The Anti-Politics Machine “Development and Bureacratic Power in Lesotho”

By: James Ferguson with Larry Lohmann

This piece by James Ferguson and Larry Lohmann delves into the perceptions of the “other” that shape the thoughts and actions of individuals involved in development projects. The authors explain that the main reason for the failure of development projects lies in inaccurate initial understandings of the state of affairs in a country. Ferguson and Lohmann discuss Lesotho, where development organizations completely mischaracterized the reality of the country and its citizens, instead letting their preconceived notions guide a false narrative of poverty and subsistence. Additionally, the authors identify the refusal of many development organizations to consider the problems of implementing their projects within broken or corrupt bureaucratic and political systems. Removing politics from the equation takes out an important structural element that changes the dynamics of project viability. Despite this, the authors acknowledge that though the development projects don’t necessarily achieve their stated purpose, that doesn’t mean that they aren’t having positive impacts. The conclusion moves on to ask: what should be done, and by whom? While the authors direct Western audiences to participation in their own political systems, I think a crucial recommendation is left out. The whole article demonstrates the various preconceived notions of the largely Western developers whose stereotypes of the developing world cause them to fundamentally misunderstand the environments they are working in. The main takeaway then, to me, is for Westerners to critically examine their prejudices, and try to fill in the gaps in the incomplete narratives they have about the developing world before attempting to go and “fix it”.