Description
Book SynopsisUnintended Revolution describes the ways in which development performed in and by nongovernmental organizations in an Indian metropolis serves as a tool for reinforcing and improving social standing. Anna Romanowicz argues that the NGO environment gives a particular opportunity to middle class members whose cultural and economic capital are (re)produced in such an environment. She concludes that the ineffectiveness of development lies in the interest of this group and as such reflects neoliberal policies more broadly. She also argues that class status is the most important factor in acquiring a job position in a contemporary NGO, and that this cuts across gender, caste, and nationality, as well as other identities.
Trade ReviewAn extremely important study with a provocative argument on class and development. . . . A significant new addition to existing studies in class theory and the literature on postdevelopment studies. The book demonstrates that practices of development and women’s empowerment are not some faceless discourses. Actors involved in the discourses of development and empowerment carry forward the logic of contemporary capitalism. NGOs are complicit in the expansion of capital in the neoliberal era. In a compelling combination of useful theory and literature and enlightening personal anecdote, this book is remarkably readable. Anna Romanowicz’s Unintended Revolution promises to become an indispensable book for anyone who wants to understand the class dimension and the roles of social and cultural capital used to work in the areas of women’s empowerment and development. -- Michał Bukowski
