Catalogo dei Corsi di studio

Students will be able to:

understand the historical relatioship between colonialism,development and globalization
have developed a critical perspective about development and the main concepts of the Anthropology
understand the work against poverty of bilateral and multilateral institutions of international development.

Programme

The course will start with a theoretical and methodological overview of Anthropology, to gradually examine the relationship between Development and Anthropology. In particular, the various approaches with which anthropology has examined the politics of aid, donors, development politics and intervention programmes will be analyzed, in order to reflect on the contribution that our discipline can offer within development projects and cooperation interventions - defined as "political arenas" within which different actors interact.
The topics will highlight the importance of socio-cultural and political dynamics within the pre-project feasibility studies and the monitoring phase. Some specific projects related to health and cultural develpment cooperation promoted in sub-Saharan Africa will be examined. Finally, after a deeply discussion on the most recent contributions concerning the relationship between development, health and heritage, particular attention will also be paid to emergency projects.
Topics: Methodological and theoretical introduction to anthropology; Race, ethnicity, culture: from racism to relativism; From consumer ethnography to critical consumption/fair trade/cooperation; Applied anthropology: from colonialism to contemporaneity; Introduction to Development Anthropology; The phases of development policies and international cooperation: a historical perspective; "Development Anthropology", "Anthropology in Development" and "Anthropology for Development"; Theories, practices and representations of development; From top-down to bottom-up projects: Participatory development; Cultural criticism of the concept of "development" and the ideology of "development"; Analysis and criticism of development projects; From post-modern approaches to post-development; Constructive criticism: Olivier-de Sardan's contribution; Analysis of institutions and actors involved in development projects; Cooperation and health; Cooperation and heritage; International organizations and development; Cooperation and conflicts; The ethnographic case of Ghana and Uganda; Development and emergency; Anthropology of human rights.

Adopted texts

Alan Barnard, 2004. History and Theory in Anthropology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan, 2005. Anthropology and Development. Understanding Contemporary Social Change. Zed Books, London & New York.

Slides prepared by the lecturer and scientific material discussed during the lessons.

Exam modes

The students will have to take an oral exam on the topics debated during the lessons.