Deconstructing Development Discourse: Buzzwords and Fuzzwords

by Andrea Cornwall (Editor), Deborah Eade (Editor)

Writing from diverse locations, contributors critically examine some of the key terms in current development discourse. Why should language matter to those who are doing development? Surely, there are more urgent things to do than sit around mulling over semantics? But language does matter. Whether emptied of their original meaning, essentially vacuous, or hotly contested, the language of development not only shapes our imagined worlds, but also justifies interventions in real people’s lives. If development buzzwords conceal ideological differences or sloppy thinking, then the process of constructive deconstruction makes it possible to re-examine what have become catchall terms like civil society and poverty reduction, or bland aid-agency terms such as partnership or empowerment. Such engagement is far more than a matter of playing word games. The reflections included here raise major questions about how we think about development itself.

336 pages, Paperback

First published August 28, 2010

About the author

Andrea Cornwall is a Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, where she directs a multi-country research programme, Pathways of Women's Empowerment (www.pathways-of-empowerment.org). She has worked in the field of sexual and reproductive health and participatory methodologies for many years, and is co-editor of Realizing Rights: Transforming Approaches to Sexual and Reproductive Wellbeing (with Alice Welbourn, Zed Books, 2002) and Feminisms in Development: Contradictions, Contestations and Challenges (with Elizabeth Harrison and Ann Whitehead, Zed Books, 2006).

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