Culture and Development: A Manifesto?

A Conversation with Robert Klitgaard

February 8, 2021
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. EST
Location: Online Zoom Webinar

Taking culture into account in development programs is a no-brainer at the levels of theory and human rights. In practice, however, it raises hosts of challenges, with forces pulling in different directions: universal values versus local norms, differing meanings of modernity, and bounds of external intervention and support. Robert Klitgaard (university professor at Claremont Graduate University, where he served as the president from 2005 to 2009) explores the history of various approaches, his own lived experience, and ideas for useful, practical models in his latest book, The Culture and Development Manifesto (2021). Klitgaard previously served as dean of the Pardee RAND Graduate School, where he was also the Ford Distinguished Professor of International Development and Security. He advises governments on economic strategy and institutional reform, and his consulting work and research have taken him to more than 30 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Klitgaard joined Katherine Marshall, a Berkley Center senior fellow and professor of the practice of development, conflict, and religion, to discuss his latest book. They explored the ethical and practical issues involved and their implications for students and practitioners of global human development. Shanta Devarajan, professor of the practice of international development in the Walsh School of Foreign Service, offered remarks to frame the discussion.

This event was co-sponsored by Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and its Global Human Development and Master of Science in Foreign Service programs with World Faiths Development Dialogue. 

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