Anthropology and Development
Anthropology and Development
Richard Axelby, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
In recent decades international development has grown into a world-shaping industry. But how do aid agencies work and what do they achieve? How does aid appear to the adults and children who receive it? And why has there been so little improvement in the position of the poor? Viewing aid and development from anthropological perspectives gives illuminating answers to questions such as these. This essential textbook reveals anthropologists' often surprising findings and details ethnographic case studies on the cultures of development. The authors use a fertile literature to examine the socio-political organisation of aid communities, agencies and networks, as well as the judgements they make about each other. The everyday practice of development work is about negotiating power and culture, but in vastly different ways in different contexts and for different social groups. Exploring the spaces between policy and practice, success and failure, the future and the past, this book provides a rounded understanding of development work that suggests new moral and political possibilities for an increasingly globalised world.
- Through introductory explanations of the theory and many examples and stories, anthropological concepts are made more accessible
- Key points and key questions raised summarised for each chapter
- The only up-to-date textbook on aid and development which offers a broad overview of the contribution made by anthropologists
Reviews & endorsements
'[A] lucid and well balanced text that brings anthropological insights to bear on development in an engaging way. It equips the reader to appreciate why bringing about the improvement of the world is no simple matter, and why the analysis of processes, powers, practices, and diverse points of view - the subject matter of anthropology - just cannot be avoided. Bravo!' Tania Li, University of Toronto
'Development is a very complex issue, and social anthropology is best suited to describe this complexity on an empirical basis: this book, by Emma Crewe and Richard Axelby, is a particularly successful and erudite attempt to argue and exemplify such a perspective. It is a remarkable work, which shows that addressing the complexity of the field of development in simple terms is possible, and that the frequent dichotomies and stereotypes of the subject can be overcome.' Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan, Research Director, CNRS
Product details
October 2012Paperback
9780521184724
272 pages
246 × 174 × 13 mm
0.54kg
Available
Table of Contents
- 1. Introduction: hope and despair
- 2. Anthropologists engaged
- 3. The social and political organisation of aid and development
- 4. The elusive poor
- 5. Human rights and cultural fantasies
- 6. Hierarchies of knowledge
- 7. The moralities of production and exchange
- 8. The politics of policy and practice
- 9. Imagining the future
- Appendix 1. Challenging questions arising from this book.
