This book advances new research directions that explore the emotional and affective dimensions of development. Going beyond merely placing emotion and/or affect as the objects of study, it examines ‘development’ in fresh ways through analysis of its affective dimensions.

Affect and emotions are complicit in the structural conditions that sustain material and social inequalities and deprivations, and critical to the potential for disruption and transformation. The chapters in this volume demonstrate how affect and emotions enrich understandings of, or rethink power configurations in development while being attentive to forces of destabilization and creativity. They unravel the subtleties of power in development from micro to macro scales, enhance the understanding of development as an inherently political process, and highlight the possibilities for resistance and transformation. The book introduces new lines of enquiry to understand power in development theory and practice, grounded in rich empirical research from across Asia and Australia and will be a valuable resource for students and researchers of anthropology, third world studies, development studies and development theory.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Third World Quarterly.