AN436      Half Unit
The Anthropology of Development

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Availability

This course explores how anthropologists have evaluated, criticised and contributed to development. Focussing on both 'Big D' development (schemes of improvement or projects) and 'little d' development (change which occurs as the result of economic growth or capitalist expansion) the course shows how anthropological insights have been used to change practices from within as well as critique development from the outside. From anthropological work which seeks pragmatic engagement to that which deconstructs development as an oppressive and power laden discourse, the course aims to give students a broad background to the field. Topics covered include the role of the state; local politics and power relations; gender and empowerment; development as discourse and 'aidnography'; neo liberalism and global capital; corporate social responsibility; markets and micro credit; and the relationship between 'tradition' and ‘modernity’. Throughout, the course will draw upon a broad range of ethnographic examples.

10 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars in the Autumn Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn Term.

Essay (1500 words)

Students will have the opportunity to submit one formative essay of up to 1500 words during the course.

Students taking AN436 as an optional course will be informed of their formative submission deadline by email by the end of Week 4 of term. These students will receive feedback on their formative essays from the course teacher.

Students on the MSc Anthropology and Development programme, for whom AN436 is a core course, will be informed of their submission deadline by their academic mentor early in term. These students will receive feedback on their formative essays from their academic mentor. 

Gardner and Lewis 2015, Anthropology and Development: Twenty First Century Challenges;

Ferguson, J. 1990, The Anti-Politics Machine: Development, Depoliticisation and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho; Cambridge University Press;

Li, T, 2014 Land's End: Capitalist Relations on an Indigenous Frontier;

Karim, L., 2011 Micro-Finance and its Discontents: Women and Debt in Bangladesh;

Elyachar, J. 2005; Markets of Dispossession: NGOs, the Market and the State in Cairo;

Scherz, C. 2014. Having People, Having Heart: Charity, Sustainable Development, and Problems of Dependence in Central Uganda;

Scott; J. 1998, Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition have Failed.

Detailed reading lists are provided at the beginning of the course.

Essay (100%, 3500 words) in Winter Term Week 4

To ensure the integrity of our programmes, students taking AN436 may be required to take part in an interview. The interviews will take place after the essay is submitted, and students will be asked about the process of researching and writing their essay. The expectation is that approximately 10% of students, or a minimum of five students, will be required to attend an interview. This requirement applies to any student enrolled on the course whether or not it is the core course for their degree programme. Students who are selected for interview will need to make themselves available before their results can be confirmed.