Abstract

Race, Racism and Development places racism and constructions of race at the centre of an exploration of the dominant discourses, structures and practices of development. Combining insights from postcolonial and race critical theory with a political economy framework, it puts forward provocative theoretical analyses of the relationships between development, race, capital, embodiment and resistance in historical and contemporary contexts. Exposing how race is central to development policies and practices relating to human rights, security, good governance, HIV/AIDS, population control, NGOs, visual representations and the role of diasporas in development, the book raises compelling questions about contemporary imperialism and the possibilities for transnational political solidarity.
Kalpana Wilson is a Fellow at the Gender Institute, London School of Economics.
'This important book breaks the silence on race and racism in development. Kalpana Wilson's nuanced historical and political analysis goes beyond a narrow critique of the development industry to address broader questions of injustice, making this a book that ought to be essential reading for all students and practitioners of development.' Andrea Cornwall, Professor of Anthropology and International Development, University of Sussex 'Race, Racism and Development makes several key interventions that bridge postcolonial, political economic, critical race, and feminist literatures. Wilson's critiques of Foucauldian approaches to power and development are a breath of fresh air ... [her] careful attention to the histories and dynamics of domination and resistance around the globe and their significance for contemporary politics is compelling ...The author rightly asks us to think more deeply about what a productive politics of transnational solidarity would look like. This book marks a major moment in the project to break the silence around race and racism in development studies.' David Naguib Pellow, Professor of Sociology, University of Minnesota, author of Resisting Global Toxics: Transnational Movements for Environmental Justice 'Kalpana Wilson's new book is a clear indictment of the imbrication of race in development, a fact well-known to race critical scholars, but one which has rarely been analysed in such historical and contemporary sociological depth. This accessibly written and cogently argued book is a must-read for students of race and development alike'. Alana Lentin, co-author of The Crises of Multiculturalism