An extended period of non-business specific immersion within the local community plays a critical role in building trust and developing a deep understanding of how people live their lives. This is not just about identifying needs and wants, but about coming to truly appreciate the way other people and communities make sense of the world and their daily lives. This is particularly important at the BoP for two reasons. One, the MNC Team brings with it a set of perspectives and assumptions (e.g., what constitutes ‘good health’) that may differ markedly from local conditions. Without having a clear understanding of its own biases and assumptions, as well as an appreciation of local perspectives and capabilities, a business may fail to meet local needs and/or undermine existing economic and social support structures. Second, “the local” is highly heterogeneous and dynamic, with no single snapshot in time able to represent the “true” community. Recognizing the absence of an “average person”, an extended period of immersion and engagement provides a better understanding of local contingencies and variation.
The Opening-Up phase is characterized by a number of interrelated and iterative tasks, all of which utilize participatory practices to develop a deeper understanding of local ways of life and aspirations. Again, although the tasks below are presented sequentially, they are highly interdependent and may take place concurrently.
Living the Local Life
The primary objective of this task is for the Core Team (in particular, the MNC Team members) to participate as fully as possible (or allowable) in the local way of life, thus fostering empathy and appreciation for local values and practices. The MNC Team and its partners should spend, at the very least, weeks or months, living within the community – eating, drinking, sleeping, cooking, grocery-shopping, walking and working alongside people of the community. As much as possible, the team members should avoid the trappings of the “development tourist” – in place of taxi-cabs and four-wheel drive vehicles, the Team should utilize the most common forms of transportation; in place of hotels and restaurants catering to the elite, the Team should seek out opportunities to live with local families and eat at local establishments. Indeed, the Team should try to live off of the local wage. During this period, the Team should be guided by an attitude of openness and humility, reserving judgment on the “rationality” of how and why things are currently done.
Generating Community Profiles
Employing participatory techniques (see Appendix 1), the Team should generate ethnographic stories and other “thick” representations (e.g., video, oral, written) of local ways of life in cooperation with the community. Participatory techniques share the common goal of empowering people for social and economic change by actively involving them in generating knowledge about their own condition. Some of the key practices endorsed by participatory methods include:
- The process, as well as all of the “data” generated through the engagement, need to be documented - either by writing, video, voice recording, or some other fashion – and made available in a manner that is both useful and readily accessible to the community. The data should be viewed as co-owned with the local community.
- All engagements with local people should “reimburse” them for their time, as that is among their most valuable assets. The engagements themselves should be understood as mutually benefiting, even empowering.
- The Team should consult not only the “community leaders” but also the “troublemakers” and those who may not be immediately visible because of physical weakness or marginality within the community. This latter group may include the elderly, children, women, ethnic minorities, homeless, etc.
The stories (broadly speaking) will be generated from both “open observations” by team members and through conversations and interactions with community members. All data acquired through “open observation” (e.g., written accounts, video) should be viewed and interpreted together with community members, having them comment on the contents. Conversations should be open-ended and un-rushed, generating discussions that have an organic flow and make use of all the senses (not just intellectual). Throughout the process, the Core Team should be open and transparent, sharing their own “stories” as well as their intentions. Analysis should be conducted across levels (individual, family, community, region, national, and even transnational), paying particular attention to the constitution of and linkages across those levels.
Building Multiple Access Channels
Because of local heterogeneity and hierarchies, the Team should cultivate multiple and parallel channels for engaging with the community, being vigilant to seek out its least visible members. Doing so allows the Team to develop a richer understanding of local dynamics and conditions. Furthermore, it minimizes the creation of a class of “gatekeepers” in the community - people who, by virtue of their being “privileged informants” (they may speak English, for example, or be in a position of power or authority within the community), come to mediate the rest of the community’s interaction and access to the Team.
Documenting & Creating Opportunities for Feedback
All video, stories, and data should be kept at the local base camp and made readily available to the community. Also, throughout the immersion process, there should be a provision that allows community members to comment on and intervene in how the Team conducts its activities. Doing so helps to ensure that participatory methodologies and techniques stay consistent with the guiding principles of co-development, transparency, responsibility, and humility.