The Projection of Development: Cinematic Representation as An(other) Authoritative Source of Knowledge

Lewis, D., Rodgers, D. and Woolcock, M. (2013) The Projection of Development: Cinematic Representation as An(other) Authoritative Source of Knowledge. Working Paper. World Bank, Washington, DC. (doi: 10.1596/1813-9450-6491).

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Publisher's URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-6491

Abstract

Popular representations of development need to be taken seriously (though not uncritically) as sources of authoritative knowledge, not least because they are how most people in the global north (and elsewhere) encounter development issues. To this end, this paper presents three clusters of films on development: those 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 interventions (whether of a military, diplomatic or humanitarian nature) at a particular time and place. The authors 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.

Item Type:Research Reports or Papers (Working Paper)
Additional Information:World Bank Policy Research working paper no. 6491
Status:Published
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Rodgers, Professor Dennis
Authors: Lewis, D., Rodgers, D., and Woolcock, M.
College/School:College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Urban Studies
Publisher:World Bank

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