Do we use obscure words to impress our colleagues – or fashionable ones to win research proposals? How do poor people define their poverty? How can we use aid budgets most effectively? Are many of our actions against poverty simple, direct... and wrong? This book is an entertaining and unsettling collection of writings that questions concepts, conventions and practices in development. It is made up of short and accessible writings by Robert Chambers, many from the last ten years and some from earlier, reflecting on the evolution of concepts like participation and of organisations like the World Bank. Besides provocations, there is mischief, verse and serious fun. The book is organised into four sections: Word Play, Poverty and Participation, Aid and For Our Future.
Publication year:
2012