The Anti-Politics Machine
"Development" and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho

The late James Ferguson's classic study of institutionalized fantasy and failure in international development, first published in 1991 as a book, is summarized here as an article.

Ferguson's work remains a useful reminder today that the answer to the question "what is to be done?" (about climate change, about land degradation, about water shortages, about poverty . . .) will always be political. The most powerful role for highly-trained experts to play is not to try to influence technocratic projects for the better, but rather to help social movements combat imperialism.

See also: 

http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/resource/missing-point-development-talk

http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/resource/mekong-dams-drama-development

http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/resource/what-next