Investigating Developmentalism: Notions of Development in the Social Sphere - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 303017445X ISBN 13: 9783030174453

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020

Synopsis

Compiling various strands of the dis/enchantment with development discourse in contemporary South Asia, with specific focus on the cases from India, this edited book brings together anthropologists, sociologists, economists, and historians to refresh the understanding of development. It introduces ways of thinking “otherwise” about development discourse and what the contributors term “developmentalism”—the social enchantment with development. The cultural discourse of development in contemporary South Asia manifests not only in the official programs of state agencies, but in cinema, television, and mass media. Dear to various stakeholders—from government leaders and manufacturers to consumers and the electorate—is the axiom of a “development(al) society.” Organized to bridge familiar understandings of development with radical ways of thinking through developmentalism, this book holds value for those engaged in the anthropology and sociology of development, development studies, South Asian studies, as well as for development professionals working for state and non-governmental organizations.

About this title

About the Author

Dev Nath Pathak is Assistant Professor of Sociology at South Asian University, New Delhi, India. He is the author of Living and Dying: Meanings in Maithili Folklore (2018), the editor of Another South Asia! (2017), and, most recently, co-editor of Intersections of Contemporary Art, Anthropology and Art History in South Asia: Decoding Visual Worlds (with Sasanka Perera, 2019). 

Amiya Kumar Das teaches sociology at Tezpur University, Assam, India, and is the assistant editor of Explorations: the E-Journal of the Indian Sociological Society. His main research is broadly in the areas of sociology of governance, development sociology and sociology of health and illness.

From the Back Cover

“This book examines development as collective dream, theatre, and performance--focusing on the spectacular case of India and "digital India" as the latest development dream installment. It does so in engaging and deeply probing ways, shedding light on emotional subtexts and undercurrents of developmentalism and modernism, policies and projects, which matter more than is often acknowledged.”

-Jan Nederveen Pieterse, Duncan Mellichamp Distinguished Professor of Global Studies and Sociology, University of California, USA  

Compiling various strands of the dis/enchantment with development discourse in contemporary South Asia, with specific focus on the cases from India, this edited book brings together anthropologists, sociologists, economists, and historians to refresh the understanding of development. It introduces ways of thinking “otherwise” about development discourse and what the contributors term “developmentalism”―the social enchantment with development. The cultural discourse of development in contemporary South Asia manifests not only in the official programs of state agencies, but in cinema, television, and mass media. Dear to various stakeholders―from government leaders and manufacturers to consumers and the electorate―is the axiom of a “development(al) society.” Organized to bridge familiar understandings of development with radical ways of thinking through developmentalism, this book holds value for those engaged in the anthropology and sociology of development, development studies, South Asian studies, as well as for development professionals working for state and non-governmental organizations.

Edition details

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2020
• ISBN 10: 303017445X
• ISBN 13: 9783030174453
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 260
• Editor: Pathak Dev Nath, Das Amiya Kumar