Actor-Orientation A: The Individual Level

Learning Objectives

After completing this lesson, you shall be able to:

• Identify the reasons for the regional, actor-oriented approach to development dynamics that is put forward in the example from sub-Saharan Africa ("The development crisis");
• Evaluate the importance of theories as the foundation and background for livelihood approaches (ontology, underlying theories);
• Describe a theory of action for actors at the individual level and estimate how it might contribute to a deeper understanding of the actions of specific actors (network of meaning, actions);
• Apply the components of the theory of action (as outlined) to a concrete situation (exercises);
• List the most important features of the example of peasants in rural Kenya;
• Define the focal actors', i.e. peasant farmers', rationale of action;
• Describe the dimensions within the framework used to interpret the meaning of action that apply to the actors we are focussing on;
• Interpret the actors' real-life attempts to secure their livelihoods by defining the meaning of their actions and strategies by using the meta-theory.

Methodology

In order to fulfil the learning objectives of this lesson, you will have to:

• Work on the meta-theoretical background texts (in the form of PDF files in the media column). They give a general outline and compulsory background information, and illustrate the core information presented in this column.
• Perform a self-assessment by doing a drag-and-drop match of specific terms in an example text. The example will help the user to grasp the meta-theory better by relating it to a "real-life situation".
• Read passages from a text by (Wiesmann 1998), which explain the theoretical foundations of the model in detail;
• Link the meta-theoretical basis of our livelihood approach with the real-life situations presented by interpreting a film sequence.