Throughout international developments brief but turbulent history, the word participation has remained a constant. Perhaps because of this ubiquity, its definition remains obscure, changing shape with each government department, development agency, Non Government Organization (NGO) or neighbourhood group that uses it. Concerned with disempowering forms of participation, a number of development theorists and practitioners have advocated an approach that is premised on a shift of power from Western or Third World experts, government officials and development workers to marginalized communities.This study, focusing on questions of power and autonomy, and management and control, is the result of five months of field research in Mindanao, Philippines. Issues around local knowledge, unity, diversity and dissent are also explored. My emphasis is on the village-level experience of development interventions in two agrarian reform cooperatives within the context of global and national policies and practices. Using ethnographic and participatory research methods, I facilitated a process in which farmers and NGO workers explored issues of participation as governance in their organizations and co-ops. A synthesis of their analyses and my own form the basis of this study. A critique of the current concept of participation and its practical forms in development projects is also presented.A number of significant findings resulted from this study. Marginalized communities face a number of daunting external and internal obstacles to achieving the autonomy and equality they need in order to define and undertake just solutions to their social and economic problems. One of the most limiting factors for these communities is the rigid management practices of development agencies and NGOs and their focus on quantitative results over social processes. Another related barrier to marginalized people and communities creating a space for autonomy is the exercise of power by some cultures (knowledge systems) over others.