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Annotated Bibliography
An enormous amount has been written on both development and culture(s), although much of the latter has tended to address development issues from an anthropological or ethnographic perspective, or from a concern for disadvantaged minorities or threatened ways of life; and a considerable amount of the former appears not to take cultural matters into account at all. While there has been a growing awareness of the complex intersections between the two fields, particularly since the World Decade for Culture and Development, most of the recent literature focuses on the cultural dimensions of development, rather than the developmental dimensions of culture.
We have sought here to reflect the current direction of the debate, and specifically to highlight writers and organisations that, in the words of Amartya Sens paper (delivered at the World Bank Tokyo meeting on 13 December 2000), view culture not just as a constituent part of development and its basic ends, but as a means to understanding and achieving a form or forms of development from which people can draw meaning and fulfilment in their lives.
This resource list was compiled and annotated by Nicola Frost and Deborah Eade, Reviews Editor and Editor respectively of Development in Practice.
Simone Abram and Jacqueline Waldren (eds.): Anthropological Perspectives on Local Development, London: Routledge, 1998.
Contributors focus on local-level experiences of domestic development projects, charting the reaction of local communities to interventions planned and implemented from outside. Drawing on case studies from Europe, Asia, and Africa, the book highlights the elements of conflict in responses to development, and shows how members of a given community can hold competing views.
Haleh Afshar and Stephanie Barrientos (eds.): Women, Globalization and Fragmentation in the Developing World, Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1999.
The impact of globalisation on the lives of women in developing countries has been both dramatic and deeply fragmented. Flexible employment patterns have drawn many more poor women into the labour market, while male migration has led to a sharp rise in the number of female-headed households. In some cases these changes have created opportunities for empowerment and independence; in others, women have had to deal with family tensions and a repressive backlash against female participation in formal employment. This book explores these issues, with case studies from Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Frédérique Apffel-Marglin with PRATEC (eds.): The Spirit of Regeneration: Andean Culture Confronting Western Notions of Development, London: Zed Books, 1998.
Founded in 1987, PRATEC (Andean Project of Peasant Technologies) brings together a group of Peruvian development specialists from non-élite backgrounds to consider the problem of the failure of a development practice dominated by Western epistemologies and ideas. Contributions reflect their broad multidisciplinary approach to attempting to insert an understanding of Andean peasant reality into the practice of development, something they feel cannot be done from within the professional ethos and constraints of the development industry. This book presents PRATEC members attempts not only to articulate something of peasant practice, but also to expose the ethnocentrism embedded within the development paradigm.
Frédérique Apffel-Marglin and Stephen A. Marglin (eds.): Dominating Knowledge: Development, Culture, and Resistance, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990.
Contributors take the perspective that indigenous systems have a cultural and ecological cohesion and harmony which is largely ignored by development strategies that are based on the supposedly objective superiority of science and modernity. They ask whether the problems of development are the result of flawed indigenous strategies, or whether they can be traced to the way in which the development project has thus far been conceived and defined. The challenge is to find ways of increasing well-being without destroying valued ways of life. Contributors include Arjun Appadurai, Tariq Banuri, and Ashis Nandy.
Joanne R. Bauer and Daniel A. Bell (eds.): The East Asian Challenge for Human Rights, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Contributors ask whether there can be a more sophisticated approach to the question of human rights than either a Western definition of a universal code or the claim of an authoritarian régime to non-Western values. With reference to East Asia, this book argues that non-Western peoples can contribute positively to the development of international human-rights principles, despite significant constraints deriving from both these positions. The editors note that the impact of economic globalisation on poor people has resulted in very similar social problems on both sides of the Pacific, and that the recognition of this mutuality, and a desire for co-operation, could have a beneficial impact on approaches to human-rights policy.
Lynda S. Bell, Andrew J. Nathan, and Ilan Peleg (eds.): Negotiating Culture and Human Rights, New York: Columbia University Press, 2001.
One of several recent titles to grapple with the problem of universalism versus relativism through an examination of the debate about Asian values in relation to human rights. The contributors represent varying viewpoints, but the general consensus is a cautious yes to universalism, with numerous caveats. One contributor argues for the universality of moral reasoning, while another warns of the dangers of a homogenising West and the rest attitude to cultural diversity.
Deryke Belshaw, Robert Calderisi, and Christopher Sugden (eds.): Faith in Development: Partnership Between the World Bank and the Churches of Africa, Oxford: World Bank and Regnum Books, 2001.
Providing insights into the spiritual dimension of poverty, this collection of papers is taken from a conference organised by the World Bank and Christian leaders in Africa, which was intended to explore paths for greater collaboration, especially at a grassroots level. Contributions explore themes that include corruption, gender, micro-enterprise, and health.
John Boli and George M. Thomas (eds.): Constructing World Culture: INGOs Since 1875, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999.
The editors begin from the suggestion that international NGOs (INGOs) are one of the missing links between global social construction and more micro levels of organisation, policy, and mobilisation. They analyse the growth of the INGO sector, its influence on shaping global development, and ask not only how global actors go about their business, but how and why they define their business as they do. Contemporary world culture defines actors as rational, self-interested, and capable of initiative, who will be empowered by political participation and economic expansion. Conversely, innovators are seen to shape their institutions through their actions. The book looks at the principles and models of world culture in a historical perspective and demonstrates an increasing tendency towards top-down structural isomorphism, resulting in a uniformity of goals, using similar resources, which increases conflict.
Abdin N. Chande: Islam, Ulamaa and Community Development in Tanzania: A Case Study of Religious Currents in East Africa, San Francisco: Austin and Winfield, 1998.
An example of a detailed local-level study, tracing the history of Islamic leadership in an East African town, and examining the Muslim communitys responses to the challenge of modernity. In particular, it examines the relationship between religious organisations and the state, and the effect of the broadly conservative outlook of the Islamic leadership in this context.
Emmanuel M. Chiwone and Zfikile Gambahaya (eds.): Culture and Development: Perspectives from the South, Harare: Mond Books, 1998.
Based on papers from a conference held in Zimbabwe in 1997, this collection represents a range of thinking from Southern Africa on the theme of culture, which is viewed as the context of all social issues, and as an often-ignored yet critical influence on development. The contributions emphasise the importance of premising social change on ideas and perceptions that derive from specific cultural situations. Papers consider topics that include indigenous languages and literature, the role of institutions in development, and the impact of mass media on local cultural sustainability.
Christopher K. Clague and Shoshana Grossbard-Shechtman (eds.): Culture and Development : International Perspectives, Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2001.
This issue of the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (volume 573) presents a varied collection of papers, exploring connections between economic development, political participation, and culture. One article examines the role of institutions in promoting the integration of culture in development planning to ensure lasting democracy in developing countries. Others consider the link between political participation and health in India, and the causes and consequences of corruption.
John Clammer: Values and Development in Southeast Asia, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia: Pelandak Publications, 1996.
Despite impressive economic growth in South East Asia before the recent crisis, poverty reduction, pollution, and the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources continue to cause problems. Attempts to explain these failures have frequently focused on values, whether the relationship of religion to development, or a concern with the dominance of Western concepts of development. Clammer argues that values are the foundation of social and economic development, and expands the conventional notion of development to bring currently peripheral matters such as culture, religion, and ethnicity into the mainstream.
Nat J. Colletta, Teck Ghee Lim and Anita Kelles Viitanen (eds.): Social Cohesion and Conflict Prevention in Asia: Managing Diversity through Development, Washington: World Bank, 2001.
This collection begins with a desire to avert further intra-state conflict in Asia, through ensuring more equitable benefit from economic development. It asks questions about the role of the state in managing diversity, be it ethnic differences, or urban/rural variations, and looks at ways of developing new forms of social capital to combat the breakdown in social cohesion. Contributions give both internal perspectives and the viewpoints of development practitioners looking in from the outside.
Emma Crewe and Elizabeth Harrison: Whose Development? An Ethnography of Aid, London: Zed Books, 1998.
Drawing on detailed case-study material from two aid agencies, one official and one non-government, the authors explore the many assumptions made about culture in their policies, programmes, and interactions with the intended beneficiaries. They describe how the cultural actualities of race, class, and gender mediate and are mediated by development practice and the exercise of power.
Denis Dwyer and David Drakakis-Smith (eds.): Ethnicity and Development: Geographical Perspectives, Chichester, UK: John Wiley, 1996.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, ethnic identities and ethnic conflict have become increasingly prominent. The discipline of Development Studies has been slow to respond with new theoretical and practical perspectives that would replace the traditional view of ethnicity as an obstacle to development with a more engaged and pragmatic approach. This book contributes to a rethinking of the relation between ethnicity and development, through a series of case studies and overview articles. It emphasises an awareness of the spatial dimension (in particular the relation of people with territory) as critical in effective development planning.
Gustavo Esteva and Madhu Suri Prakash: Grassroots Postmodernism: Remaking the Soil of Cultures, London: Zed Books, 1998.
The authors chart the emergence of new social movements, and their operation as vehicles for regenerating local cultural spaces. They argue that, far from being swallowed up by a hegemonic global culture, which is dominated by Western-inspired notions of human rights and development, the social majority is challenging entrenched modernist intellectual frameworks and reviving the concept of community. The nature of culture and local action is engaged with on a theoretical level, combined with examples from the zapatista movement, and the activities of international financial institutions.
Katy Gardner and David Lewis: Anthropology, Development and the Postmodern Challenge, London: Pluto Press, 1996.
The relationship between anthropology and development has been a close but uneasy one. This book is a useful introduction to the points of conflict and similarity. It examines what an involvement in development might mean for anthropologists historical commitment to minimising their impact on the people with whom they work. It also explains how development theory and practice could benefit from an anthropological perspective, and avoid many of the pitfalls of development initiatives conceived without a thorough understanding of local culture.
R. D. Grillo and R. L. Stirrat (eds.): Discourses of Development: Anthropological Perspectives, Oxford: Berg, 1997.
Treating development as a problematic concept, this book aims to examine the relationship between the various actors involved, and understand ways in which discourses of development are generated and perpetuated. Contributors highlight the apparent presence of an authoritative voice (the development gaze) in many development contexts, which constructs problems according to criteria that resonate with themes currently in vogue in development agencies. The editors however warn against a strictly monolithic conception of developer and developed, as has been displayed by numerous critics: this models fails to allow for the multiplicity of collaborations and examples of North--South exchange.
Irene Guijt and Meera Kaul Shah (eds.): The Myth of Community: Gender Issues in Participatory Development, London: Intermediate Technology Publications, 1998.
This book examines the intersection of two major streams of development thought: gender and participation. It begins by noting the relative failure, contrary to widespread assumptions and intentions, of participatory approaches to development to be socially inclusive: many participatory development initiatives do not deal well with the complexity of community differences. The rhetoric of participation can obscure womens priorities and constraints, reducing the chance of equitable development. The book urges practitioners to integrate gender awareness into participatory practice, to enable a less naïve notion of community to emerge.
Lawrence E. Harrison and Samuel P. Huntington (eds.): Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress, New York: Basic Books, 2001.
Contributors ask why some countries and ethnic groups are better-off than others, why the divide between rich and poor is growing, and why people in some countries live under oppression and fear, while others enjoy greater freedom. The book examines the role of culture and cultural values in influencing national economic, social, and political performance.
Sharon Harper (ed.): The Lab, the Temple and the Market: Reflections at the Intersection of Science, Religion and Development, Bloomfield CT: Kumarian, 2000.
This collection examines the interface between the world-views of science, religion, and development. Contributors consider these relationships from the perspectives of Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, and the Bahai faith.
Mary Ann Hinsdale, Helen M. Lewis, and S. Maxine Waller: It Comes From the People: Community Development and Local Theology, Philadelphia PA: Temple University Press, 1995.
Telling the story of community renewal in a rural US town through interviews, photographs, and scenes from a local theatrical production, this book explains how the process of rebuilding and economic development uncovered a growing consciousness of cultural and religious values. The book also provides a frank exposition of the difficulties faced by outside researchers working with local people.
Antony Hooper (ed.): Culture and Sustainable Development in the Pacific, Canberra: Asia Pacific Press, 2000.
There is a lively tradition of discussion and debate about issues of culture and development in the South Pacific region. Often culture, tradition, and identity are counterpoised against such concepts as development, rationality, and good governance, with development initiatives frequently seen as responsible for the impoverishment of local culture. This book discusses ways to resolve these contradictions so that access to improved welfare and amenities does not mean the death of tradition. Contributors write about natural-resource management, handling social issues, and the potential of tourism.
Deepak Lal: Unintended Consequences: The Impact of Factor Endowments, Culture, and Politics on Long-Run Economic Performance, Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 1999.
Deepak Lal is an economist who has written widely on problems related to development and eurocentrism. In this historical study of why the East stagnated after its burst of creativity hundreds or thousands of years ago, he focuses on cultural factors. More recently, Lal argues, it is possible to explain Asian economic success in conventional economic terms, without reference to Western cultural values. See also: Culture, Democracy, and Development 1999; The New Cultural Imperialism: The Greens and Economic Development Occasional Paper, New Delhi: Liberty Institute, 2000.
Lisa Lowe and David Lloyd (eds.): The Politics of Culture in the Shadow of Capital, Durham: Duke University Press, 1997.
This collection takes a critical approach to transnationalism as a theoretical framework for understanding social practices. It argues that, although anti-colonial, anti-racist, or feminist struggles are ubiquitous, they generally take place in local sites, and have widely varying forms and bases which are not addressed by post-modern concepts of globalisation. Transnational capitalism tends to commodify everything and therefore to collapse culture into economics; culture becomes politically important when the logics of culture and economics clash. The book aims to identify alternatives to capitalist development. Case studies include civil rights in the USA, feminism within Islam, and Latin American insurrection movements.
Mahmood Mamdani (ed.): Beyond Rights Talk and Culture Talk: Comparative Essays on the Politics of Rights and Culture, Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2000.
A collection of comparative essays from India, Africa, and the USA, considering different aspects of the tensions between cultural politics and social justice, and especially at the often difficult relationships between individual and cultural freedom, and between both of these and global discourses of human rights.
Marjorie Mayo: Cultures, Communities, Identities: Cultural Strategies for Participation and Empowerment, Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2000.
Aspects of culture and identity are increasingly recognised as being important to communities and to those who work with them. But the basis for identity is changing: a community is as likely to be linked by religion or gender as by locality. This book explores some of this variety, and includes examples of strategies to integrate culture into plans for community political participation and economic development in the both the North and the South.
Martha Nussbaum and Jonathan Glover (eds.): Women, Culture and Development: A Study of Human Capabilities, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995.
A successor to the 1993 The Quality of Life, edited by Nussbaum and Amartya Sen, this collection focuses on the cultural traditions that impair womens quality of life. Most contributors argue that neither an imperialist attitude, nor a cultural-relativist position, is helpful in analysing the problems of women and working towards creative solutions. This collection builds on the capability principle developed by Sen as a way of assessing quality of life, a principle that owes as much to philosophy as economics.
Susan Perry and Celeste Schenck (eds.) Eye to Eye: Women Practising Development Across Cultures, London: Zed Books, 2001.
Starting from the premise that development is not something apart from daily life, but is embedded in every aspect of it, the editors bring together essays from a wide range of feminists international femocrats, academics, NGO workers, lawyers, writers who explore the role of the World Bank in promoting gender equity, the relationships between NGOs and religious ideologies, attitudes to harmful traditional practices, and the importance of literature. The volume makes an inspiring contribution to thinking about development and culture, and grounds theory in practice in an original and lively way.
Gilbert Rist: The History of Development: From Western Origins to Global Faith London: Zed Books, 1997.
In this volume, this Swiss scholar examines the nature of the persistent faith in the potential of development, despite all evidence to the contrary. He traces the history of the development paradigm as Western myth, from colonialism to Truman and Rostow, and on to the era of human development. Rist argues that the way forward is to begin to dissolve this naïve belief, not merely through economic argument, but through examples from history and comparative anthropology. See also La culture, otage du développement? Paris: Harmattan/EADI, 1994.
William F. Ryan: Culture, Spirituality and Economic Development: Opening a Dialogue, Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, 1995.
How can human values and belief systems be properly integrated into the modern economic development paradigm? The author examines this problem through reflections on a series of interviews conducted with people from various disciplines and backgrounds. It is suggested that a new universal paradigm would not be helpful rather, what is needed is sensitivity to various world-views, and awareness of their interdependence.
Baidyanath Saraswati (ed.): Interface of Cultural Identity and Development, New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, 1996.
Integration of Endogenous Cultural Dimension into Development, New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, 1997.
These two volumes arise from several dialogues on cultural identity and social change initiated by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. Interface catalogues findings from studies from throughout rural India. Integration takes the discussion further, and looks at how indigenous cultural knowledge can be integrated into development projects, while avoiding a process of cultural alienation. Case studies are from South East and East Asia as well as India.
Susanne Schech and Jane Haggis: Culture and Development: A Critical Introduction, Oxford: Blackwell, 2000.
Aiming to pull culture out of the shadows in development studies, this book provides students with a wide-ranging introduction to new ways of thinking about the issues. Drawing on recent work in cultural studies, the book critically examines how development itself operates as a cultural process. It argues that the entrenched association of development with modernity and anthropology with culture has been partly responsible for the inappropriate nature of development initiatives, and that development institutions and practices are inevitably caught up in a web of cultural presuppositions, values, and meanings.
Ismail Serageldin and Joan Martin-Brown (eds.): Culture in Sustainable Development: Investing in Cultural and Natural Endowments, World Bank, 1999.
The report of a conference jointly sponsored by the World Bank and UNESCO, this collection offers a variety of pieces (keynote speeches, commentaries, and seminar summaries) from a broad range of participants. Sessions considered the contributions of women, the relationship between national culture and sustainable development, and the role of economics. In his summary, Ismail Serageldin notes the importance of conceiving of culture as not only cultural heritage and material legacies, but also culture as lived today that which makes life meaningful and binds society together.
Amy L. Sherman: The Soul of Development: Biblical Christianity and Economic Transformation in Guatemala, Oxford: OUP, 1997.
This book explores the influence of religious conviction (in this case evangelical Protestantism) on economic and political behaviour, and particularly on prospects for development. Beginning with an overview of the culture and development literature, it concludes that world-views do matter, and that orthodox Christianity in Guatemala correlates with perceived development-enhancing practices more closely than do syncretic folk beliefs and Mayan animism.
Tracey Skelton and Tim Allen (eds.): Culture and Global Change, London: Routledge, 1999.
Recognising the influence of culture on development policy and implementation requires an understanding of the assumptions surrounding the concept of a globalised culture. Contributors to this comprehensive collection underline the ethnocentrism of the development paradigm, and the resultant tensions for development NGOs responding to forces in both North and South. Other sections consider instances of resistance and the role of religion. Contributors include Peter Worsley, Hazel Johnson, and Jeff Haynes.
Selo Soemardjan and Kenneth W. Thompson (eds.): Culture, Development and Democracy: The Role of the Intellectual, Tokyo: United Nations University Press, 1994.
A tribute to the Indonesian statesman and social thinker, Soedjatmoko, this collection brings together theoretical, regional, and national perspectives on the role of intellectuals in promoting development without compromising national and individual political and cultural freedom through the dictates of foreign donors. Contributors address questions such as the culture free presentation of technology in development models, and whether intellectuals are more guardians of tradition than champions of development. Case studies include the experience of Latin American intellectuals, and the Indonesian national context.
Caroline Sweetman (ed.): Gender, Religion, and Spirituality, Oxford: Oxfam, 1999.
Why have considerations of faith and spirituality been left on the margin of development research, practice, and policy, not only by mainstream development but also by many gender and development workers? This collection argues that the dismissal of a critical area of human activity has had negative implications for economic and social development in general, and for the attainment of equality for women in particular. Contributors explore the complex relationships between culture, religion, and feminism from both within and without spiritual contexts. See also Women and Culture, 1995.
Vincent Tucker (ed.): Cultural Perspectives on Development, London: Frank Cass, 1997.
This collection first appeared as a special issue of the European Journal of Development Research. It asks whether cultural analysis has anything to offer development studies, and whether indeed culture can provide a new paradigm for development, or merely muddy the theoretical waters. The papers therefore constitute a critique of current development thinking, while warning against the reversion to an idealised notion of local development. It is suggested that ideas from social theory, such as network theory and the ethnography of institutions, could help to develop clearer concepts of social processes and how development initiatives interact with them.
Thierry Verhelst: No Life Without Roots: Culture and Development, London: Zed Books, 1990.
Written in the midst of NGO development activity, and published during the UNESCO Decade of Culture and Development, Verhelsts examination of the Westernising power of development is now a classic. The book argues that those involved in international development project their culturally alien aspirations, theories, and experiences on to beneficiaries who may have different aspirations, or different means of achieving them: happiness does not have a universal flavour and the means of pursuing it may vary. The book concentrates on the activities of NGOs and asks why indigenous traditions, which could form alternative, more culturally appropriate social models for development, are often seen as negative and backward candidates for transformation or elimination.
N. N. Vohra (ed.): Culture, Democracy, and Development in South Asia, Delhi: Shipra Publications, 2001.
This collection brings together contributions from 23 participants from all over South Asia to share perspectives on the Asian values debate, to consider whether some cultures are more conducive to development than others, and to ask why South Asia has remained plagued by poverty since independence.
Bret Wallach: Losing Asia: Modernization and the Culture of Development, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.
In this account of the aesthetic cost of modernisation in Asia, the author argues with reference to personal experience and historical record that, rather than follow a Western model of agricultural development in the race to develop, Asia must become wealthy enough to be able to preserve its traditional countryside its cultural landscape. Attacking the long-prevalent utilitarian thinking that has driven development policy, Wallach warns that much of the science of the environmental movement furthers a similar agenda.
D. Michael Warren, L. Jan Slikkerveer, and David Brokensha (eds.): The Cultural Dimension of Development: Indigenous Knowledge Systems, London: Intermediate Technology Publications, 1995.
This volume contains 46 papers, from a range of disciplines, including anthropology, geography, and agricultural sciences. It brings together accounts and experiences of the potential of indigenous knowledge to contribute to development planning and implementation, and makes a strong case for local knowledge to be valued and respected by outsiders.
Sarah White and Romy Tiongco: Doing Theology and Development: Meeting the Challenge of Poverty, Edinburgh: St Andrew Press, 1997.
Asserting that the connection between theology and development is critical, and that political and religious values together help to form our world-view, this book looks at attitudes to world poverty from within the Christian tradition. The authors argue that development is impossible unless the developers get to know the poor.
Richard Wilson (ed.): Human Rights, Culture and Context: Anthropological Perspectives, London: Pluto Press, 1997.
This collection of anthropological writing makes links between the increase in ethno-nationalist conflict and political violence, ideas about culture, and the activities of human rights organisations. It traces the often difficult relationship between local cultural politics and the idea of universal human rights Case studies come from Guatemala, Hawaii, and Mauritius.
World Commission on Culture and Development: Our Creative Diversity, 2nd edn., Paris: UNESCO, 1996.
Is culture an aspect or a means of development? asks a quotation from the anthropologist Marshall Sahlins at the beginning of this report. The report argues that culture must be seen as an integral element in human development, not a series of factors to be taken into account. Development involves not simply access to goods and services, but the opportunity to choose a fulfilling and valuable social life. This book is a manifesto for a universalist approach to rights and ethics, combined with a principle of cultural pluralism. The report recommends action to promote and deepen the discussion and analysis of development and culture, to encourage peace, and enhance democratic participation for all.
Journals
Culture and Religion: An Interdisciplinary Journal: published twice yearly by Curzon Press, ISSN: 0143-8301. Editor: Malory Nye.
Aims to promote critical investigation into all aspects of religion and culture across a range of disciplinary fields including anthropology, cultural studies, critical theory, gender studies, and postcolonial studies.
The Development Anthropologist: published by the Institute for Development Anthropology.
Explores the relationships between economic development and anthropological theory, and considers ways in which anthropology can be of practical use to development planners and implementers.
Development in Practice: published five times a year by Carfax, Taylor & Francis on behalf of Oxfam GB. ISSN: 0961-4524. Editor: Deborah Eade.
A journal of practice-based analysis and research concerning the social dimensions of development and humanitarianism, which acts as a forum for debate and the exchange of ideas among practitioners, policy makers, and academics worldwide. The journal seeks to challenge current assumptions, stimulate new thinking, and shape future ways of working.
Web: www.developmentinpractice.org
Ethnicities: published quarterly by Sage, ISSN: 1468-7968. Editors: Stephen May and Tariq Modood.
Aims to explore the interconnections between sociology and politics, and between culture and socio-economic structures in a global context; and to add a new and distinctive dimension to the academic analysis of ethnicity, nationalism, identity politics, and minority rights.
Journal of Human Values: published twice yearly by Sage India, ISSN: 097 16858. Editor: S. K. Chakraborty.
Acts as an international forum for the exchange of ideas, principles, and processes concerning the application of human values to organisations, institutions, and the world at large; and, since many operational human values are culture-specific, the journal also addresses the historico-social origins and cross-fertilisation between cultures.
South-South Journal of Culture and Development: published twice yearly by the National University of Lesotho, ISSN: 1595-0298. Editor: Dr Innocent V. O. Modo.
Taking the broadest approach to African culture and relating it to all aspects of development, this journal makes some interesting connections and associations. Contributions are drawn from many disciplines, including history, social sciences, politics, and health.
Organisations
The British Councils Arts and Culture for Development strategy has led to increased collaboration between the organisations development and arts specialists. It sees arts and cultural activities as a means for empowerment and participation, as well as a way of celebrating diversity, and encouraging economic development.
Address: 10 Spring Gardens, London SW1A 2BN, UK.
Email:
Web: www.britishcouncil.org/
Centre for the Study of Culture and Society is concerned with understanding culture, and specifically Indian culture, as encompassing the diverse attempts of people to produce meaning of various kinds. It grew out of a response to the failure of orientalist or social-science frameworks to deal adequately with questions of gender, caste, community, and ethnicity, or with contemporary transformations and political mobilisations. It offers courses and organises various events as well as undertaking and publishing research.
Address: 466, 9th Cross Madhavan Park, 1st Block Jayaganar, Bangalore 560011, India.
Email:
Web: www.cscsban.org/
Creative Exchange aims to promote greater awareness and understanding of creative activity as a force for change, and of cultural rights in general, and to enable practical creative action for sustainable development. It offers research and consultancy services, facilitates networking and information for partners, and plays an advocacy and awareness-raising role. Recently published: Creative Exchange Worldwide Partners Directory 2001. More on-line directories and resource lists for organisations and publications concerned with culture and development are planned.
Address: Helen Gould (Coordinator), 18 Percy Road, London E11 1AJ, UK.
Email:
Web: www.gn.apc.org/creativeexchange/
Culturelink Network, Institute for International Relations, Zagreb (IRMO), the Network of Networks for Research and Cooperation in Cultural Development, was established by UNESCO and the Council of Europe in 1989 and encompasses some 1000 networks and institutions that work on these issues from 97 countries worldwide. Its quarterly journal, Culturelink, reflects its on-going research interests and provides current information about relevant initiatives.
Address: IRMO, Vukotinoviceva 2, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
Email:
Web: www.culturelink.org/
Institute for Indigenous Sciences and Cultures is made up of an interdisciplinary team of researchers working to systematise and disseminate the knowledge of indigenous peoples. The Institute provides technical assistance to public and private bodies on activities related to indigenous peoples, directing awareness towards overcoming marginalisation. It also has a programme of documentation and publication.
Address: Buenos Aires 1028 y Estados Unidos, Postal Box 17-15-50B, Quito, Ecuador.
E-mail
Web: http://icci.nativeweb.org/
Intercultural Institute of Montreal (IIM) is a non-profit research and social action organisation, dedicated to promoting a deeper understanding of cultural pluralism, intercultural relations, and social change. It believes that the major challenges facing todays world can be met only by seeking wisdom and insight from every culture, through dialogue, understanding, and co-operation. Publishes the twice-yearly journal INTERculture in both English and French.
Address: 4917, Saint-Urbain, Montréal H2T 2W1, Canada.
Email:
Web: www.iim.qc.ca
Islamic Studies is a website dedicated to Islam, Arabic, and Religion (focusing on Western religions), offering a non-polemical view of Islam (including Sunni Islam, Shiism, and Sufism) and also of Judaism and Christianity. It provides comprehensive coverage (in English and Arabic) for people seeking basic information and for those with more specific interests, for instance in Muslim women and womens rights, law, philosophy and scientific thought, and art, music, and architecture.
Web: www.arches.uga.edu/~godlas/
South-North Network Cultures and Development (Réseau Cultures) addresses the role of cultural dynamics in all societies, and in the processes and interventions associated with development. It undertakes cross-cultural research, offers training and consultancy services, and publishes the bilingual journal Cultures & Development.
Contact details:
Email:
Web: www.networkcultures.net/
Survival International supports the rights of tribal peoples worldwide and has supporters in 82 countries. Its combination of campaigning, education, and funding has helped to position these issues on the mainstream political agenda. Advocacy work includes advising on the drafting of international law as well as informing people of their legal rights and about the situation of indigenous peoples elsewhere. Survival believes that public opinion is the most effective force for change and, if mobilised, will eventually make it impossible for governments and companies to oppress tribal peoples.
Address: Survival International UK, 11-15 Emerald Street, London WC1N 3QL, UK.
Email:
Web: www.survival-international.org/
UNESCO is the principal UN agency for research and publishing in the field of culture and development. From the late 1960s it began to stimulate reflection on how cultural policies could be integrated into development strategies, particularly in the context of decolonisation. The World Decade for Cultural Development (1998-1997) led to the report of the independent commission, headed by Pérez de Cuellar: Our Creative Diversity. UNESCOs flagship publication, World Culture Report 2000: Cultural Diversity, Conflict and Pluralism addresses these issues in relation to poverty, international trade, citizenship, and international migration; and includes cultural indicators and statistics on languages, religions, heritage sites, and cultural festivals. Other relevant publications include Cultural Dynamics in Development Processes, (1995) and The Cultural Dimensions of Global Change: An Anthropological Approach, (1996).
Address: 7, place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP, France.
Email:
Web: www.unesco.org/culture/development/
The World Banks Culture in Sustainable Development Group has recently produced a Framework for Action (available on the website), setting out the reasons why an awareness of culture is beneficial for development, and exploring how to integrate these insights into its work. The Network for Culture and Development, established in 1998, consolidates resources and information from its members and aims to promote collaborative efforts to integrate cultural heritage into sustainable development. The Culture and Poverty Learning and Research Group is a Dutch-sponsored initiative looking at the ways in which culture influences peoples values, and their responses to developmental changes. It plans a major new edited collection on culture and poverty, edited by Vijayendra Rao and Michael Walton.
Address: 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20433, USA.
Web: www.worldbank.org
World Faiths Development Dialogue is a joint initiative between the World Bank President, James Wolfensohn, and George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury (the spiritual head of the Church of England). The role of religions has often been overlooked in development, both as organisations deeply involved in poor communities, and across countries and regions, and as a moral voice helping to direct and calibrate the purpose and design of anti-poverty interventions. WFDD aims to explore how links between faith leaders and organisations and development institutions might be enhanced. It has published a number of relevant booklets and papers, including Poverty and Development: An Interfaith Perspective, and A New Direction for World Development?
Address: 33-37 Stockmore Street, Oxford OX4 1JT, UK.
Email:
Web: www.wfdd.org.uk
