Contesting Development

Patrick Barron, Michael Woolcock, and Rachel Diprose, Contesting Development: Participatory Projects and Local Conflicts Dynamics in Indonesia  is co-winner of the 2012 ASA Sociology of Development Section Faculty Book Award

"This is the most sophisticated study of the most sophisticated development intervention yet tried anywhere."--James Scott, author of The Art of Not Being Governed


"This is a rare book -- it brings together practitioners and academics into a pragmatic dialogue about conceptualizing, implementing and evaluating international development, while advancing social theory based upon rich, detailed empirical evidence."--Steve Rhee, Ph.D., AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow (2007-9), U.S. State Department

"Contesting Development brings the formidable resources of the World Bank to bear on the problematic reality of rural development as conflict-engendering. Given its authorship, sponsorship, and empirical authority, it is potentially a paradigm-setting study, which could fundamentally change the way development is carried out the world over.  As there is nothing comparable to this volume, the potential readership is wide."
--Michael R. Dove, Yale University


“This is an outstanding project on a theme of extraordinary importance.”--Ashutosh Varshney, Brown University


"Contesting Development is an important attempt not only to assess the global trend of policy conversion, but also to examine the implications of the policy for the democratization of politics and society at large."--Takeshi Ito, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Colorado College