Popular Representations of Development

Popular representations of development and poverty have always been all around us, and scholars need to understand these alternative conceptualizations of reality to enrich their own discipline-based analysis and policy recommendations. This excellent volume suggests some ways in which this can happen, setting out the gains and the pitfalls of engagement. It is a thought provoking contribution to an important issue in development studies.

–Ravi Kanbur, Cornell University, USA.

This book is for a worthy cause, that of going beyond the currently popular quantitative and experimental approach to economic development, to look into wider, often more insightful, humanistic forms of representation of the development process. It shows how representations in literature, films, television, and internet may capture the complexity and nuances of the social processes involved in development in ways not considered in the standard approach.

–Pranab Bardhan, University of California, Berkeley, USA.

This wonderfully engaging and thought-provoking collection provides many lessons about representation and power for researchers and students alike. It will prove to be an invaluable teaching resource and will become a benchmark for much future research.

–Cathy McIlwaine, University of London, UK.

An important milestone in development studies which shows how literature, film and other discourses need to be part of the mix when we try to understand how other people live.

–Giles Foden, author of The Last King of Scotland and Turbulence.

An essential analysis of the world of international development… and essential reading for rock stars everywhere.

–Richard Bean, author of The God Botherers and One Man, Two Guvnors.

…this book provides a timely and significant parameter in the study of development through the exploration of its popular representations in representative Western democracies. Through the illustration and analysis of diverse case studies with respect to the power of the image in shaping and sharing meaning about the concept of development, it illuminates the prevalence of popular culture and calls for a more grounded understanding of public perceptions of progress. It is certain to be a great read for scholars of development studies, media and communications, sociology, anthropology and geography at all levels.

–Eleftheria Lekakis, Lecturer in Media and Communications, University of Sussex