Robert Chambers (development scholar)

Robert Chambers

Chambers in 2015
Born Robert John Haylock Chambers
(1932-05-01) 1 May 1932
Chichester
Residence England
Nationality British
Alma mater University of Manchester (PhD 1967)
Occupation Development practitioner, academic
Spouse(s) Jennifer Scott
Children 3
Website OpenDocs IDS

Robert John Haylock Chambers OBE (born 1 May 1932) is a British academic and development practitioner. He spent his academic career at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. In 2013 he became an honorary fellow of the International Institute of Social Studies.[1]

Background

Chambers grew up in a middle class family in Cirencester, England. He won a scholarship to Marlborough College boarding school from 1945-1950, and another to Cambridge University, which was interrupted by National Service. He graduated in 1955 (1st, History). He joined and led the Gough Island Scientific Survey for the British government in 1956, before attending the University of Pennsylvania where he failed to complete a PhD in history. In 1958 he joined the HM Overseas Civil Service in Kenya, working in Maralal from 1958-1960. Before and after Independence he lectured at the Kenya Institute of Administration and the East Africa Staff College, returning to Britain in 1966 where he lectured at the University of Manchester and completed a PhD. From 1967 he lectured at the University of Glasgow and from 1969, the University of Nairobi. He joined the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex in 1972.[2] Some time later he was infamously turned down for a Professorship at IDS on the grounds of insufficient publications in academic journals, despite his world renown exceeding those on the panel, achieving this only in 1995 at the age of 63, not long before retirement.[3] During time at IDS he had lengthy secondments to India and other countries.

He married Jennifer Scott, who he met in Glasgow, and has three children.

Approach

Hie work on resettlement and irrigation schemes, and public administration, was the subject of his PhD, and early work in Kenya and the UK. It was only from the 1980s that his work on rapid and participatory forms of appraisal were developed.

Chambers has been one of the leading advocates for putting the poor, destitute and marginalised at the centre of the processes of development policy. Cornwall and Scoones refer to him as "development's best advocate".[4] In particular he argues the poor should be taken into account when the development problem is identified, policy formulated and projects implemented. He popularised within development circles such phrases as "putting the last first" and stressed the now generally accepted need for development professionals to be critically self-aware.

The widespread acceptance of a "participatory" approach is in part due to his work.[5] This includes the techniques of participatory rural appraisal, some of which he developed himself or with others. In his later career, there were criticisms of their use, and he questioned whether his unabashed populism had ignored tokenistic manipulation of participatory methods: his experience with larger organisations like the World Bank were not positive.[6] His last research area has been Community-Led Total Sanitation, developed by Kamal Kar to halt open defecation practices.

Robert Chambers and Gordon Conway provided the first elaborated definition of the concept of sustainable livelihoods, which reads:

a livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets (stores, resources, claims and access) and activities required for a means of living: a livelihood is sustainable which can cope with and recover from stress and shocks, maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets, and provide sustainable livelihood opportunities for the next generation; and which contributes net benefits to their livelihoods at the local and global levels and in the short and long term
— Chambers and Conway 1991, 6[7][8][9]

Chambers is a prolific author, of 16 books and hundreds of reports, articles, and training materials.

Festschrifts and honours

Key works

Other sources

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.iss.nl/about_iss/honorary_fellows/#Chambers
  2. ↑ http://www.ids.ac.uk/person/robert-chambers
  3. ↑ Cornwall, A. and I. Scoones (eds.) 2011.Revolutionizing Development: reflections on the work of Robert Chambers. London: Earthscan. p13.
  4. ↑ Cornwall, A. and I. Scoones (eds.) 2011.Revolutionizing Development: reflections on the work of Robert Chambers. London: Earthscan. p13.
  5. ↑ David Simon (ed) (2006) Fifty Key Thinkers in Development, Routledge
  6. ↑ Cornwall, A. and I. Scoones (eds.) 2011.Revolutionizing Development: reflections on the work of Robert Chambers. London: Earthscan.
  7. ↑ http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/775/Dp296.pdf
  8. ↑ http://www.forestry.umn.edu/prod/groups/cfans/@pub/@cfans/@forestry/documents/asset/cfans_asset_202603.pdf
  9. ↑ http://www.eldis.org/vfile/upload/1/document/0812/sla_progress.pdf
  10. ↑ http://www.iss.nl/news_events/iss_news/detail/article/54993-iss-honorary-doctorate-for-robert-chambers/
  11. ↑ http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/775/Dp296.pdf
  12. ↑ http://www.humanecologyreview.org/pastissues/her131/knutsson.pdf
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