Development studies has tended to neglect culture as a factor in development processes. This book of readings redresses the balance, gathering together some of the most influential contributions that reflect on the relationship between culture and development. It traces the evolution of the debate, from viewing culture simply as an attribute of societies undergoing development to exploring how development itself operates as a cultural process.

The volume is divided into seven clear sections in order to aid teaching, covering ways of thinking about culture and development, cultural geographies of development, ethnographies of modernity, and traditions, rights, and conflict. A substantial introduction by the editors analyzes changing perspectives on culture and development, while short sectional introductions situate each contribution within this context.

This Reader is particularly designed to be used alongside Culture and Development: A Critical Introduction (Blackwell Publishing, 2000).