A DISCIPLINE ASSERTING ITS IDENTITY AND PLACE DISPLACEMENT, AID AND ANTHROPOLOGY IN SUDAN

Abstract

The relationship between anthropology and development is very much contested. While the debate about such relationship is not new (it began during the early 1970s and continued up to the present), it started to be heated during the closing decade of the last century with the ascendance of the post-modern critique in anthropology. Arguments of the debate are, generally, either for or against involvement of anthropology, whose dubious history is often cited by those who are sceptic about its role. It is unfortunate that most current heated debates on the relationship between anthropology and development are a reflection of anthropological elitism preoccupied with general dilemmas of anthropology while the real dilemma, that of those who are brutally subjected to misguided development and mass displacement, is compromised. This paper is against such muted anthropological elitism and while it endeavours to make the case for a positive role of anthropology in development, it does not distance anthropologists from the failures of development industry or portray them as an innocent part in that industry. It argues that while revealing the realities of the powerless is still needed, anthropologists need also to focus on the powerful, and probably be part of the power apparatus. The case of the displaced persons in Sudan and the 's own experience with NGOs are used to substantiate the paper's arguments and avert the muted elitism characterising much of the current debates on anthropology and development.


Eastern Africa Social Science Research Review Vol.XVIII(1) 2002: 63-96