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This article, based on an ethnographical research in a village of southern Sri Lanka (Rekawa), focuses on the local consequences of national and international development participative dynamics. The first part offers a brief historical perspective of the development apparatus in Sri Lanka. The second section focuses more deeply on the local associative groups of Rekawa based on their relationships with three main groups of stakeholders : the leaders of these institutions, the fishermen and the women. The analysis aims at understanding the social and cultural change arising from the implementation of participatory institutions in a local arena.