Pleas for Fieldwork: Polly Hill on Observation and Induction, 1966–1982

Abstract

The article reconstructs the methodological trajectory of Polly Hill. Crossing the boundaries between economics and anthropology, Hill's work was simultaneously an epistemic challenge to development economics, and a testimony to the complexity and richness of economic life in what she called the 'rural tropical world'. Drawing inspiration from the processes that Mary Morgan referred to as 'seeking parts, looking for wholes', the paper explores the evolving relationship between observational practice and conceptual categories in Hill's work on West Africa and India. It is argued that fieldwork, the central element in Hill's methodological reflection, served two main functions. Firstly, it acted as the cornerstone of her views on observation and induction, framing her understanding of the relationship between 'parts' and 'wholes'. Secondly, Hill used fieldwork as a narrative trope to articulate her hopeful vision for an integration of economics and anthropology, and later express her feelings of distance and alienation from the ways in which these disciplines were actually practised.

Reports from China: Joan Robinson as Observer and Travel Writer, 1953–78

“…Drawing on the literatures on observation in science and economics (Maas 2011;Morgan 2011;Serra 2018) and economists' travels (Boianovsky 2013(Boianovsky , 2018Serra forthcoming), we aim at overcoming the dichotomy between Robinson as a 'political pilgrim' and as 'development economist'. Instead, we take a closer look at her observation practices, her literary choices, and her position within different political and intellectual communities.…”

Polly Hill: Crossing and Contesting the Boundaries of Anthropology, Economics, African Studies, and Entrepreneurship Studies

“…While economics focused on how economic phenomena were identified and observed, anthropology entailed observing individuals at work through ethnographic study, participant observation, and intensive data collection at the micro level (Serra 2018). Polly Hill focused on local activities and institutions that comprised or encapsulated economic life in rural Ghana (Hill 1956(Hill , 1963(Hill , 1970(Hill , 1992 and Hausaland (Hill 1972(Hill , 1977(Hill , 1982.…”

“…Hill gave voice to the rural entrepreneurs or indigenous capitalists who became the world's biggest cocoa exporters (Austin 1997, p. ix;Hart 2005;Gregory 2006). She brought attention to the origins of cocoa industry in Ghana as one of the most remarkable examples of economic growth due to innovative rural entrepreneurship the world had ever seen (see Austin 2003bAustin , 2005Serra 2018; but see also Austin 2003aAustin , 2005 on coerced labor in the early period, a carry-over from the era preceding migrant cocoa farming).…”

Polly Hill: Crossing and Contesting the Boundaries of Anthropology, Economics, African Studies, and Entrepreneurship Studies

“…According to Hill (1986, p. 55n), "The useful, though over-influential Markets in Africa (1962) is flawed by the unrealistic introduction by the two substantivist editors, Bohannan and Dalton, the one an anthropologist, the other an economist [so much for Dalton's crossappointment! ]; so far as West (but not East) Africa was concerned, they showed a lack of timedepth in associating the growth of market places with colonialism (which in northern Nigeria, for instance, was a period of little more than half a century, ending in 1960) and they were wrong in asserting that 'the more pervasive the market principle, the less the economic importance of the The correspondence surrounding the exchange between Hill (1979) and Hopkins (1979) While economics focused on how economic phenomena were identified and observed, anthropology entailed observing individuals at work through ethnographic study, participant observation, intensive data collection at the micro level (Serra 2018). Polly Hill focused on local activities and institutions that comprised or encapsulated economic life in rural Ghana (Hill 1956(Hill , 1963(Hill , 1992 and Hausaland (Hill 1972(Hill , 1977(Hill , 1982 Nigeria to get "a total picture of poverty" by directing the lens or attention on rich and poor farmers.…”

“…world's biggest cocoa exporters (Austin 1997, p. ix, Hart 2005, Gregory 2006. She brought attention to the origins of cocoa industry in Ghana as one of the most remarkable example of economic growth due to innovative rural entrepreneurship the world had ever witnessed seen (see Austin 2003b, Serra 2018, but see also Austin 2003aAustin , 2005 on coerced labor in the early period, a carry-over from the era preceding migrant cocoa farming).…”