THE DECEPTIVE ILLUSION OF MULTIPARADIGM DEVELOPMENT PRACTICE

This article responds to commentaries by Blunt, Bell and Joy on Cooke' s 'From process consultation to a clinical model of development practi ce' in the August 1997 issue of Public Administration and Development. Following the paradigmatic analyses those commentaries introduce, it begins by trying to clarify the range of meanings attributed to the te rm 'paradigm'. It then argues, that Blunt's critique does actually der ive from a particular single (i.e. mono-) paradigm, the application of which causes my initial arguments to be mis-represented, and exemplif ies the limits of that paradigm in practice. It goes on to agree that generic process approaches do have some cultural limitations, and that they can be used for ideological manipulation, although not inevitabl y in the pursuit of so-called democratic values. The clinical-process model is, however, distinct from these generic approaches and actually provides some safeguard against these problems. The article moves on to demonstrate that a multiparadigm approach to practice, as opposed t o analysis, is illusory, because it is impossible, and deceptive, as c laims for multi-paradigm practice conceal the practitioner's inescapab le paradigmatic assumptions. In conclusion it argues that until we rec ognize that 'development' per se is a ruling paradigm we are all impri soned within it. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.