Development Anthropology : Putting Culture First

Hari Mohan Mathur presents an account of how anthropology, long relegated to the background by economists, is beginning to have an effect on development matters, especially in developing counties where rural and tribal people are the dominant groups.

In Development Anthropology: Putting Culture First, Hari Mohan Mathur highlights the role of culture—and anthropological work more broadly—in development outcomes. Anthropologists’ contributions in this area have traditionally received little attention, but this changed when the World Bank released the 2015 World Development Report. This report focused on the social, cultural, and psychological influences which affect the development process, and like Mathur, stressed the criticality of anthropological and other social sciences’ knowledge for the success of development efforts. A major contribution to development anthropology, this book will interest anthropologists, economists, sociologists, other social scientists, policy makers, planners, development practitioners, researchers and trainers, and will be particularly useful for graduate students planning their career in the field of development.