Development, Impact Assessment and the Praise Culture

Abstract

This article uses the concept of discourse to analyse an assessment of the impacts of a development project. Impact assessment can never achieve the objectivity that development practitioners seek. The truth is not something ‘out there’ waiting to be documented, but rather a story to be written by those performing the assessment. Moreover, the resistance and negotiation strategies used by both the ‘assessors’ and those being ‘assessed’ can have a profound influence on what is known about a project and its impacts.