The Field Strikes Back: Decoding Narratives of Development

Editor's note: The following Abstract, summarising a paper published by the Institute of Development Studies Kolkata (Occasional Paper 17) has been provided by the author.

"Based on the author's intensive fieldwork in rural West Bengal and the adjoining state of Jharkhand in India the paper seeks to reveal how the field, beyond its geographical connotation, becomes as an animated space for negotiating the mainstream development interventions by the ordinary people who are at the receiving end of such interventions as 'target groups'. The paper constructs two prime but contesting categories - the 'sweet' narratives based on the highly optimistic proclamations of the policymakers, and the 'sour' narratives emerging mostly from the frustrating experience of the ordinary people - to reveal how refractions take place in development interventions, which are often not taken into account by the powers that be. While the grassroots-level lived experience of development-in-practice constitutes the backbone of the paper it at the same time, not losing sight of the importance of praxis, seeks to critically relate the 'sour' narratives to the reigning methods in social science in general and Development Studies in particular."

For a full version of the paper in electronic format, please contact the author at the address listed below. To request a hard copy, please send a letter to:

The Librarian
Institute of Development Studies Kolkata
Calcutta University, Alipore Campus
1 Reformatory Street
Kolkata 700 027 India