The Institute of Development Studies and Partner Organisations
Browse

A Case for Surfacing Theories of Change for Purposeful Organisational Capacity Development

Download (308.97 kB)
journal contribution
posted on 2024-09-06, 05:25 authored by Alfredo Ortiz Aragón
What are the capacities of an effective social change organisation (SCO)? Some SCOs may value strategic planning capacities, while others financial accountability to donors, improved teamwork, or networking capacities. But do the different capacities that SCOs seek purposefully support meaningful social change? How much of what SCOs deem as ‘worth strengthening’ is based on linear thinking, or unhealthy power interests, or what donors want them to want, or a combination of these? This article argues that the capacities that different organisations value are conditioned by a mix of individual, organisational and societal worldviews, including deeply held assumptions on the nature of change and one's roles in affecting change. It posits that the processes SCOs use to attempt to intentionally ‘build’ their capacities should surface these worldviews in order to find more purposeful and systemic relationships between its internal processes, systems and capacities and the complex change that an organisation seeks to support.

History

Publisher

Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Citation

Aragón, A., O. (2010) A Case for Surfacing Theories of Change for Purposeful Organisational Capacity Development. IDS Bulletin 41(3): 36-46

Series

IDS Bulletin Vol. 41 Nos. 3

IDS Item Types

Article

Copyright holder

© 2010 The Author. Journal compilation © Institute of Development Studies

Usage metrics

    Volume 41. Issue 3: Reflecting Collectively on Capacities for Change

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Licence

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC