Capacity Building

Types of Capacity

Rajesh Tandon (founder of the Society for Participatory Research in Asia) suggested three kinds of capacities that are critical for an entity to effectively pursue its objectives: (1) intellectual, (2) institutional and (3) material capacities. Intellectual capacity refers to perspectives through which the entity views, analyzes and reflects on its identity and existing social realities to determine the course of action. Institutional capacity refers to the ability of an entity, particularly an organization, to develop and manage its systems, procedures, structures, human resources, decision-making, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. It involves the ability of an entity to relate to the external environment, including other actors that may influence or get influenced by the entity. A crucial aspect is how effectively the entity responds to the changes in the external environment by renewing its purpose or by influencing the external changes in its favour. Material capacity primarily refers to the ability of an entity to mobilize and utilize resources to optimize its performance. A sound material resource base of an entity significantly enhances its autonomy, its self-determination and its ability to respond to the demands from the external environment. A synergy between intellectual, institutional and material capacities is crucial. An entity needs to develop all three kinds of capacities; however, an appropriate balance must be established for optimizing the effectiveness.

Levels of Capacity

Tandon and Kaustuv Kanti Bandyopadhyay (current director of the Society for Participatory Research in Asia) further suggested that capacity building needs to be pursued simultaneously at three levels: (1) individual, (2) organizational and (3) societal. This view was supported by many others like Carlos Lopes and Thomas Theisohn. Capacity building at the individual level refers to the development of human resources with ethical values. It includes developing technical, managerial and administrative skills along with perspectives on broader societal issues. Capacity building at the organizational level refers to building capacities of collectives to act coherently. Such collectives could be a group of concerned citizens, an organization or a large enterprise. Capacity building at the societal level refers to a systemic view of capacity building to be inclusive of all actors and stakeholders. Given the complexity and interrelated nature of the development problems faced by a society, capacity building of all the actors is crucial. In all societies, particularly the developing societies, different forms of inequalities and injustices are pervasive. The marginalized group, therefore, will require priority attention in capacity building; however, other actors, particularly the power holders, need to be sensitized as well, to mitigate resistance to changes and to remove institutional constraints.

How Action Research Has Contributed to Transforming the Discourse and Practice of Capacity Building

A range of practitioners have transformed the methods, approach and discourse of capacity building over the decades using action research approaches. The practitioners have learnt that certain earlier predispositions were not helpful to obtain the desired results. Consequently, the discourses and practices of capacity building have undergone five critical transitions, as follows.

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