Further Reading >

Anthropology and Development

In this section:

Development Anthropology

Economic Anthropology

Anthropological Critiques of Development

Introduction

If we are to investigate what anthropology has to offer public action we need to recognize its long and ambivalent history with the enterprise. Development and anthropology are deeply intertwined in morally problematic ways. In many ways one can argue that development has defined the field of anthropology. Historically (and still for the majority of anthropologists today) the focus of the discipline has precisely been on studying those societies that lack development, those societies that still have "culture" and "tradition", that have their own systems worthy of understanding. And as such, development makes for a clear antithesis. Development has also, in many contexts (colonial and postcolonial), supported the work of anthropologists. The different means by which anthropologists received funding or gained access to the field were often dependent on the practical application of their work. Anthropologists have long been involved with policy issues either having to do with the societies they studied or by using their research to advocate change back home. In the historical imagination the anthropologist walked a fine line between a handmaiden of imperialism and a cultural advocate for the people.

Perhaps as a product of this moral dilemma, the contemporary relationship between anthropology and development has produced a split between those who work within development and those who critique it. In the 1960's a sub-field of development anthropology emerged as anthropologists were increasingly being institutionalized within development circles. Many of these anthropologists believed that their engagement and insights could better inform development theory and practice. Frustratingly, however, many experienced the constraints of bureaucracy that stood in between them and the people they were meant to serve. More recently the "post-structuralist critique of development" has gained currency in anthropology, providing important critiques of the political enterprise of development and moving anthropologists away from engagement. Many have brought attention to the superficial use of anthropology in development (antiquated theories and poor methods).

An unfortunate consequence of this separation between critique and practice is the failure to engage more profoundly with the discipline and to bring forward more of the findings and theoretical works of anthropologists to bear on development practice and theory. This website initiative is an attempt to bring forward the approaches, theories, and methods of anthropology and have a constructive dialogue on the ways in which disciplinary theory can inform better public action initiatives.

Selected References on the Relationship of Anthropology to Development

Gardner, Katy, and David Lewis. 1996. Anthropology, development and the postmodern challenge. London, Chicago IL: Pluto Press.

Grillo, Ralph. 1985. "Applied anthropology in the 1980's: Retrospect and prospect" In Social anthropology and devleopment policy. Ralph Grillo and A. Rew, Eds. New York: Tavistock.

Hart, Keith. 2002. "Anthropologists and development" Norsk Antropologisk Tidsskrift. 13(1-2): 14-21.

Hoben, Allen. 1982. "Anthropologists and development" Annual Review of Anthropology 11: 349-376.

Mair, Lucy. 1984. Anthropology and development. London: MacMillan.

Schech, Susanne and Jane Haggis. 2000. Culture and development: A critical introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.

Web Resources on General: Culture, Anthropology, and Development

The Development Gateway's Culture and Development Page
http://www.developmentgateway.org/node/130613

UNESCO's Issues on Culture and Development Pages
http://unesco.org/culture/development/

Indira Ghandi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) Multidisciplinary series on Culture and Development
http://ignca.nic.in/cul_srs.htm

Culture and Poverty: Learning and Research at the World Bank
http://www.wroldbank.org/poverty/culture/

Social Impact Analysis: The World Bank Group
http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/ESSD/sdvext.nsf/61ByDocName/SocialAnalysis