Cultivating Development

Today there is a preoccupation among development agencies and researchers with getting policy right; with exerting influence over policy, linking research to policy and with implementing policy around the world. But what if development practice is not driven by policy at all? Suppose that the things that make for 'good policy' - policy which legitimises and mobilises political support - in reality make it impractical and impossible to implement? By focusing in detail on the activities of a development project in tribal 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. Raising unfamiliar questions, Mosse provides a rare self-critical reflection on practice, while refusing to endorse current post-modern dismissal of development.

'A superb book, one of those rarities that can change entire ways of thinking', 'Strongly argued, vividly illustrated and fluently written. Highly recommended', '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', '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'

David Mosse is Professor of Social Anthropology at SOAS, University of London. He is author of The Rule of Water (Oxford University Press, 2003), Cultivating Development (Pluto, 2004) and The Aid Effect (Pluto, 2005).