Dr. John Gaventa: Selected Publications
Dr. John Gaventa brings to the Coady Institute a wealth of expertise on issues related to Coady's themes, especially work on citizen-led development and social action. Most recently, he has worked as the Director of the Development Research Centre on Citizenship, Participation and Accountability (Citizenship DRC), which produced over 150 case studies of citizen action. The studies, organized by ten key themes, are available on the Centre's website www.drc-citizenship.org.
The Powercube (www.powercube.net) is a method to understand and change power relations through citizen participation and engagement. The website provides practical tools to analyse power at many levels, and develop strategies to challenge and change power relations. The site includes research papers and case studies illustrating how the Powercube has been used, as well as the background on the evolution of this method by Dr. Gaventa and others at Citizenship DRC, building on his earlier research adapting the theories of Steven Lukes.
Many of the the studies of the Citizenship DRC have been published in the series Claiming Citizenship, published by Zed Books, for which Dr. Gaventa served as series editor. The eight titles in the series are:
Kabeer, N. (Ed.). (2005). Inclusive citizenship: Meanings and expressions. London: Zed Books. (Marie Michael Library 323 K111i).
Leach, M., Scoones, I., & Wynne, B., (Eds.). (2005). Science and citizens: Globalization and the challenge of engagement. London: Zed Books. (323 L467s)
Newell, P., & Wheeler, J., (Eds.). (2006). Rights, resources and the politics of accountability. London: Zed Books. (Marie Michael Library323.4 N446r)
Cornwall, A., & Coelho, V.S. (Eds.). (2007). Spaces for change? The politics of citizen participation in new democratic arenas. London: Zed Books. (Marie Michael Library 323.042 C816d).
Thompson, L., & Tapscott, C. (Eds.). (2010). Citizenship and social movements: Perspectives from the global South. London: Zed Books. (Marie Michael Library 323.1 T375c)
Gaventa, J., & McGee, R. (Eds.). (2010). Citizen action and national policy reform: Making change happen. London: Zed Books. (Marie Michael Library 323.042 G242p)
Gaventa, J., & Tandon, R. (Eds.). (2010). Globalizing citizens: New dynamics of inclusion and exclusion. London: Zed Books. (Marie Michael Library 323.042 G242g)
Coelho, V.S., & von Lieres, B. (Eds.). (2010). Mobilizing for democracy: Citizen action and the politics of public participation. (Marie Michael Library 323.042 C65m)
In addition to these comprehensive resources, following is a recommended reading list of Dr. Gaventa's research published since 2005.
Journal Articles:
Gaventa, J., & Barrett, G. (2012) Mapping the outcomes of citizen engagement. World Development 40 (12), 2399-2410. Link. Download draft. (342k pdf).
Gaventa, J. (2011). Participation makes a difference: But not always how and where we might expect. Development Outreach, April, 72-74. Link. (2 Mb pdf).
Brown, L.D., & Gaventa, J. (2010). Constructing transnational action research networks: Reflections on the Citizen Development Research Centre. Action Research 8 (1), 5-28. Link.
Gaventa, J. (2009). States, societies, and sociologists: Democratizing knowledge from above and below. Rural Sociology 74(1), 30-36. Link.
Gaventa, J., & Benequista, N. (2009). Reversing the flow: A new democratic conversation? Alliance 14 (2), 56-58. (print copy available in the Marie Michael Library).
Mayo, M., Gaventa, J., & Rooke, A. (2009). Learning global citizenship? Exploring connections between the local and the global. Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, 4(2), 163-177. Link.
Gaventa, J. (2006). Finding the spaces for change: A power analysis. Development in Practice 37 (6), 23-33. Link. (126k pdf).
Book Chapters:
Gaventa, J. (2011). Civil society and power. In M. Edwards (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of civil society, (pp. 416-427). New York: Oxford University Press. (Marie Michael Library 332 Ed97o).
Gaventa, J. (2011). Power and participation. In A. Cornwall & I. Scoones (Eds.), Revolutionizing development: Reflections on the work of Robert Chambers, (pp. 67-73). London: Earthscan. (Marie Michael Library, 307.1412092 C816r).
Gaventa, J. (2010). Seeing like a citizen: Reclaiming citizenship in a neoliberal world. In A. Fowler & C. Malunga (Eds.), NGO management: The Earthscan companion. London: Earthscan.
Gaventa, J., & Pettit, J. (2010). Power and participation. In R.A. Couto (Ed.), Political and civic leadership: A reference handbook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Gaventa, J. (2007). Levels, spaces and forms of power: Analysing opportunities for change. In F. Berenskoetter & M.J. Williams (Eds.), Power in world politics, (pp. 204-224). London: Routledge. Link.
Gaventa, J., & Cornwall, A. (2007). Power and knowledge. In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of action research, 2nd ed. (pp. 172-189). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Gaventa, J. (2005). Perspectives on participation and citizenship. In R. Mohanty & R. Tandon (Eds.), Participatory citizenship: Identity, exclusion, inclusion. (pp. 50-66). New Delhi: Sage. Link.
Research Reports and Working Papers:
McGee, R., & Gaventa, J. (2011). Shifting power? Assessing the impact of transparency and accountability initiatives. IDS Working Paper No. 383. Link. (200K pdf).
McGee, R., & Gaventa, J. (2010). Synthesis report: Review of impact and effectiveness of transparency and accountability initiatives. London: Open Society Foundation. Link. (788K pdf).
Benequista, N., with Gaventa, J., & Barrett, G. (2010). Putting citizens at the centre: Linking states and societies for responsive governance. Prepared for the Conference on 'The Politics of Poverty, Elites, Citizens and States' June 21-23, DFID. Link.
Gaventa, J., & Barrett, G. (2010). So what difference does it make? Mapping the outcomes of citizen engagement. IDS Working Paper No. 347. Link. (477K pdf).
Gaventa, J., Benequista, N. (2009). Democracy-support: From recession to innovation. Posted August 9, Open Democracy Network website. Link.
Gaventa, J., & Mayo, M. (2009). Spanning citizenship spaces through transnational coalitions: The case of the Global Campaign for Education. IDS Working Paper No. 327. Link. (221K pdf).
Brown, L.D., & Gaventa, J. (2008). Constructing transnational action research networks: Observations and reflections from the case of the Citizen DRC. IDS Working Paper No. 302. Link.
Gaventa, J. (2008). Building responsive states: Citizen action and national policy change. IDS In Focus Policy Briefing, No. 5. Brighton: IDS. Link. (118K pdf)
Zipfel, T., & Gaventa, J. (2008). Making the most of the policy moment: Citizen engagement in the UK. Local Governance Brief, 9 (1), 12-17. Link. (869K pdf).
Dunn, A., Foot, J., Gaventa, J., & Zipfel, T. (2007). Champions of participation: Engaging citizens in local governance: International learning event report, 31 May - 4 June, 2007. Link. (1.6 Mb pdf)
Gaventa, J. (2006). Triumph, deficit, or contestation? Deepening the 'deepening democracy' debate. IDS Working Paper No. 264. Brighton: IDS. Link.
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Updated December 1, 2011