Whose Development?: An Ethnography of Aid - Softcover

Crewe, Emma; Harrison, Elizabeth

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1856496066 ISBN 13: 9781856496063

Publisher: Zed Books, 1998

Synopsis

This book is an ethnography of development in practice. It builds on recent work in the anthropology of development in its examination of the evolution and persistence of a number of key ideas about gender, technology and race. It explores how these are rooted in both material practices and ideologies, notably the Enlightenment and colonialism, but goes beyond previous studies which have tended to focus mainly on the apparently monolithic power of the developers. The authors argue for a more nuanced account of power through analysis of the relationship between individual agency and structural constraint. Their fascinating study shows how a simple dichotomy between "us," the developers, and "them," the victims of development, misconstrues the nature of the proccesses involved.

About this title

About the Author:

Emma Crewe lectures in the Department of Anthropology, University College, London.

Elizabeth Harrison lectures at the School of African and Asian Studies, University of Sussex.

Review:

'A fine-grained ethnography of aid... showing well the context sensitivity of all participants in development projects and their multiple identities and shifting roles.' Frederique Apffel-Marglin, Smith College, Massachusetts 'This book moves beyond the conventional deconstruction of development and stimulates new, relational ways of thinking about it.' Cecile Jackson, University of East Anglia 'A rich picture of the complexities and power relations involved in foreign aid.' Michael Edwards, NGO Division, World Bank

About this edition

• Publisher: Zed Books
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1856496066
• ISBN 13: 9781856496063
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224