Development Anthropology

Hari Mohan Mathur is distinguished professor on the Council for Social Development, New Delhi.

• Introduction: Culture in the Development ProcessChapter 1: From Applied Anthropology to Development Anthropology Chapter 2: Some Uses of AnthropologyChapter 3: Anthropology and Development in India Chapter 4: Characteristics of Traditional Societies Chapter 5: Social and Cultural Dimensions of Development:Chapter 6: Culture can Act as a Brake on DevelopmentChapter 7: Culture can Act as a Driver of Development Chapter 8: A Socio-Culturally Appropriate Development Chapter 9: Implementing a Socio-Culturally Sensitive DevelopmentChapter 10: Anthropologists in Development Organizations

Mathur´s book on development anthropology is remarkable for providing an excellent overview of development dilemmas and the challenges and opportunities of fomenting change in societies for human betterment, while simultaneously grounding those insights in a sophisticated analysis of the ongoing struggle -- intellectual as well as within institutionalized bureaucracies -- between anthropologists, economists, and planners over the ways in which we understand cultural change and act upon those understandings. Mathur´s candid and constructive reflections on the strengths and weaknesses of anthropological approaches to development interventions, and how these account for many of the profession´s successes as well as its failures, will be instructive for students and young professionals who are considering a specialization as development scholars or practitioners or both.