
Anthropology, Development and Modernities
Exploring Discourse, Counter-Tendencies and Violence
Routledge (Publisher)
Published on 21. October 1999
Book
Hardback
248 pages
978-0-415-20499-6 (ISBN)
Description
While the diffusion of modernity and the spread of development schemes may bring prosperity, optimism and opportunity for some, for others it has brought poverty, a deterioration in quality of life and has given rise to violence. This collection brings an anthropological perspective to bear on understanding the diverse modernities we face in the contemporary world. It provides a critical review of interpretations of development and modernity, supported by rigorous case studies from regions as diverse as Guatemala, Sri Lanka, West Africa and contemporary Europe.
Together, the chapters in this volume demonstrate the crucial importance of looking to ethnography for guidance in shaping development policies. Ethnography can show how people's own agency transforms, recasts and complicates the modernities they experience. The contributors argue that explanations of change framed in terms of the dominantdiscourses and institutions of modernity are inadequate, and that we give closer attention to discourses, images, beliefs and practices that run counter to these yet play a part in shaping them and giving them meaning.
Anthropology, Development and Modernities deals with the realities of people's everyday lives and dilemmas. It is essential reading for students and scholars in anthropology, sociology and development studies. It should also be read by all those actively involved in development work.
Together, the chapters in this volume demonstrate the crucial importance of looking to ethnography for guidance in shaping development policies. Ethnography can show how people's own agency transforms, recasts and complicates the modernities they experience. The contributors argue that explanations of change framed in terms of the dominantdiscourses and institutions of modernity are inadequate, and that we give closer attention to discourses, images, beliefs and practices that run counter to these yet play a part in shaping them and giving them meaning.
Anthropology, Development and Modernities deals with the realities of people's everyday lives and dilemmas. It is essential reading for students and scholars in anthropology, sociology and development studies. It should also be read by all those actively involved in development work.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Postgraduate
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
546 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-415-20499-6 (9780415204996)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Alberto Arce | Norman Long
Anthropology, Development and Modernities
Exploring Discourse, Counter-Tendencies and Violence
E-Book
12/2003
Routledge
€80.49
Available for download

Alberto Arce | Norman Long
Anthropology, Development and Modernities
Exploring Discourse, Counter-Tendencies and Violence
E-Book
12/2003
Routledge
€80.49
Available for download

Alberto Arce | Norman Long
Anthropology, Development and Modernities
Exploring Discourse, Counter-Tendencies and Violence
Book
10/1999
Routledge
€86.60
Shipment within 15-20 days
Persons
Alberto Arce and Norman Long are both based in the Department of Sociology at Wageningen University in the the Netherlands. Alberto Arce's research focuses on agricultural and environmental issues. Norman Long has developed an actor-oriented and interface approach to studying development and social change. Both have published widely.
Content
Preface Acknowledgements 1 Reconfiguring modernity and development from an anthropological perspective 2 Creating or regulating development: representing modernities through language and discourse 3 Modernisation without the market? The case of the 'Soviet East' 4 Islamisms and the decivilising processes of globalisation 5 The spectacle of modernity: blood, microscopes and mirrors in colonial Tanganyika 6 Development discourse and its subversion: decivilisation, depoliticisation and dispossession in West Africa 7 On the anticipation of violence: modernity and identity in Southern Sri Lanka 8 At the frontiers of the modern state in post-war Guatemala 9 Vital force, avenging spirits and zombies: discourses on drug addiction among Surinamese Creole migrants in Amsterdam 10 Consuming modernity: mutational processes of change 11 Exploring local/global transformations: a view from anthropology