Beyond Fragmentation: Integrating Diversity within Development Cooperation as a Contribution to International Peacebuilding

Abstract

While fostering human diversity is a principal goal of peace and development work, plurality has itself become an immense challenge. The practical reality of fragmentation is of concern to the international development community due to the risk of inefficiency and rupture that it implies. Rooted in the conflict transformation approach of Lederach and Dietrich, this article advances a transdisciplinary perspective for fostering an integrated plurality within development work. Grounded in a relational approach, this article explores (1) the conceptual frame of development cooperation and its challenges for integrating plurality; (2) key premises to consider when building structures of development cooperation; and (3) the method of Theme-Centred Interaction as a useful tool of humanistic psychology for addressing the challenge of plurality in development work. This transdisciplinary approach may usefully serve in the critical examination of current development projects and the initiation of new ones.