Anthropology and Development
Culture, Morality and Politics in a Globalised World

An exploration of anthropological perspectives on the cultures, moralities and politics of the world of aid and development.

Emma Crewe (Author), Richard Axelby (Author)

9780521184724, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 18 October 2012

272 pages
24.6 x 17.4 x 1.3 cm, 0.54 kg

'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

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.

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.

Subject Areas: Development economics & emerging economies [KCM], Anthropology [JHM], Development studies [GTF]