Discourses of Development: Anthropological Perspectives

by R. D. Grillo (Editor), R. L. Stirrat (Editor)

Overview

Development' is clearly a contentious concept. It is common knowledge that there is frequently a troubling divide between what Western developers think development entails and how those people affected understand the ensuing processes. By treating development as problematic, this book seeks to generate new insights into the relationships between the various parties involved and to enhance understanding of the ways in which particular 'discourses of development' are generated. Authors raise provocative questions about the relationship of politics, power, ideology and rhetoric to the institutional practice of development. These hegemonic considerations are shown to have a profound effect on the 'culture of aid' and the interface between development personnel and those whom development is supposed to benefit.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781000324211
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/23/2020
Series:	Explorations in Anthropology
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	312
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

R. D. Grillo University of Sussex R. L. Stirrat University of Sussex

Table of Contents

Contents: R.D. Grillo and R.L. Stirrat, Preface -- R.D. Grillo, Discourses of Development: The View from Anthropology -- Georgia Kaufmann, Watching the Developers: a Partial Ethnography -- Alan Rew, "Folk" and "Pop" in the Orchestration of Development Projects -- Katy Gardner, Mixed Messages: Contested "Development" and the Plantation Rehabilitation Project -- James Fairhead and Melissa Leach, Webs of Power and the Construction of Environmental Policy Problems: Forest Loss in Guinea -- Emma Crewe, The Silent Tradition of Developing the Cooks -- Michael Woost, Alternative Vocabularies of Development? "Community" and "Participation" in Development Discourse in Sri Lanka -- David Mosse, ‘Local Institutions' and Community Management -- David O. Nyamwaya, Three Critical Issues in Community Health Development Projects in Kenya -- Johan Pottier, Towards an Ethnography of Participatory Appraisal -- Maya Unnithan and Kavita Srivastava, Gender Politics and Development in Rajasthan

Editorial Reviews

Contributors from Britain, the US, South Asia, and Africa raise provocative questions about the relationship of politics, power, ideology, and rhetoric to the institutional practice of development. They demonstrate that these hegemonic considerations have a profound effect on the culture of aid and on the interface between development personnel and those whom development is supposed to benefit. Distributed by New York University Press. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

The strengths of this excellent volume are three-fold. First, the authors successfully situate the study of development discourses within the broader sociocultural context in which they occur. Second, the articles effectively relate the discourses studied to what is happening on the ground, clearly demonstrating that there is no simple, unilinear relationship. Third, by focusing on the differing discourses of development that may be utilized even within the context of single program, the authors make the study of development richer and more nuanced in the process.” —Anthropological Quarterly

From the Publisher

The strengths of this excellent volume are three-fold. First, the authors successfully situate the study of development discourses within the broader sociocultural context in which they occur. Second, the articles effectively relate the discourses studied to what is happening on the ground, clearly demonstrating that there is no simple, unilinear relationship. Third, by focusing on the differing discourses of development that may be utilized even within the context of single program, the authors make the study of development richer and more nuanced in the process.

Anthropological Quarterly