Emma Crewe is a Visiting Reader in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at the School of Oriental and African Studies. She has worked as an anthropologist researcher, lecturer and practitioner in international development in South Asia, East Africa and the UK. In her research she explores inequalities, governance and institutions. Richard Axelby is a Senior Teaching Fellow in the Anthropology of Development at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Richard has worked with development and educational NGOs in South Asia and in the UK. He is a fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute.

• 1. Introduction: hope and despair; 2. Anthropologists engaged; 3. The social and political organisation of aid and development; 4. The elusive poor; 5. Human rights and cultural fantasies; 6. Hierarchies of knowledge; 7. The moralities of production and exchange; 8. The politics of policy and practice; 9. Imagining the future; Appendix 1. Challenging questions arising from this book.

'[A] lucid and well balanced text that brings anthropological insights to bear on development in an engaging way. It equips the reader to appreciate why bringing about the improvement of the world is no simple matter, and why the analysis of processes, powers, practices, and diverse points of view - the subject matter of anthropology - just cannot be avoided. Bravo!' Tania Li, University of Toronto