Paul Richards (born 14 May 1945) is an emeritus professor of technology and agrarian development at

Wageningen University Wageningen University & Research (also known as WUR) is a public university, public research university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in life sciences with a focus on agriculture, technical and engineering subjects. It is a globally i ...

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, and an adjunct professor at

Njala University Njala University (NU) is a public university located in Njala and Bo, Sierra Leone. It is the second largest university in Sierra Leone (after the University of Sierra Leone). The largest and main campus of Njala University is in Njala, Moyamba ...

in central

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

. He was formerly a professor in the Department of Anthropology,

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

for many years, and previously taught

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

and

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

, at the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

, and the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public university located in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Initially founded as the University College Ibadan in 1948, it maintained its affiliation with the University of London. In 1962, it became an independe ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Background

Richards is an anthropological commentator and researcher on agricultural technology and African farming systems. Initially trained in human geography (BSc Queen Mary University of London, 1963–1966) and African Studies (MA SOAS, 1966–1967), he taught in Ibadan, Nigeria before completing a PhD in geography and specialising in Sierra Leone (PhD London, 1973–1977). He has worked in

for over fifty years, conducting ethnographic studies of Mende village rice farming systems and forest conservation on the Liberian border. After the region became affected by the Sierra Leonean civil war (1992-2002), he turned to analysis of that conflict and has written more widely on the anthropology of armed conflicts, and the Ebola crisis.

Work on agriculture

Richards argues, following Durkheim, that human technique and skill underpins human action and

institutional change Neo institutionalism (also referred to as neo-institutionalist theory or institutionalism) is an approach to the study of institutions that focuses on the constraining and enabling effects of formal and informal rules on the behavior of individual ...

. He began by examining everyday livelihood activities like farming. He coined the term "agriculture as performance" based on years of observing the reflexivity of African farmers and their responses to stress and risks, and drawing on his own skills and interest in music and musical performance. His

populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

faith in African farmers to survive and prosper, despite the magnitude of the risks that faced, was set out in ''Indigenous Agricultural Revolution'' (1985), a book that generated fierce debate, since it accused agronomic research and international development organisations of missing the "moving target" of peasant farming and failing to see how innovations took place outside the realm of "formal"

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and laboratories. The book's ideas were diametrically opposed to those of more pessimistic observers that lacked detailed field knowledge, that had often accused the same farmers of

environmental degradation Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

. Richards has proposed the term "technography" to describe the set of detailed research skills needed by anthropologists, and others, to understand how technology is deployed and used. Technographies have been conducted by teams including several

research students and collaborators.

Work on war

''Fighting for the Rain Forest'' (1996) showed how the involvement of youth in Sierra Leonean rebel movements had little to do with widely perceived " barbarism" of rebel groups in resource-rich regions. War is, also, part of a "performance" with its origins in history, social orders, and human agency. Paul Richards witnessed some of the fighting during the war, continuing to visit the country. The widely held "New Barbarism" theories of Robert D. Kaplan and others had suggested abundant natural resources, like Sierra Leone's

blood diamond Blood diamonds (also called conflict diamonds, brown diamonds, hot diamonds, or red diamonds) are diamonds mined in a war zone and sold to finance an insurgency, an invading army's war efforts, terrorism, or a warlord's activity. The term is u ...

s, were a magnet for human greed and civil conflict. Instead, Richards has argued that the involvement of youth in the

Revolutionary United Front The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel group that fought a failed eleven-year war in Sierra Leone, beginning in 1991 and ending in 2002. It later transformed into a political party, which still exists today. The three most senior surv ...

rebel movement was a form of social resistance to

matriarchal Matriarchy is a social system in which positions of power and privilege are held by women. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege, and control of property. While those definitions apply in general English, ...

rule in

, did not appear to have a strong underlying motive of greed (for the diamond revenues), and was a considered response rather than a spontaneous, 'barbaric' movement. Grievances were partly responsible for the violence that undoubtedly did afflict Sierra Leone during its civil war and for which the

was partly responsible. Richards has advised aid and humanitarian agencies on African post-war reconstruction, demobilization and skills-training.

Published work

Books

*Richards, P. (ed.) 1975. ''African Environment: Problems and Perspectives''. London:

International African Institute The International African Institute (IAI) was founded (as the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures - IIALC) in 1926 in London for the study of African languages. Frederick Lugard was the first chairman (1926 to his death in 19 ...

. *Richards, P. 1985. ''Indigenous Agricultural Revolution. Ecology and Food Crops in West Africa''. Methuen. *Richards, P. 1986. ''Coping with hunger. Hazard and Experiment in a West African Rice Farming System''. London:

UCL Press University College London ( branded as UCL) is a public research university in London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of London, and is the second-largest university in the United Kingdom by total enrolment ...

. *Last, M., P. Richards, C. Fyfe. 1987. ''Sierra Leone, 1787-1987: two centuries of intellectual life''.

Manchester University Press Manchester University Press is the university press of the University of Manchester, England, and a publisher of academic books and journals. Manchester University Press has developed into an international publisher. It maintains its links with t ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

'' 57(4)] *Richards, P. 1996. ''Fighting for the Rain Forest. War, Youth & Resources in Sierra Leone''. Oxford: James Currey. *Richards, P. & Ruivenkamp, G. 1997
''Seeds and Survival. Crop Genetic Resources in War and Reconstruction in Africa.''
Rome: IPGRI. *Richards, P. (ed.) 2005. ''No Peace, No War. An Anthropology of Contemporary Armed Conflicts''. Oxford: James Currey. *Richards, P. 2016. ''Ebola: How a People's Science Helped End an Epidemic''. London: Zed Books. *Richards, P. and Perri 6. 2017. ''Mary Douglas: Understanding social thought and conflict''. New York: Berghahn Books. *E. Bulte, P. Richards and M.Voors. 2018. ''Institutions and Agrarian Development: A New Approach to West Africa''. Palgrave Macmillan/Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98500-8 *Richards, P. and Perri 6. 2023. ''Mary Douglas.'' Berghahn Books. https://doi.org/10.3167/9781800739796

Articles and book chapters (incomplete)

*High, C., & P. Richards. 1972. "The random walk drainage simulation model as a teaching exercise", ''Journal of Geography'' 71(1), 41–51. *Richards, P. 1972. "A quantitative analysis of the relationship between language tone and melody in a Hausa song". ''African Language Studies'' 13, 137-161 *High, C., J. Oguntoyinbo and P. Richards. 1973. "Rainfall, drought and food supply in South-Western Nigeria". ''Savanna'', 2(2), 115–120. *Richards, P. 1974. "Kant’s geography and mental maps". ''Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers'' 61, 1–16. *Richards, P. 1975. "'Alternative' strategies for the African environment: folk ecology as a basis for community oriented agricultural development". In: P. Richards, Editor, ''African Environment: Problems and Perspectives'', IAI, London. *Filani, M. O. and P. Richards. 1976. "Periodic market systems and rural development: the Ibarapa case study". ''Savanna'' 5(2), 149–162. *Oguntoyinbo, J. S., and P. Richards. 1977. "The extent and intensity of the 1969-1973 drought in Nigeria: a provisional analysis". In: D. Dalby, R.J. Harrison Church & F. Bezzaz. ''Drought in Africa'', International African Institute London, pp. 114–126. *Otuntoyinbo, J., and P. Richards. 1978. "Drought and the Nigerian farmer". ''Journal of Arid Environments'' 1:165–194. *Richards, P. 1978. "Problem-generating structures in Nigeria's rural development". ''African Affairs'' 77(307), 257–259. *Richards, P. 1978. "Environment, settlement and state formation in pre-colonial Nigeria". In: Green, D. R., Haselgrove, C., and M. Spriggs (eds). ''Social Organisation and Settlement: Contributions from Anthropology, Archaeology and Geography''. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford. *Richards, P. 1979. "A Green Revolution in Africa?" ''African Affairs'' 78(311), 269–272. *Richards, P. 1979. "Community Environmental Knowledge in African Rural Development". ''IDS Bulletin'', 10 (2). *Richards, P. 1980. "The environmental factor in African studies". ''Progress in Human Geography''. 4(4), 589–60. *Richards, P. 1980. "Community environmental knowledge in African rural development". In ''Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Development'', eds D. W. Brokensha, D. M. Warren, and O. Werner, pp. 183–203. Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America. *Richards, P. 1981. "Quality and quantity in agricultural work-Sierra Leone rice farming systems". In: G. A. Harrison. ''Energy and Effort''. London : Taylor & Francis. *Richards, P. 1983. "Farming systems and agrarian change in West Africa". ''Progress in Human Geography'' 7(1), 1–39. *Richards, P. 1983. "Ecological change and the politics of African land use". ''African Studies Review'' 26(2), 1-72. *Richards, P. 1984. "Spatial organization as a theme in African studies". ''Progress in Human Geography'' 8, 551–561. *Richards, P. 1985. "Farmers also experiment: a neglected intellectual resource in African science". ''Discovery and Innovation'' 1, pp. 19–25. *Richards, P. 1987. "The politics of famine—Some recent literature". ''African Affairs'' 86, 111–116. *Richards, P. 1987. "Africa in the music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor". ''Africa'' 57(4), 566-571 *Richards, P. 1987. "Upland and swamp rice farming systems in Sierra Leone: an evolutionary transition?" In: B. L. Turner II and S. B. Brush (eds). ''Comparative Farming Systems''. Guilford Press. pp. 156–187. *Richards, P. 1989. "Doing what comes naturally: ecological inventiveness in African rice farming". In: R. E. Johannes (ed.). ''Traditional Ecological Knowledge: A Collection of Essays'', IUCN, 51–56. *Richards, P. 1989. "Agriculture as a performance". In R. Chambers, A. Pacey and L. Thrupp (eds), ''Farmer First: Farmer Innovation and Agricultural Research''. London: Intermediate Technology, pp. 39–42. *Richards, P. 1990. "Local strategies for coping with hunger: central Sierra Leone and northern Nigeria compared". ''African Affairs'' 89(355), 265–275. *Richards, P. 1992. "Saving the rainforest? Contested futures in conservation". In: S. Wallman. ''Contemporary futures: Perspectives from Social Anthropology''. *Richards, P. 1992. "Landscapes of dissent: Ikale and Ikaje country, 1870-1950". In: J. F. Aye Ayadi and J. D. Y. Peel. ''People and Empires in African History: Essays in Memory of Michael Crowder''. Longman, London. *Richards, P. 1993. "Cultivation: knowledge or performance?" In Hobart, M. (ed). ''An Anthropological Critique of Development: the Growth of Ignorance''. London, Routledge, 61–78 *Richards, P. 1993. "Natural symbols and natural history: Chimpanzees, elephants and experiments in Mende thought". In: K. Milton (ed.). ''Environmentalism: The View from Anthropology''. Routledge. *Richards, P. 1995. "Rebellion in Liberia and Sierra Leone: a crisis of youth?" In: O.W. Furley (ed.). ''Conflict in Africa'', I.B. Tauris: London. *Richards, P. 1995. "The versatility of the poor: indigenous wetland management systems in Sierra Leone". ''GeoJournal'' 35(2), 197–203. *Richards, P. 1995. "Participatory Rural Appraisal: a quick and dirty critique". ''PLA Notes''. 24, 13–16. *Richards, P., J. Guyer. 1996. "The invention of biodiversity: social perspectives on the management of biological variety in Africa". ''Africa'' 66(1). *Richards, P. 1996. "Culture and community values in the selection and maintenance of African rice". In: S. Brush & Doreen Stabinsky, eds, ''Valuing Local Knowledge: indigenous people and intellectual property rights''. Island Press, Washington DC. *Richards, P., & G. Ruivenkamp. 1996. "New tools for conviviality: social shaping of biotechnology". In: P. Descola & G. Palsson, eds. ''Nature and Society: anthropological perspectives''. *Richards, P. 1996. "Agrarian creolization: the ethnobiology, history, culture and politics of West African rice". In: R. Ellen and K. Fukui, eds. ''Redefining Nature: Ecology, culture and domestication'', 291–318. *Richards. P. 1997. "Toward an African Green Revolution?: An Anthropology of Rice Research in Sierra Leone". In E. Nyerges, ed., ''The Ecology of Practice: Studies of Food Crop Production in Sub-Saharan West Africa''. Newark: Gordon & Breach. *Peters, K., & P. Richards. 1998. "Why we fight: Voices of youth combatants in Sierra Leone". ''Africa'' 68(2), 183–210. *Peters, K., & P. Richards. 1998. "Jeunes combattants parlant de la guerre et de la paix en Sierra Leone", '' Cahiers d'Etudes africaines'', 150–152, 581–617. *Richards, P. 1999. "New political violence in Africa: secular sectarianism in Sierra Leone". ''GeoJournal'' 47, 433–442. *Richards, P. 1999. "Casting seeds to the four winds: a modest proposal for plant genetic diversity management", in Posey, D. A. (ed.), ''Cultural and Spiritual Values of Biodiversity'', Nairobi & London: UNEP & IT Publications. *Richards, P. 2000. "Chimpanzees as political animals in Sierra Leone". In J. Knight, ''Natural Enemies: People-wildlife Conflicts in Anthropological Perspective''. Routledge. *Richards, P. "A Pan-African Composer? Coleridge-Taylor and Africa". ''Black Music Research Journal'' 21(), *Archibald, S., & P. Richards. 2002. "Converts to human rights? Popular debate about war and justice in rural central Sierra Leone". ''Africa'' 72(3), 339–367. *Richards, P., and C. Vlassenroot. 2002. "Les guerres africaines du type fleuve Mano: pour une analyse sociale". ''Politique Africaine'' 88, 13–26. *Richards. P. 2002. "Green Book Millenarians? The Sierra Leone War from the Perspective of an Anthropology of Religion". In Niels Kastfelt, ed., ''Religion and Civil War in Africa'', London: C. Hurst. *Archibald, S., & P. Richards. 2002. "Seeds and rights: new approaches to post-war agricultural rehabilitation in Sierra Leone". ''Disasters'' 26(4, 356–67. *Richards, P. 2002. "Militia conscription in Sierra Leone: recruitment of young fighters in an African war". ''Comparative Social Research'' 20, 255–276. *Richards, P. 2005. "War as smoke and mirrors: Sierra Leone 1991-2, 1994-5, 1995-6". ''Anthropological Quarterly'' 78(2), 377–402. *Richards, P. 2006. "An accidental sect: How war made belief in Sierra Leone". ''Review of African Political Economy'' 33(110), 651 - 663. *Richards, P. 2006. "The history and future of African rice. Food security and survival in a West African war zone". ''Afrika Spectrum'' 41(1), 77–93. *Richards, P. 2006. "Young men and gender in war and post-war reconstruction: some comparative findings from Liberia and Sierra Leone". In I. Bannon and Maria Correia, eds, ''The Other Half of Gender: men’s issues in development'', Washington: World Bank, pp. 195–218. *Richards, P. 2007. "How does participation work? Deliberation and performance in African food security". ''IDS Bulletin'' 38(5), 21–35. *Richards, P. 2007. "The emotions at war: a musicological approach to understanding atrocity in Sierra Leone". In Perri 6, S. Radstone, C. Squire & A. Treacher (eds), ''Public emotions''. Basingstoke: Palgrave. *Peters, K., & P. Richards. 2007. "Understanding recent African wars", ''Africa'' 77(3), 442–454. *Richards, P. 2007. "Is a right to technology an antidote to war?" In G. Frerks & B. Goldwijk (eds) ''New Human Security Challenges: alternative discourses''. Wageningen: Wageningen University Press. *Richards, P., M. Rizzo, M. L. Weiss, C. Steinerd & S. England. 2010. "Do Peasants Need GM Crops?" (review), ''Journal of Peasant Studies'' 37(3): 559-574 *Richards, P. 2010. "Ritual dynamics in humanitarian assistance". ''Disasters'' 34: 138–146 *Richards, P. 2010
A Green Revolution from below
Retirement address, Wageningen University. * Krijn, P., P. Richards. 2011. "Rebellion and Agrarian Tensions in Sierra Leone". ''Journal of Agrarian Change'' 11(3):377-395 * Cramer, C., and P. Richards. 2011. "Violence and War in Agrarian Perspective". ''Journal of Agrarian Change'' 11 (3): 277-297 * Mokuwa E., M. Voors, E. Bulte and P. Richards. 2011. "Peasant grievance and insurgency in Sierra Leone: Judicial serfdom as a driver of conflict". ''African Affairs'' 110(440): 339–366. * Nuijten E., & P. Richards. 2011. "Pollen flows within and between rice and millet fields in relation to farmer variety development in The Gambia". ''Plant Genetic Resources'' 9 :361-374. * Mokuwa, A., Nuijten, H.A.C.P., Okry, F., Teeken, B.W.E., Maat, H., Richards, P. and Struik, P.C. 2013
Robustness and Strategies of Adaptation among Farmer Varieties of African Rice (Oryza glaberrima) and Asian Rice (Oryza sativa) across West Africa
PLoS One 8 (2013)3. * Grijspaarde, H., Voors, M., Bulte, E., and Richards, P. 2013. Who believes in witches? Institutional flux in Sierra Leone. ''African Affairs'' 112/446: 22–47.

References

External links

*http://www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/people/honorary/p_richards *http://www.wur.nl/en/Expertise-Services/Chair-groups/Social-Sciences/KnowledgeTechnology-and-Innovation-Group/People/Emeritus-Staff-1.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Paul 1945 births Living people British anthropologists Academics of University College London Academic staff of Wageningen University and Research Academic staff of the University of Ibadan British expatriates in Sierra Leone British expatriates in Nigeria Academic staff of Njala University