Disciplinary Progress, Progressivism, and Professionalism: Re-politicizing D/development paths forward

Abstract

Katy Gardner and David Lewis build off of their earlier edition of this book in a clear and accessible manner to review the pertinent literature in light of two decades of changes within and outside of the development context.  They revisit old debates within anthropology between the applied and academic aspects of the discipline in an attempt to reconcile these through the myriad of challenges anthropologists and other social observers face in the form of neoliberalism, including its cooptation of radical critiques.  Anthropology and Development: Challenges for the Twenty-First Century provides an excellent overview of development.  There is clear discussion of the development of development both within and outside of Anthropology; highlighted by the decision include a Glossary (separated into two sections: 1. Development jargon and 2. Anthropological jargon) and list of acronyms prior to the Prelude of the book.  The text highlights many of the issues, debates, case studies, theories, and ethical considerations that I addressed this past semester in my teaching of Applied Anthropology.  The book would make an excellent accompaniment to many undergraduate Anthropology classes that seek to demonstrate the value of ethnography to re-politicize Development, progress narratives, and neoliberalism generally.