Harold Brookfield (1926-)

[Extract] It is rare for geographers to be seen as critical thinkers on development issues. Indeed, even this collection, edited by a geographer, includes just three. Of these Harold Brookfield is assuredly the doyen. Indeed, one of the others, Terry McGee, described Brookfield as ‘the acknowledged “guru” of development geography’ (1978: 71). His contributions to development studies range from a much lauded book on interdependent development, which emphasised the necessity for development to be seen in a diversity of interlocking ways, a longstanding focus on local studies (tied to the belief that indigenous knowledge is a key to development) and the environment and sustainability. Such diverse interests were shaped around a search for pragmatic solutions and the eschewing of arid theorising, dogma, ever-changing semantics and political correctness. While some contemplate the lives and livelihoods of those they refer to as ‘others’, Brookfield preferred the language of everyday life, of ordinary people and their problems, and was unafraid to use words such as poverty.