'Participation' may have become a buzzword of development practice but the pathways of current enthusiasm for participatory methods stretch back over decades. The most popularly recognized and widely used participatory approach, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), had its genesis in the late 1980s. Since then, it has come to be used in countless communities, in dozens of countries and in a huge variety of contexts. Once a marginal practice battling for recognition, it has now become an instrument used by the most powerful of global development institutions. As PRA has spread and been taken up by actors and institutions across the spectrum of development practice, it has taken on a diversity of forms and meanings. This book brings together some of the greatest names in development practice including Robert Chambers, and Jules Pretty. It comprises the reflections of thirty-two practitioners from twenty different countries, from different generations of PRA practitioners and from different arenas of development work, cultural and political contexts and professional backgrounds. Their pathways to participation have taken different directions, influenced not only by their own professional and personal backgrounds, but also the forms of PRA which they were introduced to and helped to evolve. Embracing a range of entry points and experiences, these stories speak of moments of frustration and revelation, of dilemmas and discoveries; together, their accounts articulate the sheer variety of the forms of practice that have come to be called 'PRA'. Contributors: Andrea Cornwall; Garett Pratt; John Kennedy Alumasa; Eloy Anello; Qais Anwar; Karen Brock; Robert Chambers; Rene 'Pong' Clemente; Chandan Datta; Michael Drinkwater; Marc Fiedrich; Bara Gueye; Irene Guijt; Regis Gwaba; Katja Jassey; Barbara Kaim; Humera Malik; Mwajumah Saiddy Masaiganah; Jessica Nalwoga; Koos Neefjes; Bardolf Paul; Ditdit R Pelegrina; Kamal Phuyal; Michel Pimbert; Rajendra Prasad; Jules Pretty; Mallika Samaranayake; Tilly Sellers; Meera Shah; Marja Liisa Swantz; John Thompson and Andreas Wilkes

Prelims (Contents, Preface, Acknowledgements, List of Acronyms and Abbreviations, Contributors’ Biographical Notes)
1. Introduction
Andrea Cornwall, Garett Pratt
2. Hanging on the edge of a cliff: my loud thoughts as I walk along the winding path of participatory development in Kenya
John Kennedy Alumasa
3. My pathway to work on participation in local governance
Eloy Anello
4. Six experiences with PRA
Qais Anwar
5. Participation, policy, poverty: where now?
Karen Brock
6. Reflections on PRA experience
Robert Chambers
7. From participatory appraisal to participation in governance in the Philippines
Rene D. Clemente
8. Winding paths, broken journeys: travels with PRA
Andrea Cornwall
9. Participation of the people
Chandan Datta
10. Reflections on participation and empowerment
Michael Drinkwater
11. Maps turning to minefields: local knowledge of PRA in a Ugandan village
Marc Fiedrich
12. Pathways to participation in French-speaking Africa: a learner’s itinerary
Bara Gueye
13. Intrigued and frustrated, enthusiastic and critical: reflections on PRA
Irene Guijt
14. Reflecting on PRA, participation and gender
Regis M. Gwaba
15. PRA from an end-user’s perspective
Katja Jassey
16. Personal reflections – on petrol queue time
Barbara Kaim
17. Sharing my dilemmas: mixed messages on PRA and participation
Humera Malik
18. Reflecting on the past: my journey to participation
Mwajuma Saiddy Masaiganah
19. To REFLECT or not to REFLECT?
Jessica Nalwoga
20. PRA, poverty and livelihoods: reflections from inside the bowels of an international NGO
Koos Neefjes
21. PRA values: how to become a true believer
Bardolf Paul
22. Rediscovering a dream: reflections on PRA experience
Wilhelmina R. Pelegrina
23. Sharing happiness through PRA
Kamal Phuyal
24. Learning to live the politics of participation
Michel Pimbert
25. PRA as learning and empowerment – for children too
Rajendra Prasad
26. Discovering new faces of PRA
Garett Pratt
27. What have we learned about participatory methods?
Jules Pretty
28. Tracing my participatory footsteps
Mallika R. Samaranayake
29. Making waves: a case for handing over PRA
Tilly Sellers
30. The road from Lathodara: some reflections on PRA
Meera Kaul Shah
31. My road to Participatory Action Research
Marja-Liisa Swantz
32. Learning from mistakes: reflections on improvisational participation
John Thompson
33. Rewriting the mass line: an outsider’s reflections on participatory approaches in southwest China
Andreas Wilkes

Andrea Cornwall
Andrea Cornwall is Professor of Anthropology and Development in the School of Global Studies at the University of Sussex.

Garett Pratt