Theft/Cultural Imperialism

[bautiste at uswest.net]

Anthropologists on the staff of the IMF kind of serve the same purpose that English
anthropologists did during the second world war and the years of colonialism. They
understand the local cultures for eventual take-over. Of course, the BIA's own
anthropologists during the late 1800s and early 1900s probably served something of
the same purpose, although I understand that some backed off later from this.

By understanding local customs and concerns, they can better play the local
political parties against each other. I think Geertz talks about this somewhere,
although I think Geertz himself worked for some international institution like the
IMF. His early work in Indonesia was funded in part by some of these organizations,
if I read the credits to his early works right.

See, for example, _Geertz, Clifford, Peddlers and princes; social change and
economic modernization in Two Indonesian towns_, Chicago, University of Chicago
Press [1963]

This is part of the Economic Development Case Studies series. The listings under
this series are of interest to many on the list. For you econmist types maybe these
titles mean something. Are they as insidious as they sound?

BTW I owe the insight about the political agendas of English and American
anthropologists to my teacher, the great Native American anthropologist Alfonso
Ortiz.

The Appraisal Of Development Projects : A Practical Guide To Project Analysis With
Case Studies And / Michael Roemer, Joseph J. Stern  1975
Capitalist Development And Democracy / Dietrich Rueschemeyer, Evelyne Huber
Stephens, And John D. Stephens  1992

 The Case For Development; Six Studies. / With An Introd. By Philippe De Seynes
1973
Ciencia Y Tecnologia Para El Desarrollo : Informe Comparativo Central Del Proyecto
Sobre Instrumento / Francisco Sagasti  1978
Contrasts In African Development : The Economies Of Kenya And Ethiopia, 1975-1984 /
Paul B. Henze 1989
Decision Making For Economic Development: Text And Cases / [by] Gustav F. Papanek,
Daniel M. Schydlowsky [and] Joseph J. Stern 1971
The Development Frontier : Essays In Applied Economics / Peter Bauer  1991
Development Planning In Mixed Economies / Edited By Miguel Urrutia And Setsuko
Yukawa 1988
Development Projects Observed / [by] Albert O. Hirschman  1967
Development Strategies In Semi-Industrial Economics / Bela Balassa In Association
With Julio Berlinski ... [et Al.]  1982
Dialogues On Development : The Individual, Society, And The Political Order /
Ramashray Roy And R.K. Srivastava
An Econometric Model Of Postwar State Industrial Development

Les Schaffer wrote:


>     >> thats interesting. the World Bank has anthropologists on its
>     >> staff???  what do they do? how do they influence policy, if at
>     >> all?
>

--
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