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Key words that begin with the letter B

by Phil Bartle

BASIC SOCIOLOGY

Basic sociology is contrasted with applied sociology (in which community mobilisation is categorised). See: Sociology.

Basic sociology seeks to make discoveries through observation and analysis of social groups, without attempting to make changes in those groups.

Same as Pure Sociology.

BECAUSE

The word "because" implies a "causal" relationship, where one condition or action "causes" another condition or action. For action "A" to "cause" action "B" it must be both sufficient and necessary. In community empowerment specifically, and in the social sciences in general, many actions and conditions have multiple causes, so it is difficult to identify a single cause of any action or condition. If "A" is the "cause" then "B" is the "effect" of it.

BECAUSE OF

The phrase "because of" means there is a causal relationship between action or condition "A" (the cause) and the action or condition "B" (the effect). Do not use "due to" or "owing to" when you mean "because of."  See: Problems of Prediction and Cause.

BELIEFS CONCEPTUAL DIMENSION

The belief conceptual dimension of community is another structure of ideas, also sometimes contradictory, that people have about the nature of the universe, the world around them, their role in it, cause and effect, and the nature of time, matter, and behaviour. See "culture."

Beliefs, like all cultural elements, are transmitted by communicating symbols, not by genetic (biological) inheritance. The beliefs and perceptions of reality shared by members of a community are affected by your mobilizing activities, and should be a major consideration in your planning of mobilizing activities.

BENEFICIARIES

Beneficiaries are people who benefit from something. They could be, for example, persons named in a will who benefit by receiving something as written in the will of a deceased person. In a project design or a project proposal, they are the people who benefit from the project.

Beneficiaries could include direct beneficiaries such as the users of a water point that is built by the project. Indirect beneficiaries might be persons trained so as to implement the project. Sometimes beneficiaries of a project are called the target group, but that term is not an accurate description of beneficiaries.

Even though the meaning of "beneficiary" is simply a person who benefits (eg from a project), the term implies some patronizing attitude.

BILATERAL

Involving two parties. From "bi" meaning two. "Lateral" implies that the two parties are parallel or at the same level, but this is mainly a fiction in the aid industry where the donor country wields the power concerning if to donate, and for what purposes.

There is often an implication that the donor country is also morally superior to the recipient. Canada's aid agency, CIDA, has a division called "Bilateral" which administers the donation of aid between Canada and single recipient countries. Compare with "multilateral."

Bilateral aid means government to government aid, including British DFID, American USAID, Canadian CIDA, Swedish SIDA, Danish Danida, and assistance departments of most wealthy and industrial countries such as Germany, France and Japan, as well as local agencies, often commercial companies, that are funded by the bilateral agencies.

BOTTOM UP

The term "bottom up" implies decision making that comes from community members without official status or positions. When the decision making process is seen to be more democratic, starting from the common people and working its way up to centralized agencies and officials, it is deemed to be "bottom up."

It is usually contrasted with "top down."  The effect of mobilization and the empowerment of low income communities is supposed to be an increase in "bottom up" decision making processes.

BOURGEOIS

This is an adjective, and refers to the life style of people who are the "burghers" (same origin –– important people of the town or burg) or shop keepers and factory owners. It implies rigid and intolerant values, and a "proper" life style, reflecting the prim and prudish Victorian era of the nineteenth century.

It is a popular word among artists, who consider themselves to be members of a class above, and/or not limited by rigid social conventions.

BOURGEOISIE

This word is a noun and, in Marx's terms, refers to the people who own the means to produce wealth. These are the capitalists. Marx wrote that the main conflict in society is between the owners of wealth, and those who sell their labour to make a living.

At the community level, it is important for a mobiliser to identify those people who own and control land (if it is an agricultural community where land is used as a major factor of production) and any other factors of production, and to identify those people who hire others to work for them.

It is also important to identify those who own and rent property to tenants.

BRAINSTORMING

Brainstorming is a structured social process (in a training session) where a group is facilitated to make participatory group decisions, not dominated by any individual. See "brainstorm."  The ground rules and procedures are designed to work together to facilitate participation (especially by those not accustomed to participate or to work in groups) in group decision making.

You, the mobilizer, are encouraged to learn the techniques of being a trainer, using the "brainstorm" session as a method of developing group decision making. It can be used in several contexts. The brainstorm is also used by managers and management trainers as a participatory method to encourage staff input into management and planning decisions.

See Participatory Management.

BURNOUT

Burnout, in aid work, means a medical condition of physical and emotional fatigue. As such it is a modern word, and owes its creation to the notion of a rocket that burns out. It is even more common in emergency response work, but happens also in development work.

It is caused by too much enthusiasm, too much travelling, too many meetings, too many obligations, not enough planning, not enough patience, and rapid running about that results in exhaustion. The field worker tries to do too much.

For community workers, it can be prevented by various means.

These include: frequent visits by the supervisor, co-ordinator or manager, backstopping (support, encouragement, advice and guidance), frequent opportunities to meet with other field workers in seminars, workshops and meetings with other field workers.

These meetings are to discuss problems, vent frustrations, seek answers and dialogue in response to difficult field situations, and to develop a camaraderie of persons sharing similar experiences.

© Copyright 1967, 1987, 2007 Phil Bartle
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Last update: 2015.09.22