240029 VS Anthropological knowledge, development policy and international aid (3.2.3) (2011W)

The intention of the seminar is to discuss the development policy and international aid with respect to anthropological knowledge and ethnographic research.

The theoretical contribution of anthropology to planning and implementation of development projects, set forth by donor countries and NGOs in the third world, is a controversial topic. Clearly, the question of development has not been at the top of the anthropological agenda and as a result the consultation of anthropologists with respect to various development projects has been nominal. Development cooperation and its relationship with anthropological research will probably become even more problematic, for the idea of development and the worth of development knowledge have been called into question by critics. If so, it could be asked, whether or not a need for an intervention in development issues is well-grounded at all, although the demand for anthropological knowledge in the development planning appears to be evident. In the seminar the problem of development, as a discourse and practice, and the question of development anthropology (or anthropology and development) would be explored with reference to Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. International health and land issues would serve as examples of the complexities of the development processes.