seem ed s t ronge r ; t he mo s t conse rva t ive in th i sr e s p e c t w e r e t h e g r o u p o f p r in c i p a l s in M u n n a r . P a r ti c ip a n t s i n th e M u n n a r w o r k -sho p w ere m os t ly au tho r i t a tive sc i en ti s t s ; r eg i s tr a r s , schoo l p r inc ipa l s , and reade rso f v a r i o u s s c h o o l s o f e n g i n e e r in g . S e v e r al w e r e c o n n e c t e d to C U S A T ' s N a t i o n a lS e r v i c e S c h e m e ( N S S ) . N S S s e n d s v o l u n t e e r s t u d e n t s t o w o r k w i t h g r a s s - r o o t sl eve l o rgan iza t ions .Th e re i s a lo t o f em ot ion in th i s inc iden t : bod y l angu age expre sse s c l ea r angu i sh ,s u p p o r t e d b y l o u d v o i c e s a n d c o n f i r m i n g sm i l e s . W e a l so f e l t o f f e n d e d o n b e h a l f o fa n i n t e r v i e w e e . N a t i o n a l c u l t u r e s ar e a d e t e r m i n i n g fa c to r . T h e r e m a r k s f r o m t h eW e s t e r n f e m a l e f a c i li t a to r a re s e e n a s d i s r e s p e c t f u l a n d u n d e r m i n i n g t h e a u t h o r -i t y o f t h e o ld e r , m a l e , h i g h - r a n k i n g o ff i c ia l w h o a c t e d a s a s p o k e s m a n . M o r e o v e rt h e r e is a h u g e p o w e r d i s ta n c e a n d k n o w l e d g e d i s ta n c e b e t w e e n t h e u n i v e rs i t ys c h o l a r a n d t h e p o o r i l li te r a te G r a c y i n t h e i n te r v ie w , w h o s e h o u s e w a s w a s h e daway by the sea .Th e s t a r t o f t he inc iden t was a m e tho do lo g ica l i s sue . As was ind ica ted by the fa -c i li ta to rs , t he cho ice o f r e sponden t s see me d h igh ly b ia sed . Th ese pa r t i cipan t s seem edt o p r e f e r t a l k i n g to p e o p l e w h o a r e l i ke t h e m s e l v e s ( S e e T a b l e 2 f o r t h e c h o i c e o f


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W i t te v e e n a n d E n s e r i n k 1 9

T a b l e 2F r e q u e n c y o f C h o i c e s p e r R e s o u r c e P e r s o n i n t h e K e r a l a W o r k s h o p S e r i e s

2 x11 x x10 x x x9 x x x8 x x x x7 x x x x6 x x x x x x5 x x x x x x4 x x x x x x x3 x x x x x x x x x

2 x x x x x x x x x x xX X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8Notes ( N = 2 1 g r o u p s ; R = r e s p o n d e n t ; Q = f r e q u e n c y o f c h o i c e )P r i ma ry s t a ke ho l de r s : wh i t e ; s e c onda ry s t a ke ho l de r s : g ra y h i gh l i gh t

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x x x

x x x x

9 0 1 2 3 R

r e s p o n d e n t s ) . T h e c r i t i c i s m w a s i n te r p r e te d a s an o f f e n s e a s t h e y w e r e u n i v e r s i t ye x p e r ts w h o k n o w w h a t th e p r o b l e m s a re . U n f o r t u n a t e l y t h i s o n e p a r t ic i p a n t w a sn o t a b l e t o r e c o g n i z e h i s e x p e r t b ia s ; th e f e m a l e m e m b e r s o f h is g r o u p d i d . I s s u e so f a u d i e n c e a p p r o a c h d o p l a y a ro l e a s w e l l. F o r m a l l y w e w i l l s u p p o r t t h e i d e a th a ta n a u d i e n c e i s f r e e i n i t s i n t e r p r e ta t io n a n d u s a g e o f t h e f i l m s . H o w e v e r w e f e l tt h a t w e n e g l e c t e d G r a c y w h e n d i d n o t s p e a k u p o n h e r b e h a lf .Critical Debate

C o n t r a r y t o t h e o th e r w o r k s h o p s , t h e w o r k s h o p i n P a n a v a l l y P a n c h a y a t is c o n d u c t e di n M a l a y a l a m . D u t c h s t a f f m e m b e r s c a n n o t f o l l o w th i s lo c a l l a n g u a g e b u t r e a d f r o mt h e r e a s s u r in g s m i l e s o f th e I n d i a n f a c il it a to r s t h a t t h e w o r k s h o p i s g o i n g f i ne . T h eD u t c h f a c i l i t a t o r s o b s e r v e a n d d e p e n d o n t h e i r I n d i a n c o l l e a g u e s a n d o t h e r s w h os p e a k E n g l i s h a n d t r a n sl a te e v e r y n o w a n d t h e n . T h e D u t c h n o t i c e s im i l a r p a t te r n sf r o m o t h e r w o r k s h o p s o c c u r b u t t h e y a r e u n a b l e t o a c t u p o n t h e i r o b s e r v a t io n s .

M o s t p a r t i c i p a n ts a r e i n s o m e w a y o r a n o t h e r p o l i t ic i a n s o r e l e c te d r e p r e s en t a t iv e so f g r a s s - r o o t o r g a n i z a t i o n s s t i r ri n g a l o t o f b o i s t e r o u s ( p o l i ti c a l? ) d e b a t e . I t is n o tc l e a r t o th e D u t c h i f th e i r to n e o f v o i c e i s in t e n d e d t o b e n e g a t i v e o r j u s t a n o r m a lw a y t o d i s c u ss t h i n g s . O n e o u t s p o k e n p a r t ic i p a n t c o m p l a i n s t h a t th e i n t e r v ie w e e s a r eb i a s e d a n d d o n o t s p e a k t h e tr u th . T h i s c o m e s t o u s a s a s h o c k . W e d o n o t u n d e r s t a n di f t h e c ri ti c a l r e m a r k s m a d e r e f e r t o t h e V P A m e t h o d o l o g y o r to s o m e t h i n g e ls e . T h ea c c u s a t i o n i s c o u n t e r e d b y e x p l a i n i n g t h a t i n o u r m e t h o d o l o g y i n t e r v i e w e e s a r e a l -l o w e d t o t e ll t h e ir o w n s to r y . M u c h t o o u r s u r p r is e t h i s w o r k s h o p r a n k e d h i g h e r ( t h ee v a l u a t i o n is m o r e p o s i ti v e ) t h an t h o s e o f t h e p r e c e d i n g w o r k s h o p s a c c o r d i n g t o th e


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110 Knowledge, Technology, Policy / Winter 2007

Figure 4Critical Debate at PanavaHy Panchayat

written evaluations we received after the event.The critical debate incident is a very positive experience. Dutch staff mem -bers see their Indian colleagues work hard and see workshop participants engagein lively debates. Now and then we get reassuring smiles and remarks from Indiancolleagues, "we'r e doing great, they are all heavily engaged " We are relieved; theVPA wo rks with local grass-root stakeholders. Obviously the m ethod can be u sedand facilitated successfully by others and the investment in dubbing the Englishlanguage interviews into Malayalam and in translating the wo rkbooks d oes pay off.However, the Dutch staff mem bers feel superfluous and useless as they are onlyparticipating as observers, not active participants. They are puzzled by the fierce

and em otional debates, especially with m ale participants arguing an d g esticulatingloudly. We are accuse d of having filmed stakeholders who are biased by not givingright and objective information.Our In dian colleagues are in control and doing fine. They are manag ing the pro-cess. They div ide tasks, distribute interviews, deb rief groups after their interviews,and stimulate them to present and discuss their analyses. They see local politicianshold their rhetoric underlining their points with gestures and loud voices as it iscustoma ry in Kerala.Th e Westerners' confusion has to do partly with lang uage proficiency. Malay alam,one o f the oldest Dravidian languages, is complex and has tones, sounds, and rhythm sthat largely differ from Latin an d No rdic tongues. We wo uld have neede d instanttranslations in o rder to be able to un derstand the locals. We cannot rely solely onthe interpretation of events as given by the translators. Our ex periences with bad


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Witteveen and Enser ink

a n d b i a s e d t r a n s l a to r s d u r i n g f i e l d w o r k m a k e t h is a c t i o n n e c e s s a r y .T h e c o m p l a i n t b y t h e o u t s p o k e n p a r ti c ip a n t t h a t t h e i n t e r v i e w e e s a r e b ia s e d c o m e s

a s a s u r p r is e . T h e r e i s a c l e a r t e n s i o n h e r e b e t w e e n e x p e c t a t i o n s a b o u t c l a s s i c a lt e a c h i n g ( t h e tr u t h ) a n d s o c i a l le a r n i n g ( a b o u t o t h e r p e o p l e ' s t r u t h s ) i n a V P A / R R Aa p p r o a c h . T h e r e i s a l s o a t e n s i o n i n p r o f e s s i o n a l c u l tu r e ; t h e f i e l d w o r k h a v i n g a l e s si n t ru s i v e c h a r a c te r ; th e a n a l y s ts b e i n g d i s t a n c e d o u t s i d e r s lo o k i n g t h r o u g h c a m e r al e n s e s, t h e a c t u a l w o r k s h o p s w i t h d i r e c t c o n f r o n t a t i o n b e t w e e n o p i n i o n s a r e a b o u ta c tu a l p h y s i c a l e n g a g e m e n t a n d c r e a ti n g a g e n c y a s d e s c r i b e d b y L o n g ( 1 9 89 ) a n dL e e u w i s ( 2 0 0 4 ) .

G o o d P r o b l e m Th a t C a m e Too La t eWe cha l lenged the part icipants to look b eyon d the known , to w iden their scope,to look at interrelated issues and r em em ber the long-term perspect ive with a s toryabout problems: Absence of dr inking wa ter is only a problem whe n others do notwa nt to share their water or don't a l low m e to drink. But w hy does m y neighbo r notwant to share her water wi th me? I s i t because I d id n ot t ake care of her ch i ld whenshe asked me to last week, or maybe because our parents were quarrel l ing oversomething and w e w ere told to keep apar t? T hose are real problems: not wan t ingto share scarce resources for other reasons than just scarcity. A problem becom es areal problem wh en people are involved.O ne ma n's react ion. Yes. You are right, w e keep the safe s ide; we know wh at theprob lems are but w e can no t add ress them properly. It is politics; w e live in Vipeen,som e 8 km s i t is to the Per iar River , a major source o f f resh water . We know how tolay pipes, w e know how to solve the problem, but s ti ll we d on 't have dr inking waterand lorries a re com ing to br ing fresh w ater . I t is n ot technical but w hen I speak out ,I wi l l be t ransferred again as i t has hap pened fou r t imes before and I m ight lose myjob and the fam ily wil l be hurt . He re I can speak about i t but not outside and w e al lkno w this is happening . . . .

T h e f i n a l i n c i d e n t th a t w e w i ll p r e s e n t i n th i s p a p e r o c c u r r e d d u r i n g t h e f o u r t hw o r k s h o p w i t h a l o t o f f i e l d w o r k e r s p r e s e n t f r o m t h e M i n i s t r y o f F i s h e r i e s . A tt h e e n d o f th e f i rs t d a y m o s t g r o u p s m e t w i t h t h r e e o f t h e f i lm e d s t a k e h o l d e r s . W ei n t e r ru p t e d t h e m e e t i n g a n d c o n f r o n t e d t h e m f o r t h e i r s e lf - s e r v in g c h o i c e o f r e s p o n -d e n t s - - o n l y p e o p l e li ke t h e m s e lv e s , e d u c a t e d o ut si d e rs a n d h e l p e r s n o t t h e a c tu a lg r a s s -r o o t p e o p l e w h o w e r e a c t u a l ly e x p e r i e n c i n g th e p r o b l e m . T h e F i s h e r i e s p e o p l es e e m e d to h a v e t h e s a m e e x p e r t b ia s a s t h e p r i n c ip l e s o f t h e M u n n a r w o r k s h o p , b u tt h a t w a s n o t t h e c a s e . T h e y d e n i e d t h e y w e r e n e g l e c t i n g g r a s s -r o o t p e o p l e a s t h e yw o r k e d w i th f i sh e r m e n a n d w o m e n ' s o r g a n iz a t io n s in t h e i r d a i ly j o b s . W e w e r en o t s a ti s fi e d w i t h t h is e x p l a n a t io n a n d c h a l l e n g e d t h e m f u r t h e r . O u r e x a m p l e , t h ep r o b l e m i s n o t th e e m p t y g la s s , b u t t h a t n o o n e w a n t s to f il l i t h i t h o m e . T h e r e w a sa n e m o t i o n a l a n d s t ro n g r e a c t io n f r o m o n e m a n ( S e e A b o v e ) , w h i c h w a s c o n f i r m e db y o t h e r s p r es e n t . H e s p o k e t ru t h a n d a k i n d o f c o l le c t i v e i n d i g n a t i o n t h a t c o u l d b ef e l t a m o n g a l l p re s e n t. R o o m w a s c r e a t e d t o m a k e t h e p r o b l e m a n a l y s i s m o r e c o n c i s ea n d t o i n d i c a t e th e d r i v in g f o r c e s u p h o l d i n g p r o g r e s s b y i d e n t i f y i n g c o r r u p t i o n a n dp o l i ti c a l a r b it r a ri n e s s. T h e n e x t d a y a l l g r o u p s i n t e r v i e w e d t h e p r i m a r y s t a k e h o l d -e r s. T h e i r a n a l y s e s a n d p l a n s o f a c t io n w e r e m o r e p o l i ti c a l in c h a r a c t e r a n d m o r ea c t io n - o r ie n t e d t h a n t h o s e f r o m p r e v i o u s w o r k s h o p s . W e w e r e p u z z l e d. W h y d i d


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112 K now ledge , Technology , Po l icy / W inter 2007

they no t address co r rup t ion and po l i t ics f rom the very beg inn ing?Nat iona l cu l tu re m ay exp la in w hy fundam enta l soc ie ta l p rob lems were n o t ad -d ressed f rom the s tar t. T he la rge pow er d i s tance in Ind ia makes i t hard to exerc i secri tic ism; m oreov er as the incident shows, you m ight be p unished for exercis ing crit i-cism against those in power. Co l lec t iv ism --b elo ngi ng o a specif ic social group--- isalso s t rong in Indian society as a ref lect ion of the off icially d iscarde d ancient cas tesystem, which supports the s tatus quo and discourages upward social mobi l i ty .Rela t ionsh ip and iden t i ty as e lem ents in the F i sher ies depar tm en t ' s p ro fess iona lcu l tu re con t r ibu te to the exp lana t ion o f the i r behav io r and cho ices m ade dur ing theworkshop. Their referenc e to their dai ly wo rk with local s takeholders is an indicat ionfor that and part ly explains why the y s t ick to pol it ical ly acceptable non-c ontent iou si ssues. Th e R RA /PLA charac te r i st ics o f in trus ion and engag em ent a re ano ther fac-tor in p lay. The t rain ing here c om es to a cr i t ical point wh en part ic ipants take thes tep to engag e ac t ive ly in the p rob lemat ic s i tuat ion they hav e been ana lyz ing . Thefac i li t ato rs' in te r fe rence b rough t abou t the change f rom be ing observ ing ou ts idersto enga gem ent ; they iden t i f ied themselves wi th the R RM PL A ou ts ide ana lys ts ,ge t t ing the i r m ot iva tion f rom the m ethodo log y and the i r p ro fess iona l perspec t iveon social learning processes . In their respect ive ro les facil i ta tors and part ic ipantstoge ther c rea ted agency the wi l l and mot iva tion fo r change .

D i s c u s s i o nThe ramework

The f i lming was he lp fu l wi th unrave l ing and g iv ing mean ing to the c r i ti ca l in -c iden ts and g iv ing us c lues ho w to hand le in comparab le s i tua t ions accord ing tofour per spec t ives--n at iona l , profess ional , s takeholder analysis, and social learning.By fo rmula t ing the inc iden t it induces the nar ra t ive unders tand ing o f the i s sue a ts take. Jus t l ike in a theater perform ance, the events and roles s tar t to unfold leadinginev i tab ly to f r ic t ion and c lashes dur ing the F i rs t Act - - som eth in g a l ready expec tedby th e careful observer . In the S econ d Act , these ro les in terpreted by the actors in-volve d according to their (subject ive) v iew an d in l ine w ith their (cultural) not ionsand con vict ions . Th e Third Act t r ies to analyze the inc ident more precisely for i tsde te rminan ts and no t ions . The four perspec tives a re com plex though he lp fu l as theyunder l ine tha t d i f fe rences in na t iona l cu l tu res a re p rom inen t bu t o ther d i f fe rencesneed c ons idera t ion to be p rec i se in judgm ent .A great advantage of the fram ewo rk is that i t helps to unravel the incident ; it forcesto d is t inguish betw een facts, the in terpretat ions , and determ inants . This un ravel inglowers the em ot ion a tt ached to the inc iden t and may p resen t ways to cope wi ththe inc iden t and /o r sugges t m ore f ru i tfu l ways fo r coopera t ion and con t inua t ion o fthe project . The inciden t is a learn ing opportuni ty for al l involved in adapt ing tocircumstances .The f ramework g ives mean ing to the inc iden ts descr ibed and the def in i t ionsof na t iona l and p ro fess iona l cu l tu res and the i r d imens ions come f rom theore t ica ls o urces , b u t t h e d i m en s i o n s o f R R A / PLA m e t h o d o l o g y an d Vi ew o n f i lm i n gcan b e categ orized as eclect ic elaborat ions us ing the authors ' person al libraries oro therwise no t ions p rominen t in the p ro jec t. O ur a rgum ent to d i s t ingu ish be tween


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W i t t e v ee n a n d E n s e r i n k 3

t h e m a n d a d d t h e m t o t h e f ra m e w o r k h a s t o d o w i t h t h e m e t h o d o l o g i c a l r e q u i r e m e n t so f R R A / P L A a n d t h e s p ec if ic p r o f e s s io n a l c u lt u ra l a n d t e c h n o l o g i ca l re q u i r e m e n t s o ff i lm mak in g , wh ich d i s t ingu i shes the se ac t iv it i es f rom m ore gene ra l cu l tu ra l no t ions .W e a c k n o w l e d g e th e f r a m e w o r k i n it s c u r re n t f o r m a n d i t s p r e d e c e s s o r t h a t w e u s e ddur in g the p ro jec t a s a too l w e fe l t ope ra t iona l in an in t e rna t iona l and in t e rcu l tu ra lp r o j ec t . I n o u r p r o je c t u n d e r s t a n d i n g t h e s p a c e o f in t e r c u lt u r a l c o m m u n i c a t i o nd i d s e r v e a s a t o o l f o r r i s k m a n a g e m e n t . F o r o t h e r p r o j e c ts t o o i t m i g h t e n h a n c e t h ea n t i c ip a t i o n o f c u l t u r a l - d e te r m i n e d fr i c ti o n s a n d i n c o n g r u e n c i e s a n d m a y l e a d t ou n d e r s t a n d i n g f o r a ll i n v o l v e d w h a t i s b e h i n d i n c i d e n t s a n d f r i ct i o n s a n d t o b e t t e ru n d e r s t a n d e x p e c t a t i o n s a n d b e h a v io r . H o w e v e r , a s t h e f r a m e w o r k f o c u s e s o n t h eana lys i s o f c r i ti c a l i nc iden t s , i t f a i ls t o shed a l i gh t on spec i f ic f ac to r s l e ad ing tos u c c e s s t h a t c an b e e x t r a c t e d f r o m t h e m o s t p o s i t iv e e x p e r ie n c e s i n s i d e t h e s p a c eo f i n t e r cu l t u ra l c o m m u n i c a t i o n .Choo se Your a t t l e

The c r i t i c a l i nc iden t s e l abora ted above exempl i fy the cu l tu ra l d i spa r i t i e s andd y n a m i c f r ic t io n s w e e x p e r i e n c e d in o u r s p a c e o f i n t e rc u l tu r a l c o m m u n i c a t i o n . O u ra d v a n t a g e w a s t h e d e t e r m i n a t i o n o f b o t h t h e I n d i a n a n d D u t c h p a r t n e rs t o m a k e t h ep r o j e c t a s u c c e s s a n d b y r e a li z i n g b e f o r e h a n d t h a t t h is g o a l w o u l d n o t b e a t t a i n e dwi th ou t a rgum en t s , i r r it a t ions , and deb a te s . Mo reove r , t he f i e ld wo rk and f i e ld t e s tw e r e n o t c o n s i d e r e d t o b e j u s t p r o j e c t s , t h e y w e r e a l s o c o n s i d e r e d t o b e a p r o c e s s i nw h i c h i n t er p e r s o n a l r e l a ti o n s h i p s a n d m u t u a l r e s p e c t p l a y e d a n i m p o r t a n t r o le . B o t hs i d e s s t ru g g l e d a t t im e s w i t h f r u s t ra t io n s a n d a n x i e t ie s a s i t c a n b e g l e a m e d f r o m t h ec r it ic a l i n c i d e n ts , b u t t h e j o i n t d e t e r m i n a t i o n t o k e e p c o m m u n i c a t i n g k e p t t h e p r o j e c ton t r ack . Nex t to th is , i n in t e rcu l tu ra l coope ra t ion , one ha s to r e spe c t co re va lue sa n d w h e n t h e y c l a s h w i t h o w n v a l u e s f i n d a w a y t o c o p e w i t h t h e d i f fe r e n c e .

T o a d d r e ss t h is n o t i o n w e a p p l i e d a s t ra t eg y w e c a l l th e c h o o s e y o u r b a t tl e a p-p r o a c h ? ' T h i s s t r a te g y i s b a s e d o n t h e c l e a r p r i n c i p le t h a t e v e r y o n e i n v o l v e d w a n t e dto ach ieve the f inal goa l o f m ak in g ava i lab le the VP A se t t owards i ts i n t end ed aud i -e n c e . E v e n t h o u g h t h e i n d i v i d u a l m o t i v a t io n f o r a c h i e v e m e n t o f t h i s o b j e c t iv e m a yhave d i f fe red , f ina li z ing the p ro duc t io n ha s neve r been a ques t ion . Th i s ex p l i c i t focuso n t h e f in a l g o a ls a l l o w s g i v i n g u p o t h e r i s s u e s b y c a t e g o r i zi n g t h e m a s s e c o n d a r yto the u l t ima te goa l .

A spec i f i c exam ple fo r cho ose yo ur ba t t l e was the fa s t r e a l i z a t ion tha t t he( D u t c h ) p r o j e c t d i r e c to r w a s t h e o n l y f e m a l e a m o n g s t a l a r g e g r o u p o f m e n . I t w o u l dlead to in s t ances o f lo s ing face o r o the r de l i c a t e i s sues fo r the me n invo lved caus ings t re ss towards th e p ro jec t d i recto r . I t was q u ick ly de c ided to de leg a te f inanc ia l ma t -t er s , a s m u c h a s p o s s i b l e, t o t h e D u t c h a n d I n d i a n m a l e s h i g h e s t i n r a n k o r p o s i t i o nw i t h i n t h e V P A p r o j ec t . I n t h a t r e s p e ct , g e n d e r i s s u e s w e r e m a d e a c q u i e s c e n t to t h ei s s u e o f r e p r e s e n t a ti o n a n d p u b l i c p a r t i c i p a t i o n - - t o t h e c o n t e n t a n d m e t h o d o l o g yo f t h e V P A , n o t t h e p r o c e s s o f m a k i n g i t. A c o m p a r a b l e c o n s c i o u s s t e p w a s t a k e nd u r i n g t h e f i e l d t e s t o f t h e f i n a li z e d p r o d u c t , a t t h e s t a rt o f t h e M u n n a r w o r k s h o pw h e r e , a f t e r r i s in g t e n s i o n s a b o u t t h e p r o g r a m , t h e m a i n f a c i li t at i o n t a s k w a s t ra n s -fe rred to a m ale fac i l i ta tor .T h e r e w e r e s i m i l a r cl a s h -e v a s i v e a c t i o n s f r o m t h e I n d i a n s i d e t h a t c o u l d a l s o b en o t i c e d . F o r i n s t a n c e t h e f e m a l e d i r e c t o r tr a v e le d w i t h t h e f i l m c r e w i n t h e i r v a n


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i n s tead o f t r ave ling i ns ide the un iver s i t y board veh i c le . Th is p ragmat i c approach o fre f raming the s i tua t ion can a l so be exp la ined as t he con v ic t ion tha t t here was m oreto w in than to loose by giv ing in .The above exam ples had to do wi th gend er and s ta tus o r powe r d is t ance . I t c lear lyshowed , a t t he s ta r t o f t he f ilming exerc i se , whe n budget i s sues had to be de c idedupon a nd a t t he s t ar t o f t he Mun nar workshop s wh en dec i s ions we re made on theworkshop ' s o rgan iza t i on . Budgetary dec i s ions were de l ega t ed t o t he Dutch malepro j ec t par tner even thoug h the f i lming budget was t he p r ime respons ib i l it y andhad be en a r ranged by the D utch f em ale d i rec tor . Our i n te rp re ta t i on is t ha t f i nanc ia lmat t e r s w ere a m ale t h ing , and had to do wi th con t ro l and power . The Ind i an hos tand o rgan izer i n t he Mun nar i nc iden t over ru l ed t he f ema le d i rec to r and w orkshopfac i li t a to r whe n he chan ged the p rog ram to a l l ow h igh- rank ing o f fi c ia l s to see t hefun in t roduct ion movie , t hereby unde rm in ing the educa t iona l sequenc e o f theworksho p . H ere s t a tus (h igh pow er d i s tance) p reva i led , l ead ing to t he dec i s ion o fthe f em ale d i rec to r t o s t ep back and have her ma le comp an ion t ake the l ead and no tto c l a im the ag reed pos i t ions . The exp lana t ion fo r bo th i nc iden t s can b e foun d in t hena t iona l cu l tu ra l d i f f e rences be tween Ind i a /Kera l a and the Ne ther l ands espec i a l lywi th r espec t t o m ascu l in i t y /f emin in i ty i n com bina t ion wi th a l a rge pow er d i s t ance .Ac cord ing to H ofs t ede (1991 : 87 ) t he N ether l ands a long wi th the N ord i c coun t r i esscore (very) low on bo th axes w hi le India scores relatively h igh in these aspects . Theabove inc iden t s seem to conf i rm Hofs t ede ' s f ind ings ; t he gap see m ed unbr idgeab leand w e d ec ided to avo id fu r ther gen der i s sues a t t hese occas ions .As i nd i ca t ed and expressed i n t he p referab ly a w om an inc iden t , gen der i s suesplay ed an impor tant ro le on the d iscussions on VPA m ethodolog y and representat iv ity

of s takeho lders . Gen der sensi t iv ity is impo r tant for adul t l earning and rural deve lop-m en t (FAO, 2001) and i t cou ld no t be i gnored , no r wi thhe ld f rom our s tuden ts . He rethe ba t tl e w as on and wo n as t h is conf l i c t was i n t he dom ain o f p ro fessiona l cu l tu reand research m ethodo logy and d id no t i n t e rf e re d i rec t l y wi th na t iona l cu l tu re , thusa l l owing fo r change and adap ta t ion o f ideas . The above m ethodo log ica l a rgum ent

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