The Projection of Development : Cinematic Representation as A(nother) Source of Authoritative Knowledge?

Popular representations of development need to be taken seriously (though not uncritically) as sources of authoritative knowledge, not least because this is how most people in the global North (and elsewhere) ‘encounter’ development issues. To this end, and building on the broader agenda presented i...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Lewis, David, Rodgers, Dennis, Woolcock, Michael
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	en_US
Published:	Taylor and Francis 2013
Subjects:	films plays
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13385

id	okr-10986-13385
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-133852021-04-23T14:03:08Z The Projection of Development : Cinematic Representation as A(nother) Source of Authoritative Knowledge? Lewis, David Rodgers, Dennis Woolcock, Michael films plays Popular representations of development need to be taken seriously (though not uncritically) as sources of authoritative knowledge, not least because this is how most people in the global North (and elsewhere) ‘encounter’ development issues. To this end, and building on the broader agenda presented in a previous article exploring the usefulness of literary representations of development, we consider three different types of cinematic representations of development: films providing uniquely instructive insights, those unhelpfully eliding and simplifying complex processes, and those that, with the benefit of historical hindsight, usefully convey a sense of the prevailing assumptions that guided and interpreted the efficacy of development-related interventions at a particular time and place. We argue that the commercial and technical imperatives governing the production of contemporary films, and ‘popular’ films in particular, generate a highly variable capacity to ‘accurately’ render key issues in development, and thereby heighten their potential to both illuminate and obscure those issues. 2013-05-13T15:16:12Z 2013-05-13T15:16:12Z 2012-12-07 Journal Article Journal of Development Studies 0022-0388 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13385 en_US Journal of Development Studies;49(3) CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/ World Bank Taylor and Francis Publications & Research :: Journal Article Publications & Research
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	en_US
topic	films plays
spellingShingle	films plays Lewis, David Rodgers, Dennis Woolcock, Michael The Projection of Development : Cinematic Representation as A(nother) Source of Authoritative Knowledge?
relation	Journal of Development Studies;49(3)
description	Popular representations of development need to be taken seriously (though not uncritically) as sources of authoritative knowledge, not least because this is how most people in the global North (and elsewhere) ‘encounter’ development issues. To this end, and building on the broader agenda presented in a previous article exploring the usefulness of literary representations of development, we consider three different types of cinematic representations of development: films providing uniquely instructive insights, those unhelpfully eliding and simplifying complex processes, and those that, with the benefit of historical hindsight, usefully convey a sense of the prevailing assumptions that guided and interpreted the efficacy of development-related interventions at a particular time and place. We argue that the commercial and technical imperatives governing the production of contemporary films, and ‘popular’ films in particular, generate a highly variable capacity to ‘accurately’ render key issues in development, and thereby heighten their potential to both illuminate and obscure those issues.
format	Journal Article
author	Lewis, David Rodgers, Dennis Woolcock, Michael
author_facet	Lewis, David Rodgers, Dennis Woolcock, Michael
author_sort	Lewis, David
title	The Projection of Development : Cinematic Representation as A(nother) Source of Authoritative Knowledge?
title_short	The Projection of Development : Cinematic Representation as A(nother) Source of Authoritative Knowledge?
title_full	The Projection of Development : Cinematic Representation as A(nother) Source of Authoritative Knowledge?
title_fullStr	The Projection of Development : Cinematic Representation as A(nother) Source of Authoritative Knowledge?
title_full_unstemmed	The Projection of Development : Cinematic Representation as A(nother) Source of Authoritative Knowledge?
title_sort	projection of development : cinematic representation as a(nother) source of authoritative knowledge?
publisher	Taylor and Francis
publishDate	2013
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13385
_version_	1764423385661571072

The Projection of Development : Cinematic Representation as A(nother) Source of Authoritative Knowledge?

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