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An argument is made that the discipline of organization development needs to be scrutinized from a critical perspective. Thus, a series of value-laden objections to mainstream consulting practices and organizational theory are raised: consultants function as the servants of those in power, technical assistance often breeds further dependence on outside expertise, neutrality serves as a cloak for subtle partisanship, and the field suffers from an overemphasis on emotionality rather than structure and macrorelationships. Underlying this critique is a plea for the legitimacy of advocacy intervention and a recognition of the political and economic context within which the practationer operates.

Macrodevelopment and microdevelopment, microcredit programs, capital markets, microfinance, and policy recommendations; developing countries; 6 articles.

The failure of top-down development policies in the Third World has given rise to a variety of grassroots, or bottom-up, development strategies to combat the severe poverty that continues to plague developing countries. Among these grassroots approaches, microcredit has grown rapidly in popularity, scope, & impact over the last two decades. Microcredit provides financial capital for poor entrepreneurs who toil in the informal, poverty sectors in developing country economies. In addition to the thousands of predominantly nongovernmental organizations that offer microcredit programs, many national governments in the Third World are now seeking to integrate microcredit strategies into their development policy & planning. Accordingly, this article examines the microcredit movement, including its rationale & underlying premises, its impact on the poor, & its role in development policy. 32 References. Adapted from the source document.

Most of the literature on the Mondragon cooperative system has largely ignored the significant role of education which gave impetus to the whole idea at the outset. Over time technical training, business skills and cooperative principles have fused together to become the engine driving Mondragon's organizations through decades of remarkable success. This paper provides a systematic analysis of these Basque developments, suggesting critical lessons and implications for cooperative development generally.