Adventures in Aidland
The Anthropology of Professionals in International Development
1st Edition
Published on 1. March 2013
Book
Paperback/Softback
248 pages
978-1-78238-063-4 (ISBN)
Description
Anthropological interest in new subjects of research and contemporary knowledge practices has turned ethnographic attention to a wide ranging variety of professional fields. Among these the encounter with international development has perhaps been longer and more intimate than any of the others. Anthropologists have drawn critical attention to the interfaces and social effects of development's discursive regimes but, oddly enough, have paid scant attention to knowledge producers themselves, despite anthropologists being among them. This is the focus of this volume. It concerns the construction and transmission of knowledge about global poverty and its reduction but is equally interested in the social life of development professionals, in the capacity of ideas to mediate relationships, in networks of experts and communities of aid workers, and in the dilemmas of maintaining professional identities. Going well beyond obsolete debates about 'pure' and 'applied' anthropology, the book examines the transformations that occur as social scientific concepts and practices cross and re-cross the boundary between anthropological and policy making knowledge.
Reviews / Votes
"The contributions are framed by a brief, but rich introductory chapter that contextualizes the anthropology of professional expert knowledge. The volume is concluded by a wonderful (in several meanings), entertaining essay by Raymond Apthorpe." * Forum for Development Studies "By denying developing countries cultural specificity, aid agencies can arrogantly perpetuate their own insularity. This is fascinating and underexplored territory for anthropologists and development theorists alike, making this an important collection." * Times Literary Supplement "Themes are - consistently woven throughout the book, particularly ethnographic approaches considering mechanisms by which expert knowledge is transmitted - This book fills a gap in the consideration of expert knowledge and its application to consultancy that has not been addressed since Morris and Bastin (2004)." * Anthropological ForumMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
368 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78238-063-4 (9781782380634)
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
E-Book
04/2011
1st Edition
Berghahn Books
€27.49
Available for download
E-Book
04/2011
1st Edition
Berghahn Books
€22.49
Available for download
Person
David Mosse is Professor of Social Anthropology, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He has also worked for Oxfam in south India, as a social development adviser for DFID, and as a consultant for various international development agencies. Recent books include Cultivating Development: An ethnography of aid policy and practice (2005); The Aid Effect: Giving and Governing in International development (2005, ed. with D. Lewis); and Development Translators and Brokers (2006, ed. with D. Lewis).
Content
List of Contributors Preface and Acknowledgements Chapter 1. Introduction: The Anthropology of Expertise and Professionals in International Development David Mosse Chapter 2. Calculating Compassion: Accounting for Some Categorical Practices in International Development Maia Green Chapter 3. Rendering Society Technical: Government Through Community and the Ethnographic Turn at the World Bank in Indonesia Tania Murray Li Chapter 4. Social Analysis as Corporate Product: Non-Economists/Anthropologists at Work at the World Bank in Washington DC David Mosse Chapter 5. The World Bank's Expertise: Observant Participation in the World Development Report 2006, Equity and Development Desmond McNeill and Asun Lera St.Clair Chapter 6. World Health and Nepal: Producing Internationals, Healthy Citizenship and the Cosmopolitan Ian Harper Chapter 7. The Sociality of International Aid and Policy Convergence Rosalind Eyben Chapter 8. Parochial Cosmopolitanism and the Power of Nostalgia Dinah Rajak and Jock Stirrat Chapter 9. Tidy Concepts, Messy Lives: Defining Tensions in the Domestic and Overseas Careers of UK Non-governmental Professionals David Lewis Chapter 10. Coda: Alice in Aidland, A Seriously Satirical Allegory Raymond Apthorpe Bibliography Index