Investigating Developmentalism: Notions of Development in the Social Sphere

Description

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. Front Matter ....Pages i-xix Introduction: Developmentalism—On a Trope of (Dis)Enchantment (Dev Nath Pathak, Amiya Kumar Das)....Pages 1-34 Front Matter ....Pages 35-35 The Danger of Development Today: An Inevitable Polemic (Rabindra Ray, Amiya Kumar Das)....Pages 37-51 The Enchantment of Urbanization: Closer Look at Market’s Narrative in Indian Cities (Yugank Goyal)....Pages 53-70 Front Matter ....Pages 71-71 The Art of Showing: Imagining Development in Indian Mediascape (Pranta Pratik Patnaik)....Pages 73-96 Crafting Development and Developing Craft: An On-Going Dialogue (Ektaa Jain)....Pages 97-113 Documentaries and the Development Project: Filmmaking as a Discursive Practice (Nivedita Ghosh)....Pages 115-139 ‘Tayyari Jeet Ki’: The Production of Childhood as a Cultural Trope of Developmentalism (Lakshita Malik)....Pages 141-159 Front Matter ....Pages 161-161 Development, Marginality, and ‘Contested Space’ in South India (Salah Punathil)....Pages 163-181 Resurgence of Community in the Midst of Despair: Development’s Changing Course in Northeast India (A. S. Shimreiwung)....Pages 183-198 (Re)Producing Class. On Development as Middle Class Mission (Anna Romanowicz)....Pages 199-218 Frictions in Resistance: Imagining Post-neoliberal Developmental Possibilities (Tathagatan Ravindran)....Pages 219-237 Back Matter ....Pages 239-241