Learning from Gal Oya Possibilities for Participatory Development and Post-Newtonian Social Science

This first paperback edition - with a new introduction - recounts the drama of a remarkably successful experiment that introduced farmer organization for self-managed development in the largest and most run down, conflict-ridden irrigation system in Sri-Lanka, and now updates the story to record the author's picture of Gal Oya in 1996. Gal Oya, initially considered one of the least desirable areas in the country, became one of the most progressive and peaceful during the 1980's. People reshaped their working and living conditions and accomplished changes no-one previously thought possible. In an unusual combination of description and analysis, Norman Uphoff seeks to interpret the Gal Oya project and draws far-reaching conclusions for participatory development and contemporary social science. He documents and analyses the remarkable progress made by farmers, community organizers, researchers and, finally, policy-makers, iteratively forging progressive changes in the midst of ethnic and political strife.