Dr Chambers contends that researchers, scientists, administrators and fieldworkers rarely appreciate the richness and validity of rural people's knowledge or the hidden nature of rural poverty. This is a challenging book for all concerned with rural development, as practitioners, academics, students or researchers.

    There are now more than 170 titles in this series, and their remarkable popularity reflects the common desire of country and city dwellers alike to cultivate personal independence in everyday life.

    It mobilizes and encourages popular participation, and mounts distinctive organizing strategies. It illustrates the relevance of religious traditions for any alternative development efforts in the developing and industrialized worlds.