The article examines two aspects of development presented through an ethnographic study of the project ‘Nagaland Empowerment of People through Economic Development’. First is the discursive construction of project beneficiaries as poor, underdeveloped and backward in modernist literature. Second, the article captures inter-household negotiations around developmental resources in the context of microcredit. Drawing on participant observations, oral histories and household interviews, I explore the micro-politics of everyday life to reflect on the contesting representations of ‘beneficiary community’ and ‘project experts’. In addition, I analyse the struggle within the community for resources made available by the project. This illuminates the actors, networks and institutions involved in community development programmes and problematizes ideal conceptualization of communities as a site for collective participation. The article highlights practices of objectification and the creation of a populist discourse on participation that overlooks multiple layers of patronage, public and self-interest exercised by project beneficiaries in community development programmes. Additionally, the article investigates how the lack of ‘care’ in modernist participatory agricultural development discourse undermines the community’s aspirations for development and establishes a rupture between policy and practice.

中文翻译：

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现代性缺乏关怀：那加兰邦东部的社区发展与家庭道德经济

本文通过对“那加兰邦人民通过经济发展赋权”项目的民族志研究，考察了发展的两个方面。首先是现代主义文学中将项目受益人描述为贫穷、不发达和落后的话语建构。其次，本文捕捉了小额信贷背景下围绕发展资源的家庭间谈判。利用参与者观察、口述历史和家庭访谈，我探索日常生活的微观政治，以反思“受益社区”和“项目专家”的竞争性陈述。此外，我分析了社区内为项目提供的资源而进行的斗争。这照亮了演员，参与社区发展计划的网络和机构，并将社区的理想概念化为集体参与的场所。这篇文章强调了客观化的做法和关于参与的民粹主义话语的创建，这种话语忽视了项目受益人在社区发展计划中行使的多层赞助、公共和自身利益。此外，本文调查了现代主义参与式农业发展话语中缺乏“关怀”如何破坏社区的发展愿望并在政策与实践之间建立断裂。这篇文章强调了客观化的做法和关于参与的民粹主义话语的创建，这种话语忽视了项目受益人在社区发展计划中行使的多层赞助、公共和自身利益。此外，本文调查了现代主义参与式农业发展话语中缺乏“关怀”如何破坏社区的发展愿望，并在政策与实践之间建立裂痕。这篇文章强调了客观化的做法和关于参与的民粹主义话语的创建，这种话语忽视了项目受益人在社区发展计划中行使的多层赞助、公共和自身利益。此外，本文调查了现代主义参与式农业发展话语中缺乏“关怀”如何破坏社区的发展愿望并在政策与实践之间建立断裂。