Architecture, Building and Planning - Theses
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ItemThe role of self-reliance in small communities( 1986)This "action-research" study is about the relationship of appropriate technology and community self-reliance. This is investigated through a series of field experiments in earth construction, in particular, earth roofing technology in the form of dome and vault because Nepal (the focus of the study) has a problem of deforestation which has contributed to the problems of roofing for the poor. The first experiment carried out in Maryborough, Victoria in early 1982 showed that a building could be built almost entirely out of earth with voluntary participation in a week and at a minimum cost. This project led to several interesting follow-up activities towards local self-reliance in Australia. Following the Maryborough Project, a second experiment was carried out in late 1982 in Deurali. Panchayat (West Nepal) where the project ran into several difficulties such as basic building materials like water, sand and good quality earth were difficult to obtain; people were not eager about earth construction which was looked down upon as an inferior form of construction; people's voluntary participation both in labour and in materials was poor; author's misunderstanding about the local culture led to the spirit possession of a villager; the waterproofing materials of lime, salt and fat were not easily available nor were they adequate for the heavy rains in the area. The dome failed two times. The earth roofing technology was found to be inappropriate to that culture. A detailed investigation of local self-reliance of one village of 24 households showed that local self-reliance was a complex issue in which many indigenous technologies such as the scythe and a rice husking device (Ahiki) were helping the very poor to be locally self-reliant. After an extensive village dialogue, a small village level project of facilitating local skills and indigenous technologies, namely the hand-loom, mat-making (Chakati) and the animal husbandry project, was found to nurture its self-reliance. This new finding of the importance of indigenous technologies as against "appropriate technologies" for local self-reliance has been further explained. in the light of current literature, practical experiences and case studies from Nepal. A PARFITS model for local self-reliance is discussed where indigenous technology is seen as a "political technology". The model is found to be particularly relevant to Nepalese conditions. Hence it is concluded that the introduction of an "appropriate technology" into a small rural subsistence community does not necessarily lead to its local self-reliance. On the other hand, in such communities, the facilitating of people's local skills and indigenous technologies based on "participatory action-research" has been found to nurture local self-reliance of the very poor.