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Editorial

Problems, Processes and Populations: Miscellaneous Fields and Issues
Éditorial. Problèmes, processus et populations : terrains et questions
Editorial. Problemas, procesos y personas: ámbitos y cuestiones de investigación
Charlotte Guénard, Pierre Janin et Jean-Michel Wachsberger
p. 5-6

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1This issue contains a selection of seven articles published in French in special issues of the Revue Internationale des Études du Développement from 2017 to 2021, following the journal’s publication by the Editions de la Sorbonne. It offers English-speaking audiences a glimpse of the wealth of the journal’s scientific output with this range of articles in different disciplines (sociology, political sociology, socioeconomics, anthropology, geography and political science), reflecting the journal’s editorial line.

2The articles selected by the editorial board represent a balanced distribution of three key focal points (problems, processes and populations) for analysis of the reconfigurations of development studies. These closely intertwined focuses formed the logical choice for the title of this issue.

3We consider the notion of “problems” to be a constant in the field of development. Whether constraints to be lifted, change to be promoted or obstacles to overcome, the term relates to the rough patches encountered and experienced by development actors. These may be due as much to testing contexts (geographical, economic and sociological) as to the development ecosystem’s intrinsic divergences and disparities based on individual, community and institutional logics, practices and interests. Although all development actors have taken into account the share of difficulty or constraint inherent in this notion, its second “well-argued debate” dimension appears to take more of a back seat in arenas that are still overly technocratic and expert, leaving little room for citizen movements.

4The term “process” is both ubiquitous and not always necessarily stated as such. Temporalities per se are indeed a minor subject of study in development studies and projects. While the short timeframe of events and economic situation is taken into account by many projects evaluated in terms of results to be achieved, such as the Sustainable Development Goals, analyses of processes considering the longer timeframe are less valued and appreciated. This is especially true of actions designed to create the structural conditions for development, which are harder to “sell” to donors inclined to prefer performance-based criteria. However, given that the notion of process also encompasses the principles of interaction and feedback, it is key to addressing and tackling the repeated, enduring, interrelated crises of today's world and the gradual changes and transitions in different areas (agro-environmental and economic). At a time when the systems notion is being placed on the agenda, processes – often assessed more qualitatively than quantitatively – still present plenty of room for improvement in the development area. Analyses need to be able to be translated into proposals for action with an assessment of each proposal’s ambivalent effects and trade-offs … which is still far from the case.

5The term “populations” is not the easiest to address since it is often used instrumentally by development actors. Objects and recipients (if not, often, stated beneficiaries) as much as obstacles to the smooth running of projects, populations have subsequently become targets within selective mechanisms. In targeting recipients, development actions become discriminative, triggering debate and sometimes demands such that even the inclusion of new criteria – with the emergence of gender, minorities and other “dominated social classes” (young, old, single women, etc.) – does not always satisfy all expectations and can even prompt new ones.

6Forms of “population” engagement, participation and consultation remain fragmentary and uncertain despite being stated. However, their presence and role are – de facto – key in situations where international solidarity, humanitarian and voluntary actors are thin on the ground due to conflicts and exclusions imposed by authoritarian regimes. As development becomes (again) more local, territorial and endogenous, it needs to find relays such as associations and entrepreneurs in the cities and peasant and community-based organisations in rural areas. They will nevertheless take time to develop due to insufficient resources and imbalanced in-house skills and organisational capacities, which need strengthening in swiftly changing environments.

7Grounded in these three general concepts, this special issue critically reviews examples of public policies, programmes and projects involving multiple actors. It thus analyses international aid system developments in the light of increasingly insistent performative demands, questions the normative aspect of certain concepts, such as resilience, and reflects on the difficulties of governance and control of violence.

8Long-term observations and fieldwork are used to decipher the forms of social and political regulation found in access to food and land resources, the use of road infrastructures, the mentoring of young people, and also conflicts of ethnic and religious appearance. Most of these analyses point up mutual arrangement processes driven by interactions between actors involving negotiated management.

9A number of articles also capture the diversity of the studied fields and observed populations and organisations, from police officers and road users in Kinshasa and Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo, through the Muslim Brotherhood and young people in Egypt, to Bozo and Bamanan farmers around Djenné in Mali, and farmers and artisanal gold miners in Peru.

10We hope that readers will find this selection enjoyable, interesting and thought-provoking. And it is worth mentioning that the Revue Internationale des Études du Développement also publishes articles in English in its regular issues, including Varia, and is always pleased to receive authors’ proposals!

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Charlotte Guénard, Pierre Janin et Jean-Michel Wachsberger, « Editorial »Revue internationale des études du développement, 250 | 2022, 5-6.

Référence électronique

Charlotte Guénard, Pierre Janin et Jean-Michel Wachsberger, « Editorial »Revue internationale des études du développement [En ligne], 250 | 2022, mis en ligne le 21 octobre 2022, consulté le 17 mai 2025. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/ried/1654 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/ried.1654

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Auteurs

Charlotte Guénard

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Pierre Janin

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Jean-Michel Wachsberger

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