The Anthropology of Doing Good: China and Beyond

Catalog description

This course explores the intersection of neoliberalism, development and humanitarianism, largely from the perspective of cultural anthropology and the social studies of development. We often think of development as the betterment of mankind and as overall progress. Personal, economic, or otherwise, we tend to view development as a positive process. This course is meant to question widespread assumptions about development. How has development become a discourse and a practice of power since the 1940s? Why do many observers see development as a neocolonial phenomenon? Is development mitigating the domination of the 'first world' on the 'third world,' or is it contributing to it? How have development agencies evolved and responded to critiques over time? We will pay close attention to the social relations that constitute and inform the relations, rights and obligations that exist between wealthy and the poor, including China, the US, and many other countries. 001350