"The idea of 'bricolage' is an attractive one, and neatly captures the idea that institutions can only very partially be shaped and planned by outside interventions... the book not only provides an original and much needed addition to the literature on institutions, but also gives a wonderful overview of the existing literature - turning it into an excellent work of reference for scholars and students." – Margreet Zwarteveen, Assistant Professor and Senior Researcher at Wageningen University, the Netherlands
"The main contribution of Development Through Bricolage comes from its explication of the prevalence of ‘bricolage’, grounded in examples from Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Sweden. For students, practitioners, and academics wanting alternatives to simplistic, and unrealistic, models, the concept of ‘bricolage’ opens the door to a wider way of thinking about natural resources management and international development." – Bryan Bruns, Consulting Sociologist and Independent Scholar and co-editor of Negotiating Water Rights (Intermediate Technology Publications, London, 2000)
"I recommend this book highly to everyone trying to understand the reality of attempting to encourage institutional change or to introduce new types of water management institutions. The disappointing experience with introducing water users associations over the past few decades is a case in point. But reading this book takes time and patience: because it avoids sweeping easy general conclusions, and instead offers a subtle and nuanced argument, non-social scientists in particular may find it a slow read – but your patience will be rewarded by the insightfulness of each chapter." – Douglas J. Merrey, Water Alternatives
"Cleaver succeeds ... in giving voice to the many examples that illustrate bricolage, and more importantly in beginning to flesh out how institutional bricolage relates to previous social theorizing, and then providing a framework for those working on the critical boundaries of development studies" – Ken J. Caine, Society and Natural Resources
"This is an interesting book not only for advanced social scientists, undergratduate students and scholars, but also for any professionals concerned with the environmental use of resources (such as civil engineers, land planners or professional ecologists)." - Oscar Alfranca (in Progress in Development Studies, 2017)
