Rumpelstiltskin's Deliverables: Grimm Inspiration for Humanism in Development

摘要

SUMMARYIs there space for humanistic anthropology within the development sciences used to plan economic growth and ecological modernization? This article adapts a provocative fable to ponder a “global assemblage” designed to transfer authoritative knowledge and advanced technology for “sustainability” from the American Midwest to postsocialist eastern Europe. I retell the story of Rumpelstiltskin to reflect on participation in global systems of outsourced expertise, guessing at the nature of “the helper” with the aid of the fanciful.