Investigating project sustainability. Technology as a development object in a community-based project in Naryn, Kyrgyzstan
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Publication Date
2022-10-02Journal Title
Oxford Development Studies
ISSN
1360-0818
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Pages
1-18
Type
Article
This Version
AM
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Cieslik, K., Dewulf, A., & Foggin, J. M. (2022). Investigating project sustainability. Technology as a development object in a community-based project in Naryn, Kyrgyzstan. Oxford Development Studies, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600818.2022.2039607
Abstract
The imperative of project sustainability has become explicit policy within development. This is especially true for technology transfer: ‘development objects’ are to be used by prospective beneficiaries long after the project’s closure. We argue that the link between project sustainability, technology and ‘success’ requires deeper scrutiny. We investigate a community-based project in Naryn, Kyrgyzstan, which included the transfer of smartphones, weather stations and camera traps. Upon the project’s closure, we compare the stakeholders’ viewpoints regarding the future use of the equipment, showing how technological objects attract new actors into the project’s network, change its course and enhance its impact. We use actor-network theory to explain how development objects shape development processes by generating own networks and transforming social relations of power. We propose a dynamic view of sustainability as: (i) continuation of delivery of project’s goods and services, (ii) durability of the achieved changes and (iii) feasibility of independent growth.
Embargo Lift Date
2023-08-16
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13600818.2022.2039607
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/334584
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