Anthropology consultancy in the UK and community development in the Third World: a difficult dialogue
Author(s)
Panayiotopoulos, ProdromosEditor(s)
Eade, DeborahPublication date
2002-02-01Subject
Approach and methodology
Metadata
Show full item recordJournal
Development in PracticeDocument type
Journal articleLanguage
EnglishDescription
The article investigates the impact of anthropology consultancy activities in the UK university sector and the role of the UK Department for International Development (DfID) as a major provider of consultancy work. DfID and other donors see anthropology consultancy as useful primarily in the delivery of technical assistance to Third World projects with a community or social development dimension. The article points to tensions both between UK-based consultancy and 'grassroots' development in the Third World, and between applied anthropology and the relative autonomy of anthropology as an academic discipline. The author suggests that a necessary precondition for understanding the contribution of anthropology to policy is the need to overcome the unwillingness by practitioners to question politically the power relationships within which the social sciences, anthropology, and commissioned activities themselves are located. The primary purpose of the paper is to open up a debate on the relationship between power, knowledge, empowerment, and consultancy work.<p>This article is hosted by our co-publisher Taylor & Francis.</p>Pages
14ISSN
0961-4524EISSN
1364-9213ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1080/09614520220104275