The Politics of Development Policy Labelling

Wood argues that all social communication makes use of 'labelling', and that development policies are themselves eminent examples of this. Policies ascribe labels to groups and situations (e.g. 'the poor', 'the landless', 'the women', etc), and this is an act of simplification that highlights one dimension of people's lives while covering over several other aspects. To a certain extent, simplification and labelling are necessary in order to make sense of the world, and everyone who communicates uses labels. But it is important to be aware that labels are also elements of a power relationship in which whoever successfully imposes labels on a group has the means to (unwittingly) control and regulate the situation.

Therefore, when analysing a policy process or a policy domain, it is useful to examine firstly whose labels prevail, and secondly what type of policies the labels are seen to justify. In conclusion, Wood suggests that research could aim at 'democratising' the labels used in development policies in three ways. First, it is important to draw attention to those labels that enjoy a monopoly, and to examine whose labels they are. Second, it is often possible to identify contradictory elements within the policy labelling process, and such contradictions provide good opportunities for raising questions about the issue. Third, research can produce alternative labels in order to encourage debate and to support a more democratic policy process. Wood emphasises that this third step should ideally be undertaken together with the groups in question, i.e. the target group or 'beneficiaries' of the policy.