Opportunity in a New Era of Development

这个项目考察了一个新的外部经济发展赞助商的作用急剧增加，这种新的定位是如何影响普通人的生活的。将评估这一发展政策转变的机会和局限性。特别是，本研究侧重于新的发展如何影响与人口特征相关的社会机会。因此，该项目有助于实现发展的一个核心目标，即改善最贫穷地区个人的福祉。调查结果将与发展实践、国家安全担忧和经济竞争力相关。该项目还将提供独特而宝贵的教育机会，并加强不发达的研究基础设施。该项目的数据将通过民族志观察和对三个受赞助的发展项目：水电站大坝、工业园区和大型农业项目的访谈来收集。这些场地代表了受赞助项目的主要类别：基础设施项目、工业区和农业项目。在项目过程中，将进行为期六个月的人种学田野调查，重点是观察这些地点的日常社会互动。将对包括工人、政府官员和商界人士在内的各种线人进行约350次采访。通过比较三个实地地点的社会动态，该项目将展示三种类型的赞助项目在普通人的收益和成本方面的差异。更广泛地说，这项研究将提供新的赞助发展和长期发展努力之间亟需的比较。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project examines how the dramatically increasing role of a new external sponsor of economic development, with a novel orientation, affects the lives of ordinary people. The opportunities and limitations of this shift in development policy will be assessed. In particular, this research focuses on how the new development affects social opportunities related to demographic characteristics. This project, therefore, contributes to a central aim of development, namely the improved well-being of individuals in the poorest areas. Findings will have relevance for development practices, national security concerns, and economic competitiveness. The project also will offer unique and valuable educational opportunities and enhance an underdeveloped research infrastructure.Data for this project will be collected through ethnographic observation and interviews at three sponsored development projects: a hydroelectric dam, an industrial park, and a large-scale agricultural project. These field sites represent the main categories of sponsored projects: infrastructure projects, industrial zones, and agriculture projects. Six months of ethnographic fieldwork will be conducted over the course of the project and will focus on observing everyday social interactions at the sites. Approximately 350 interviews will be conducted with a wide range of informants, including workers, government officials, and business people. By comparing social dynamics across the three field sites, this project will show how the three types of sponsored projects differ with regard to benefits and costs for ordinary people. More broadly, this research will provide a much-needed comparison between the new sponsored development and long-standing development efforts.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.