Description
Book SynopsisErin Beck examines microfinance NGOs working with poor, rural women in Guatemala to show how these women creatively and strategically use the NGOs to their own benefit in ways that do not necessarily match the goals of the NGOs, demonstrating that development projects are often transformed and persist in unexpected ways.
Trade Review"Erin Beck has made a lasting contribution to the field of development studies in theorising development as a social interaction while also raising important issues for policy and practice. How Development Projects Persist is a call to contemplate, assess and study development not simply according to the goals of policymakers and organisations, but according to the larger vision and life goals of the people that interventions hope to serve."
-- Bronwen Gillespie * Anthropology in Action *
"The strength of
Why Development Projects Persist is the quality of Beck’s data. . . . Beck writes her ethnographic data with completeness and clarity, which allows the reader to understand the intentions of these organizations, the worldviews of participants, and the ways these clashed as the NGOs’ visions of development were put into practice." -- Laura J. Heideman * American Journal of Sociology *
"The text’s strength lies in its conceptual breadth and accessibility. . . . An easy, yet enlightening read. . . . Beck effectively
shows rather than just
tells what development encounters look like and how they are interpreted by the actors involved." -- Monica DeHart * Anthropological Quarterly *
“This book. . . is useful to those interested in international studies, development studies, as well as development practitioners. . . . Further, Beck’s detailed analysis is well-written and jargon-free, and presents us with a balanced and longitudinal view of NGO development projects in Guatemala.”
-- Michelle Moran-Taylor * Journal of Latin American Geography *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii
1. Social Engineering from Above and Below 1
2. Repackaging Development in Guatemala 29
3. Namaste's Bootstrap Model 64
4. Women and Workers Responding to Bootstrap Development 90
5. The Fraternity's Holistic Model 134
6. The Uneven Practices and Experiences of Holistic Development 162
7. The Implications of Socially Constructed Development 208
Appendix. Research Methods and Ethical Dilemmas 225
Notes 233
References 239
Index 259
