Development: people and the state

Between 1971 amd 1982 I taught in the Development Studies Programme in Cambridge. This was a marvellous opportunity to meet experienced government officers from across the world, the Development Studies Fellows, who taught us as much as we taught them about development challenges and how to make ‘plan’ or ‘project’ work.

Then as now, national plans and development projects seldom take into account the life-cyles of the individuals and families who are the intended beneficiaries. People and the state brings an anthropological approach to these disconnects and how they might be addressed.

The Big Catch is a hands-on practical introduction to these questions. An interactive, role-playing case book set in a fishing community in the fictional Republic of Arcadia, it originated as a teaching tool for the Cambridge programme that I developed with my economist colleague Valpy Fitzgerald, with indispensable input from the Fellows. Later I revamped it to engage the enthusiasm of undergraduates studying development issues at UC Santa Barbara.