1st Edition

Anthropology for Development From Theory to Practice

By Robyn Eversole Copyright 2018
    202 Pages 7 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    202 Pages 7 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Anthropology for Development: From Theory to Practice connects cross-cultural social theory with the concerns of development policy and practice. It introduces the reader to a set of key ideas from the field of anthropology of  development, and shows how these insights can be applied to solve real-world development dilemmas.

    This single, accessibly written volume clearly explains key concepts from anthropology and draws them into a  framework to address some of the important challenges facing development policy and practice in the twenty-first century: poverty, participation, sustainability and innovation. It discusses classic critical and ethnographic texts and more recent anthropological work, using rich case studies across a range of country contexts to provide an introduction to the field not available elsewhere. The examples presented are designed to help development professionals reframe their practice with attention to social and cultural variables as well as understand why mainstream approaches to reducing poverty, raising productivity, delivering social services and grappling with environmental risks often fail.

    This book will prove invaluable to undergraduate and postgraduate students who are professionals-in-training in development studies programs around the world. It will also help development professionals work effectively and inclusively across cultures, tap into previously invisible resources, and turn current development challenges into opportunities.

    List of Figures

    List of Boxes

    INTRODUCTION

    Doing development

    Many developments

    Success and failure

    Change and continuity

    Development in social context

    Development actors

    Economics and beyond

    Policy in context?

    An anthropological approach

    About anthropology

    Anthropology of development

    Applying anthropology in development work

    Aims of this book

    CHAPTER ONE: ANTHROPOLOGY OF DEVELOPMENT IN THEORY

    Development in context

    Anthropologists and development

    Development up close

    Anthropologists in development work

    Development actors: the people in the process

    Actors on the margins

    Anthropologists as development actors

    Developers as social actors

    Development knowledges: what people know

    The idea of development

    Indigenous knowledges

    Development logics

    Development institutions: what people do

    Culture and institutions

    Institutions and development

    Institutions across cultures

    Summary: Understanding development

    CHAPTER TWO: ANTHROPOLOGY OF DEVELOPMENT IN PRACTICE

    Stories of change on the ground

    Grassroots actors

    Invisible knowledges

    Institutions and power

    Learning from change on the ground

    Stories of development practice

    Actors in development practice

    Knowledge for development

    Old institutions and new

    Learning from development practice

    Summary: Lessons for practice

    CHAPTER THREE: AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPMENT PRACTICE

    Framing and reframing development

    The dominant framework: Problems, targets, solutions

    An anthropological framework: contexts, actors, and resources

    The development landscape

    Development in context

    Unpacking actors

    Knowledges and logics

    Institutions and change

    Summary: Doing development anthropologically

    CHAPTER FOUR: APPLYING THE FRAMEWORK: TOOLS AND APPROACHES

    Assessment tools: Understanding contexts

    Tools for desktop assessment

    Tools for assessment workshops

    Community-based assessment tools

    Design tools: Crafting actions for change

    Visioning and planning tools

    Resourcing tools

    Implementation tools: Life on the development landscape

    Participatory governance tools

    Participatory management tools

    Evaluation tools: Learning and accountability

    Practice learning tools

    Accountability tools

    Tools for reflexive practice

    Working with anthropologists

    Summary: Tools and their uses

    CHAPTER FIVE: ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES

    A recipe for effectiveness?

    Poverty as a verb

    From participation to recognition

    The challenge of sustainability

    Summary: From challenges to opportunities?

    CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSIONS: USING ANTHROPOLOGY IN DEVELOPMENT WORK

    Lesson One: Development abhors a vacuum

    Lesson Two: Development is always about people

    Lesson Three: Reframing is the key to change

    Anthropology for development, toward the future

    FURTHER READING

    Development case studies – useful collections

    Ethnographies of local economic development

    Unpacking the idea of development

    Anthropology of / for practice

    REFERENCES

    INDEX

    Biography

    Robyn Eversole is Professor with the Centre for Social Impact, based at Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia.

    "Using the tools and concepts of anthropology, Robyn Eversole provides a map of the development process as it really is. Practitioners and students learn how to recognize and respond to the needs of diverse communities while also juggling the complex dilemma of how to obtain and use scarce resources. This is a clear, concise and critical book which reinforces the fact that all development must be a collaboration within a specific context. It’s the book I needed while teaching and doing development!" - Jeanne Simonelli, Professor Emerita, Wake Forest University and SUNY-Oneonta, US.

     

    "A welcome book that gives a straightforward account of what anthropology has to offer in development contexts. Those of us from the discipline, largely ignored until relatively recently, have long argued that it has much to offer with respect to the cross-cultural challenges faced by development programmes. This book puts the argument clearly, and is particularly useful in giving an update on current issues, with development being a field that features rapid change." - Paul Sillitoe, Professor of Anthropology, Durham University, UK.