Michael Cernea

Who is Michael Cernea?

Michael M. Cernea is an American-Romanian social scientist who introduced sociological and anthropological approaches into the World Bank. He worked as the World Banks Senior Adviser for Sociology and Social Policy until 1997. He has published on a wide range of aspects of development including: social change, social forestry, participation, grassroots organizations, and perhaps most notably, population resettlement.

Freidenberg reports Cernea as arguing, in a nice turn of phrase, that "Development Anthropology is a Contact Sport".