Anthropology and development in the era of the ‘neo-liberal entrepreneurial university’

In this chapter, Gardner argues that over the last generation anthropology’s relationship to development has radically changed. Rather than development being the ‘evil twin’ as described in Ferguson’s seminal 1997 paper, it has increasingly become a respectable field of study, generating important theoretical insights as well as critique. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, the binary of modern versus pre-modern is no longer tenable; secondly, development is everywhere and nowhere; thirdly, the application of anthropological knowledge and ‘impact’ has become central to funding and audit in the contemporary neo liberal, entrepreneurial university.