Throughout the 1980s there have been calls, often from development organizations of global repute, for the incorporation of social science perspectives into the design and management of sustainable development programmes. Practising Development is the first collection to offer first-hand critical assessments of the success and failures found within actual responses to these calls. By combining academic and practical experience from anthropology, development and aid organizations the contributors examine the processes of intervention, the methods by which this intervention can be...

Throughout the 1980s there have been calls, often from development organizations of global repute, for the incorporation of social science perspectives into the design and management of sustainable development programmes. Practising Development is the first collection to offer first-hand critical assessments of the success and failures found within actual responses to these calls. By combining academic and practical experience from anthropology, development and aid organizations the contributors examine the processes of intervention, the methods by which this intervention can be...

Development has too often failed to deliver on its promises to poor nations. The policies imposed from above by international agencies and state bodies have frequently not met the needs and aspirations of ordinary people. Development agencies have been searching for sometime for alternative approaches. One of those being pioneered is indigenous knowledge, which aims to make local voices heard more effectively. However while it is increasingly acknowledged in development contexts, it is yet to be validated and accepted by anthropologists. It is self-evident to any anthropologist that effective...

First published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Development agencies have for years been seeking a successful universal response to deprivation. Sparked by controversy and debate, the most recent trend is to look for solutions among 'local' or 'indigenous' populations. Nevertheless, resources continue to be wasted in ill-conceived, centrally-imposed schemes that have not only failed to improve matters in lesser-developed countries but have often made them worse. In such instances it is not local knowledge that is problematic, but development agencies' total misinterpretation of it as just one more 'approach' that can be applied...

The conflict in Rwanda and the Great Lakes in 1994-1996 attracted the horrified attention of the world's media, diplomats and aid workers struggling to make sense of the bloodshed. This study shows how the post-genocide regime in Rwanda managed to impose a simple, persuasive account of Central Africa's crises upon international commentators, and explains the ideological underpinnings of this official narrative. It is a sobering analysis of how simple, persuasive, but fatally misleading analysis of the situation led to policy errors that exacerbated the original crisis.

In this new book, Pottier provides an incisive account of food production and famine in the world today. Drawing on the work of anthropologists and other sources, he offers a wide-ranging account of the methods used to produce and distribute food in a variety of cultural and historical contexts, from India to sub-Saharan Africa.