Paper short abstract:

This paper focuses on the idiom of 'capacity building' within the ritualised institution of the workshop in the context of NGO development project implementation in Bolivian Guarani communities.

Paper long abstract:

This paper focuses on the idiom of 'capacity building' and the institution of the workshop in the context of NGO development project implementation in Bolivian Guarani communities. In this context, 'capacity building' is seen as a way of educating people into independence from the point of view of the organisations, whereas for the communities' inhabitants it is seen as yet another service that comes attached to the organisations' various projects. While each party involved in the projects thus attaches different meanings and expectations to the term, the shared idiom of 'capacity building' nonetheless functions to bring NGO workers and Guarani leaders together in the highly ritualised setting of the workshop, thereby assuring the continuation of projects.