Abstract

What if development agencies and researchers are not driven by policy? Suppose that the things that make for 'good policy' - policy that legitimises and mobilises political support - in reality make it impossible to implement?

By focusing in detail on the unfolding activities of a development project in western India over more than ten years, as it falls under different policy regimes, this book takes a close look at the relationship between policy and practice in development. David Mosse shows how the actions of development workers are shaped by the exigencies of organisations and the need to maintain relationships rather than by policy; but also that development actors work hardest of all to maintain coherent representations of their actions as instances of authorised policy. Raising unfamiliar questions, Mosse provides a rare self-critical reflection on practice, while refusing to endorse current post-modern dismissal of development.
'A brave and crucial work which dismantles the accepted orthodoxies about the making of development by development agencies. Everyone with an interest in development - whether practitioner or critic - should read this book'
Dinah Rajak, Development in Practice
'A superb book, one of those rarities that can change entire ways of thinking'
Scott Guggenheim, Lead Social Scientist, The World Bank
'Any development professional will find scenarios that are recognisable here. As the many entry points slowly build up into a rich and thick description of the project' world, it becomes clear that this candid depiction forces us to engage with candid questions especially about the book's two principal concepts: practice and policy'
Ingie Hovland, Development Policy Review
'Strongly argued, vividly illustrated and fluently written. Highly recommended'
Amita Baviskar, Visiting Professor, Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology, Stanford University