Dwelling on Wickedness in Societal Systems: A Case of ICTD Intervention in Indian Agriculture Markets

This paper critiques the tendency of totalising societal problems into the binary of tame or wicked and, in such ways, generalising towards ‘one solution fits all’ since there are no other qualifiers. Taking the premise that every societal problem is unique and highly contextual, we use the lens of the wicked problem concept to explore the case of state-mandated ICTD intervention relating to agriculture market reforms. By operationalising a two-level typology and contingency framework, we place the case in a continuum between the tame and wicked territories. This enables us to typify the issue as wicked and establish the attributes and degree of wickedness in the problem. Our findings show that traits of wickedness in the issue have severely impacted the diffusion and adoption of ICTD itself at the local level and that the state’s push for ICTD-based transformation has led to a multi-dimensional intensification of wickedness traits, including additional complexities, heightened distrust, hardening of divergence and value positions, and increased uncertainty. The outcomes are adverse due to a templated single strategy ICTD intervention, which neither carries a complete understanding of the issues nor is receptive to the local knowledge.