"Your Report is Completely Wrong!" (aapkii report ek dum galat hai!): Locating Spaces Inside NGOs for Feedback and Dissemination
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This paper explores separate, but similar, confrontations that occurred at the end of two research studies conducted with two different Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Rajasthan, India. Although our goals included explaining our questions and methods during the research period, when we returned to the field for feedback and dissemination, in both cases, the research participants were upset by our findings. The similarity of the experiences caused us to reflect on: (1) power and its spaces inside NGOs and (2) the possibilities for social change through the process of feedback and dissemination. The tensions between NGOs' interests in controlling project narratives of success and counter-narratives was revealed through researcher-led feedback and dissemination. Drawing on feminist ethnography and organizational theory, we find that dissemination becomes a counter-narrative among the many narratives of an organization. Dissemination highlights already existing narratives and the tensions they produce, besides enabling dialogue that enables new narratives to emerge. We conclude by suggesting that tensions need not be resolved for dissemination to be considered successful-enabling spaces for dialogue leads to insights for both researcher and researched. Copyright 2010 by the Society for Applied Anthropology.
