ANTR-2104 Anthropological Problems of Development
The objective of this course is to make a critical presentation of recent theoretical debates in the social sciences focused on development. Special emphasis will be made on questions raised by both "anthropology OF development", and "anthropology FOR development". The course will deal, on the one hand, with anthropology’s potential for the analysis and qualification of starting up programs, projects, and development policies. In this context the most relevant aspects of anthropology as an applied social science will be presented. On the other hand, it will focus on the critical reflection anthropology has proposed since the beginning on development and its notable forerunners: civilization and progress. The participants will gain the capacity to analyze development as a social and cultural process and to be able to locate development and modernization as cultural categories. We will study the history of the expansion of the modern project on the planet and its central characteristics, normally invisible since its premises and beliefs are considered universal and "natural". We will study, then, both the genesis of the group of notions associated with development, and the different lines of criticism that have been proposed, in order to identify the social and cultural implications of putting it in motion.
Instructor
Serje Margarita
Catalog page for this course