From poverty to power - Oxfam-Québec

FROM POVERTY TO POWERSuch a rights-based approach anchors the debate about equity andjustice in principles endorsed by the international community andcodified in international law. In an era when nations are subject to amultiplicity of forces affecting the state’s capacity to address the needsof its citizens, the human rights framework helps governments andcitizens to pursue justice. 14 A rights-based approach compels Oxfamand other rights-based agencies to ‘raise the bar’ on their ownaccountability, lest they unwittingly perpetuate outmoded notions ofcharity, overlook discrimination and exclusion, and reinforce existingimbalances of power.RIGHTS AND POWERPeople’s capacity to realise their rights, and states’ capacity to fulfilthem, are of course dependent on their relative power. Inequality inpower drives the motor of social and economic inequality in the livesof poor and rich alike. Power resembles a force field that permeateshouseholds, communities, and society at large, shaping both the interactionsand innermost thoughts of individuals and groups. And like aforce field, it is often only detectable through its impact on events.Development policies and practitioners sometimes act as if powerdid not exist. When aid donor and recipient nations agreed the ParisDeclaration on Aid Effectiveness in 2005, they used the words ‘partner’and ‘partnership’ 96 times, but ‘power’ not once, ignoring the deeplyunequal power relationships between rich and poor countries. 15Understanding power and how it shapes the lives and struggles ofboth powerful and powerless people is essential in the effort to buildthe combination of active citizenship and effective states that lies atthe heart of development.Power is often understood merely in terms of one person’s abilityto achieve a desired end, with or without the consent of others, but itcomes in at least four different forms:• Power over: the power of the strong over the weak.This power is often hidden – for example, what elites manageto keep off the table of political debate.• Power to: meaning the capability to decide actions and carrythem out.28