Navigating the shift: unravelling power dynamics with the power awareness tool
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This paper tackles the challenge of translating rhetoric into tangible actions within the Shift the Power debate, which advocates for greater decision-making authority, funding, and leadership for Southern organisations and aims for more equitable partnerships. The Power Awareness Tool (PAT) was developed to facilitate structured conversations in organisations on prevailing power inequalities and potential solutions. The PAT operates on the premise that a genuine shift in power requires a shared understanding of the prevailing power dynamics among collaborators in the Global North and South. The paper employs a mixed-method approach to evaluate the strengths and limitations of PAT, revealing that it helps organisations understand intended and unintended power dynamics with their partners. PAT enables users to critically assess leadership dynamics, decision-making processes, and partner expectations, making it a valuable tool. However, its effectiveness depends on skilled facilitation, sustained engagement, and integration into broader organisational and systemic reforms.
Source: Development in Practice
Institution: Radboud University Nijmegen
Language: English
Subfield: Development
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4413303246