Paper short abstract:

The modalities of writing differ greatly between ethnographers and development practitioners. From a point of view of an anthropological epistemology the paper explores the textual production, circulation and reception/consumption within the industry of international aid.

Paper long abstract:

Within anthropology there is a common assumption that development

interventions would benefit from the intellectual as well as technical

rigour of ethnography. While many anthropologists have strong positions

within the world of development, the aid industry at large seems rather

indifferent to the anthropological expertise and to its products. In this

paper I will explore the writing styles of development, its policy briefs,

project outlines and evaluations, and tease out their differenses from

anthropological modes of writing.