ANTH 109 SC - Rethinking Development: Anthropological Perspectives

International funding agencies like the World Bank, governing bodies, NGOs, and religious organizations use the word “development” to indicate economic and cultural progress. Aspirational narratives of development as a civilizational end-goal are used to justify billion-dollar infrastructure projects and poverty alleviation programs. But these narratives of progress overshadow the lived experiences of people on the ground. This course addresses the history and politics that led to linking development to economic growth and introduces modernization theory, critiques of development, post-development theory, and alternatives to development. Using ethnographic texts to foreground the experiences of people marginalized by class, indigeneity, gender, race and ethnicity, whose lives are impacted by development projects, this course views development through a critical lens and shows the urgency of alternative models. Formerly Anthropology of Development.

Course Credit: 1.0

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