Speaking Justice to Power Ethical and Methodological Challenges for Evaluators

Efficiency, economy, and equity are policy goals pursued by governments around the world, but analysts and evaluators have devoted more effort to measuring and evaluating the first two. In Speaking Justice to Power, contributors examine the concept of equity, the role it plays, and its application in policy evaluation.Here some of the most valuable thinkers in the area of policy studies address key questions: How should evaluators develop criteria for measuring equity as they analyze both program and policy implementation as well as their impacts? What distinctions among people should be taken into account when measuring and valuing impacts? What sorts of data should be used to analyze processes and impacts in different settings? How might such data be validated?The contributors employ grounded-theory thinking as they translate key ethical principles into their work and draw important lessons from their experiences. The work discusses equity in interventions addressing a variety of social and environmental problems. This volume continues the fine tradition of Transaction's Comparative Policy Evaluation series.

ForewordKathryn Newcomer 1. IntroductionKim Forss and Mita Marra Part I: Equity in Theory: Implications for Evaluation 2. Thinking about Equity: From Philosophy to Social ScienceMita Marra and Kim Forss 3. How Much Equity Do We Need? A Decision-Making Tool Reconciling Utilitarian and Rawlsian Approaches to Collective EfficiencyBarbara Befani 4. Inequality, Institutions, and Change—The Case of SenegalJens Andersson Part II: Equity in Evaluation Approaches: Challenges for Evaluators 5. Renewing Democratic Evaluation—The Case of a Progressive Evaluation ModelRobert Picciotto 6. Beyond Feminist and Gender-Based Approaches: Evaluating Cooperation between Men and Women for Gender EquityMita Marra 7. Equity versus (Gender) Equality: Complexities and Implications in Programming, Monitoring, and EvaluationLydia Ruprecht and Sara Callegari 8. Using Th eories of Reach to Enhance Equity Considerations in EvaluationJohn Mayne 9. Achieving Equality at Scale through System Transformation: Evaluating System ChangeTom Ling 10. Monitoring Equity and the Evaluation of Equity Monitoring SystemsPeter Wilkins Part III: Equity in Program Evaluation: Lessons Learnt 11. Supporting Vulnerable Communities to Adapt to Climate Change: Defi ning Vulnerability and Evaluating OutcomesAlison Pollard 12. Evaluations of the Impact of Fair Trade on Development: Th e Case of CoffeeSteve Jacob 13. Impact for Whom? Analyzing and Valuing the Distribution of Benefi ts from Sexual and Reproductive Health InterventionsKim Forss 14. Evaluating Equity within a Heterogeneous Group: The Challenges Faced by Child Rights Programming and Their EvaluationAnanda S. Millard 15. Getting Good Data to Evaluate Employment Equity Initiatives: An Example from CanadaMaria Barrados 16. Equity-Oriented Interventions and Defining the Populations of Aboriginal Peoples and National Minorities: Experiences from Sweden, Canada, and AustraliaMaria Barrados, Kim Forss, and Peter Wilkins Contributors Index

Kim Forss holds a PhD from the Stockholm School of Economics. His research has concerned comparative studies of evaluation, the design of inquiring systems and organizational learning, utilization of results, as well as process use of evaluation. He works as an independent researcher out of his firm Andante - tools for thinking AB. Mitta Marra is Visiting Professor of Comparative Public Policy at The George Washington University. She is Associate Editor of Evaluation and Program Planning (EPP) and Editor in Chief of RIV - Rassena Italiana di Valutazione.