Carolyn M. Rouse

In the process of writing Uncertain Suffering, I watched the television show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The show intrigued me because the producers rely on standard narratives of suffering and redemption in order to tear at the audience’s heartstrings. While doing research in health care I had grown increasing skeptical of discourses of suffering because they similarly cast people or systems as innocent or evil, ideal types that do not really exist. Given the explosion of non-governmental organizations engaged in charitable projects I decided that my next project would focus on what is wrong with, for example, turning someone’s double-wide trailer into a McMansion.

At the same time that I reject the notion that charity is a form of social justice, I do believe that being human involves connecting with others and engaging in projects to make the world a better place. I do not think, in other words, that engaging with the third world is qualitatively different from engaging with one’s immediate community. The difference is in our neighborhood we understand the culture, histories, and value hierarchies. Importantly, we understand what is at stake socially and economically. As an anthropologist, what I find missing in most development projects is an appreciation for how culture matters.

In 2006, I met with a community outside Accra. I asked them if I could help them do something for their community what would it be. They said that they needed a high school so that their children do not have to become fishermen. Development Hubris chronicles the adventures and misadventures of this global project.