The Anthropology of Development (DEVT90056)

Social Anthropology consists of the cross-cultural understanding of humankind largely through ethnographic research and analysis. This subject offers an advanced introduction to the Anthropology of Development. It considers, in turn: anthropological critiques of Development culture, assumptions, models and policies; the efforts of anthropologists to place the experiences and viewpoints of ordinary people in sites of Development at the centre of Development research and practice; and key ideas in the Anthropology of Development – from the ‘sub-culture of poverty’ thesis to economic substantivism to Dependency and World Systems Theory, and to Post-Structuralist approaches to understanding Development. Team taught, the Anthropology of Development explores these issues through a range of ethnographic case studies from Africa; Central & Eastern Europe; Latin America, South Asia, and South East Asia.