About this book
This book tells the story of development studies in practice over the last 50 years through the work of one remarkable individual - Robert Chambers. His work has taken him from being a colonial officer in Kenya through training and managing large rural development projects to a fundamental critique of top-down development and the championing of participatory approaches. The contributors eloquently demonstrate how he has been at the centre of major shifts in development thinking and practice over this period, popularising terms that are now at the centre of the development lexicon such as vulnerability, multi-dimensional poverty, sustainable livelihoods and 'farmer first'. Robert Chambers played a major role in the massive growth in participatory approaches to development, and particularly the application of participatory methods in development research and appraisal. This has led to fundamental challenges to development practice, ranging from approaches to monitoring and evaluation to institutional learning and professional training. There is probably no-one who has had more influence on approaches to development in the past decades. "Revolutionizing Development" book offers a unique overview of these contributions in 32 concise chapters from authors who have been intimately involved as collaborators, critics and colleagues of Robert Chambers.
Contents
Notes on Contributors Acknowledgements Acronyms Robert Chambers Putting the Last First: Reflections on the Work of Robert Chambers Andrea Cornwall, Professor of Anthropology and Development, University of Sussex Ian Scoones, Professorial Fellow, Institute of Development Studies Conceptualising Development Challenging Development Priorities Richard Jolly, Research Associate and former director, Institute of Development Studies; formerly Assistant Director General of the United Nations Beginners in Africa: Managing Rural Development Jon R. Moris, Professor, Department of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology, Utah State University The Path from Managerialism to Participation: The Kenyan Special Rural Development Programme David Leonard, Professorial Fellow, Institute of Development Studies; formerly University of California at Berkeley Foxes and Hedgehogs - and Lions: Whose Reality Prevails? Paul Spencer, Emeritus Professor, School of Oriental and African Studies, London Administration and Development Colin Fuller, Retired, formerly Manchester University Participation in International Aid Rosalind Eyben, Fellow, Institute of Development Studies; formerly Head Social Development, DFID/ODA Power and Participation John Gaventa, Professorial Fellow, Institute of Development Studies Reframing Development Andrea Cornwall, Professor of Anthropology and Development, University of Sussex Rural Development, Poverty and Livelihoods Exploring Sustainable Livelihoods Gordon Conway, Professor of International Development, Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College, London; formerly Chief Scientist, DFID and President, Rockefeller Foundation Putting the Vulnerable First Stephen Devereux, Fellow, Institute of Development Studies Seasonality: Uncovering the Obvious and Implementing the Complex Richard Longhurst, Research Associate, Institute of Development Studies Refugee Studies Barbara Harrell-Bond, Founder, Refugee Studies Centre, Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford Farmer First: Reversals for Agricultural Research Jacqueline A. Ashby, International Potato Centre (CIP); formerly the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) Agricultural Development: Parsimonious Paradigms Janice Jiggins, Communication and Innovation Studies, Wageningen University Research; formerly Professor of Human Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences In Search of a Water Revolution: Canal Irrigation Management Roberto Lenton, Chair, the Inspection Panel, the World Bank and former Director General of the International Water Management Institute The Last Frontier: The Groundwater Revolution in South Asia Tushaar Shah, Senior Fellow, International Water Management Institute, India Trees as Assets: Legacies and Lessons Melissa Leach, Professorial Fellow, Institute of Development Studies Finding a Sustainable Sanitation Solution: Scaling up Community-Led Total Sanitation Kamal Kar, Independent consultant, Community-led Total Sanitation (CLTS), India Technology and Markets Barbara Harriss-White, Professor of Development Studies, Oxford Department of Development Studies Methodological Innovations Village Studies John Harriss, Professor and Director School for International Studies, Simon Fraser University, Canada Whose Knowledge Counts? Tales of an Eclectic Participatory Pluralist John Thompson, Fellow, Institute of Development Studies and Learning by Design, Randwijk, The Netherland Irene Guijt Learning to Unlearn: Creating a Virtuous Learning Cycle Parmesh Shah, Lead Rural Development Specialist, South Asia Sustainable Development Department Meera Kaul Shah, Independent consultant The Use of Participatory Methods to Study Natural Resources Louise Fortmann, Professor of Natural Resource Sociology, Rudy Grah Chair in Forestry and Sustainable Development Participatory Numbers Carlos Barahona, Statistical Services Centre, University of Reading Practising Development: New Professionalism The Personal and the Political Ramesh Singh, Formerly Chief Executive, ActionAid International Poverty Professionals and Poverty Ravi Kanbur, T.H. Lee Professor of World Affairs International Professor of Applied Economics and Management Professor of Economics. Cornell University Changing Attitudes and Behaviour Sam Joseph, Coach for Rwanda Ubudehe and formerly, Country Director, ActionAid Somaliland Networking: Building a Global Movement for PRA and other Participatory Methods Samuel Musembi Musyoki, Plan International, Kenya Institutional Learning and Change Jamie Watts, Senior Evaluation Officer, World Food Programme; formerly Coordinator, Institutional Learning and Change Initiative of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Participation, Learning and Accountability: The Role of the Activist Academic Rosalind David and Antonella Mancini, Independent consultants, based in Auckland, New Zealand and London respectively; both formerly ActionAid Development Professionalism Norman Uphoff, Professor, Department of Government, Cornell University and the former director of the Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture, and Development Appreciation and Reflections Appendix. List of Robert Chambers' Publications References Index
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Biography
Andrea Cornwall is Professor of Anthropology and Development in the School of Global Studies at the University of Sussex. She is director of the DFID-funded research programme consortium Pathways of Women's Empowerment, and works on the anthropology of democracy, gender and sexualities. Ian Scoones is co-director of the ESRC STEPS Centre at the University of Sussex and joint convenor of the IDS-hosted Future Agricultures Consortium. He is an agricultural ecologist by original training whose interdisciplinary research links the natural and social sciences.
