ABSTRACT
Introduction The article uses the literature on anthropology and development as a framework to study the transfer of anti-corruption norms and standards in developing and transition countries.1 Anthropological studies of development challenge homogeneous views of development, notably two different approaches.2 The first approach is instrumental and understands development policy as rational problem-solving. Anti-corruption research promoted by the World Bank reflects knowledge derived from the practice and the collection of empirical data that aims at being applied. The purpose of anti-corruption research is thus to gather sufficient documentation about situations and trends in order to draw practical recommendations for future anti-corruption work. This knowledge accumulation aimed at
1. See David Lewis and David Mosse, ‘Encountering Order and Disjuncture: Contemporary Anthropological Perspectives on the Organisation of Development’, Oxford Development Studies 34, no. 1 (2006): 1-13; Benedetta Rossi, ‘Revisiting Foucauldian Approaches: Power Dynamics in Development Projects’, Journal of Development Studies 40, no. 6 (2004): 1-29; and Norman Long, ‘An ActorOriented Approach to Development Intervention’ (background paper prepared for APO meeting, Tokyo, April 22-26, 2002); Barbara Orlandini, ‘Consuming Good Governance in Thailand’, The European Journal of Development Research 15, no. 2 (2003): 16-43(28). 2. See Lewis and Mosse, ‘Encountering Order and Disjuncture’; Rossi, ‘Revisiting Foucauldian Approaches’.
