Popular Representations of Development: Insights from Novels, Films, Television and Social Media

Description

Although the academic study of development is well established, as is also its policy implementation, less considered are the broader, more popular understandings of development that often shape agendas and priorities, particularly in representative democracies. Through its accessible and provocative chapters, Popular Representations of Development introduces the idea that while the issue of ‘development’ – defined broadly as problems of poverty and social deprivation, and the various agencies and processes seeking to address these – is normally one that is discussed by social scientists and policy makers, it also has a wider ‘popular’ dimension. Development is something that can be understood through studying literature, films, and other non-conventional forms of representation. It is also a public issue, one that has historically been associated with musical movements such as Live Aid and increasingly features in newer media such as blogs and social networking. The book connects the effort to build a more holistic understanding of development issues with an exploration of the diverse public sphere in which popular engagement with development takes place. This book gives students of development studies, media studies and geography as well as students in the humanities engaging with global development issues a variety of perspectives from different disciplines to open up this new field for discussion. Contents List of figures and tables List of contributors Acknowledgements Part I: Introduction 1 Introduction: popular representations of development • David Lewis, Dennis Rodgers and Michael Woolcock Part II: Literature and fiction 2 The fiction of development: literary representation as a source of authoritative knowledge • David Lewis, Dennis Rodgers and Michael Woolcock 3 Notes on teaching international studies with novels: Hard Times, Half of a Yellow Sun and The Quiet American • John Harriss 4 Considering ‘pedagogical’ fictions and metanarratives of development: 1 World Manga • Veronica Davidov Part III: Media and television 5 More news is bad news: why studies of ‘the public faces of development’ and ‘media and morality’ should be concerned with reality TV programmes • Martin Scott 6 “Hidden in plain sight”: Baltimore, The Wire and the politics of under-development in urban America • Simon Parker Part IV: Film 7 The projection of development: cinematic representation as an(other) source of authoritative knowledge? • David Lewis, Dennis Rodgers and Michael Woolcock 8 Affective histories: imagining poverty in popular Indian cinema • Esha Shah Part V: Public campaigns 9 Visual representations of development: the Empire Marketing Board poster campaign, 1926–1933 • Uma Kothari 10 Band Aid reconsidered: sentimental cultures and populist humanitarianism • Cheryl Lousley Part VI: New media 11 Blogs + Twitter = Change? Discursive reproduction of global governance and the limits of social media • Tobias Denskus and Daniel E. Esser 12 FollowMe.IntDev.Com: international development in the blogosphere • Ryann Manning Part VII: Conclusion 13 Conclusion: popular representations of development – taking stock, moving forward • David Lewis, Dennis Rodgers and Michael Woolcock Index