Development models ‘Out‐of‐Place’: Social research on methods to improve livelihoods in eastern India

Social research in eastern India illustrates a development project's problems in trying to understand livelihoods in poor tribal communities. The project first concentrated on farming constraints and their removal through agricultural innovation. Then, it highlighted community development shortfalls. Finally, it recommended ‘Sustainable Rural Livelihoods’ as a framework for activities. The livelihoods and community development approaches understated the critical importance of social rank, caste and power relations treating them as adjuncts to models imported from elsewhere. Implemented out of context, livelihoods and community development models became luxuriant weeds that residents must remove or bypass in their struggle to survive.