Faith in twentieth-century development and progress has been severely shaken by the environmental crisis and the failures of the international development assistance. What is development? What is the third world? How was it made? What problems does it face and how is it changing? What are the causes of failure in development / aid programs? Drawing on a variety of ethnographic materials and case studies, this course discusses the nature of economic and social changes in post colonial societies and underdeveloped areas in the West / North, offers a critical analysis of sustainable development, and introduces the students to the practices, anthropological and otherwise, of planning policy interventions. The course shows how anthropological knowledge and understanding can illuminate development issues such as rural poverty, environmental degradation and the globalization of trade.
