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Local in Practice: Professional Distinctions in Angolan Development Work.
1Public Administration and International Affairs, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244.
Local development workers strategically manage their skills and backgrounds to meet NGO expectations for "local staff." These practices, while enabling employment, reinforce industry hierarchies and limit worker influence.
Area of Science:
- Social Sciences
- Development Studies
- Sociology
Background:
- International non-governmental organizations (NGOs) categorize staff as national (local) or international (expatriate).
- This classification is traditionally based on presumed differences in expertise and worker biographies.
- The study focuses on the experiences of Angolan professionals within an international democratization program.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine how low-tier development workers in international NGOs strategically present themselves.
- To demonstrate how these social practices fulfill industry expectations for "local staff" roles.
- To analyze the implications of these practices for individual goals and broader industry inequalities.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative case study approach.
- Examination of social practices related to skills, knowledge, and family circumstances.
- Analysis of how these practices align with or diverge from NGO expectations.
Main Results:
- Development workers strategically emphasize or conceal aspects of their identity and skills to secure employment.
- These practices grant access to international organizations and facilitate personal/professional objectives.
- The reinforcement of hierarchical inequalities within the development sector is a key outcome.
Conclusions:
- Professional distinctions in development work are socially constructed and strategically manipulated.
- These distinctions serve as tools for individuals and NGOs, rather than objective reflections of work.
- The study reveals how individuals may perpetuate unequal structures, even when disadvantaged by them.

