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.
By:
Robyn Eversole
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Weight: 317g
ISBN: 9781138932807
ISBN 10: 1138932809
Pages: 192
Publication Date: 25 October 2017
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
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
Robyn Eversole is Professor with the Centre for Social Impact, based at Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia.
Reviews for Anthropology for Development: From Theory to Practice
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. ã
