Development

Employing the term ‘development’ has become increasingly delicate. As an expression of the eurocentric mindset, it has lately fallen into disrepute. It inevitably makes anyone using it suspicious of uncritically subscribing to Western ideology or mythology. The following is a list of critical books on the term and concept of "development", crucial as we think, to understand the African "development problems". The bibliography is based on the annoted bibliography compiled by Deborah Eade and Caroline Knowles, Editor and Reviews Editor respectively of Development in Practice.

 


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Nassau A. Adams: Worlds Apart: The North-South Divide and the International System

London: Zed Books, 1993. Traces the history of North-South relations since 1945, focusing on the role of the international economic system. Relates the efforts of the South to change a system it considered unjust and inimical to its interests; the partial successes achieved in the 1960s and 70s (including the creation of UNCTAD), and subsequent reversals; the metamorphosis of the IMF and World Bank into the principal vehicles for the conduct of the North's relations with the South. The book also deals with the current impasse where the South faces an international environment dictated more than ever by the North, and must accept Northern policy prescriptions, yet can look forward to little real prospect of increasing living standards, let alone narrowing the North-South gap.

Samir Amin: Maldevelopment: Anatomy of a Global Failure

London: Zed Books (in association with the UN University and the Third World Forum, 1990. Analyses the failure of development from a political standpoint, aiming to integrate economic, political, social and cultural considerations and fit them into a local framework that takes account of interaction on a world scale. Amin then offers a thesis of 'alternative development', which would be national and popular, and favour South-South cooperation through a world system favouring political and economic polycentrism. This would replace the five 'great powers' (USA, USSR, Europe, Japan, China) and the duopoly of two superpowers which marginalises the Third World, and provide it with real scope for development.

Augusto Boal: Theater of the Oppressed

London: Pluto Press (originally published in 1974 as Teatro de Oprimido), 1979. Traces the history of drama since the ancient Greeks to argue that all theatre is necessarily political. Theatre used to be of and for the people - singing and dancing in the open air - but was slowly taken over by the ruling classes so the concept of theatre was changed to feature actors (protagonists) and a passive audience. Using examples from Brazil, the author argues that radical theatre in Latin America is breaking down the barriers between actors and spectators. All must act and all must be protagonists in the necessary transformation of society.

Rosi Braidotti et al: Women, the Environment and Sustainable Development: Towards a Theoretical Synthesis

London: Zed Books, 1994. An attempt to present and disentangle the various positions on sustainable development, the environment, and women and to clarify the political and theoretical issues at stake. Among the current critiques of the Western model of development reviewed here are the feminist analysis of science itself and the power relations inherent in the production of knowledge; women, environment and development (WED); alternative development; environmental reformism; and deep ecology, social ecology, and ecofeminism. The dominant development model is thus critiqued at the various levels of epistemology, theory, and policy. The authors also put forward their own ideas on the basic elements necessary in constructing a paradigmatic shift - emphasising such values as holism, mutuality, justice, autonomy, self-reliance, sustainability, and peace. >>>

Cristovam Buarque: The End of Economics? Ethics and the Disorder of Progress

London: Zed Books, 1993 (originally published in Brazil as A Desordem do Progresso: O fim de era dos economistas e a construcao do futuro, 1990). Presents a strong case for an ethical system to guide economic theory and practice. Taking the current world ecological crisis as his starting point, Buarque argues that high levels of consumption among the rich cannot be sustained and extended to the entire population. This implies a stark choice between a brand of development geared to universal consumption and technology, building on a system of social partitioning on a global scale; or accept the challenge of building a new order in which the economic system is governed by ethical principles, a framework in which respect for nature and abolition of human want would be the key social objectives. The very notion of economic progress needs to be re-thought. Technological advance must respect nature, and the fetish of applying economic theories without regard to their human consequences must be abandoned. >>>

Raff Carmen: Autonomous Development: Humanising the Landscape - An Excursion into Radical Thinking and Practice

London: Zed Books, 1996. Arguing that development is primarily an act of human creation, the author affirms that people are silenced by human agency, not by divine ordnance. The decolonisation of the mind is what permits constructive knowledge and change: subjugation is as much the key to the 'over- development' or misdevelopment of the North, as to the 'under-development' of the South. Rejecting conventional approaches which start by analysing what people lack, Carmen focuses on the 'cultural, social, educational, ethical and other values' that characterise them; and in which human development must necessarily be embedded. >>>

Robert Chambers: Whose Reality Counts: Putting the First Last

London: IT Publications, 1997. In this sequel to Rural Development: Putting the Last First (1983), Chambers argues that central issues in development have been overlooked and that many errors have flowed from domination by those with power. Development professionals need new approaches and methods for interacting, learning, and knowing. Through analysing experience of past mistakes and myths, and the continuing methodological evolution of PRA, the author points towards solutions. Rural and urban people alike express and analyse their local, complex, and diverse realities in ways which are often at odds with the top-down realities imposed by professionals. Personal, professional, and institutional change is necessary if the realities of the poor are to receive greater recognition. Self-critical awareness and changes in concepts, values, methods, and behaviour must be developed if participation and empowerment are to have meaning. >>>

Noam Chomsky: World Politics, Old and New

London: Vintage, 1994. An acclaimed scholar of linguistics, Chomsky is more widely known as a relentless critic of all forms of contemporary imperialism, and of US foreign policy in particular. His early indictment of US involvement in Vietnam and Cuba was followed by similar critiques of its role in Central America, the Middle East, the Horn of Africa, and as a Cold War superpower. Common to Chomsky's prolific output is a concern with human rights, and with exposing the negative global impact of Western notions of liberal democracy in the context of its defence of corporate might, of which this book is a recent example. >>>

Michel Chossudovsky: The Globalisation of Poverty: Impacts of IMF and World Bank Reforms

London: Zed Books in association with Third World Network, 1997. he author shows how the structures of the global economy have changed since the early 1980s and explains how the World Bank and IMF have forced Third World, and since 1989, Eastern European countries to facilitate these changes. He shows the consequences of a new financial order which feeds on human poverty and destruction of the environment, generates social apartheid, encourages racism and ethnic strife, and undermines the rights of women. The result, as he shows, is the globalisation of poverty. >>>

Jonathan Crush (ed.): Power of Development

London: Routledge, 1995. Post-colonial, post-modern, and feminist thinking have focused on the power structures embedded within the discourse and practice of development. Rather than asking 'what development is, or is not, or how it can be more accurately defined, better 'theorised', or sustainably practised', these 20 essays examine the language of development - 'the forms in which it makes its arguments and establishes its authority, the manner in which it constructs the world'. Contributors variously show that although development is itself a western myth about the world, it has come to assume a kind of global reality of its own - however distant from that of the people and societies it describes. >>>

Arturo Escobar: Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World

Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995. Suggests that the idea of development, and even the Third World, may be in the process of being unmade, because of development's failure and the increasing opposition within the Third World. Escobar examines the discourse and apparatus of development since 1949, and the construction of the notion of 'under-development' in economic theories. Using examples from Colombia, he demonstrates the ways in which apparatus functions through the systematic production of knowledge and power in fields such as rural development, sustainable development, and women and development. The conclusion deals with how to imagine a post-development regime of representation, and how to investigate and pursue alternatives in contemporary social movements in the Third World. >>>

Franz Fanon: The Wretched of the Earth

Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1963 (originally published in French as Les damnés de la terre, 1961). An impassioned critique of colonialism in all its expressions, and a rallying cry for the emancipation of 'the wretched of the earth', this classic occupied an influential place in contemporary liberation movements. Here, as in his earlier work, Black Skins, White Masks (first published in 1952 as Peau Noire, Masques Blancs), Fanon argues that cultural alienation and internalised assumptions of inferiority and Otherness, are the inevitable corollary to the condition of subjugation. The process of decolonisation is necessarily a violent phenomenon: it is no less than the dissolution of both coloniser and colonised, in terms both of national histories and of people's lived experiences. >>>

Paulo Freire: Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1972 (originally published in Portuguese as Pedagogia del Oprimido). Defining reading as a political act, the author lays out a theory of adult education based on communication and problem-solving dialogue between equals. Literacy and liberation are joined in the notion of 'naming the world', the basis upon which people who are poor and oppressed can mobilise to change it. Described as the secular equivalent of Liberation Theology, the Brazilian educationalist inspired an entire generation of people working for social change throughout Latin America and beyond. Freire was a prolific writer, though this remains his best-known work. Other major titles include: Education for Critical Consciousness; Cultural Action for Freedom, The Politics of Education: Culture, Power and Liberation; Learning to Question: A Pedagogy of Liberation; and (with Peter McLaren) Critical Pedagogy and Predatory Culture: Oppositional Politics in a Post-Modern Era. >>>

Denis Goulet: Development Ethics: A Guide to Theory and Practice

London: Zed Books, 1995. An introductory guide to development ethics, which aims to question the nature of development and its declared goals. Aftern presenting this new discipline, the author formulates general principles underlying ethical strategies in development, and discusses their application in such topics as technology for development, ecology and ethics, culture and tradition, and the ethics of aid. >>>

Gustavo Gutiérrez: The Power of the Poor in History: Selected Writings

Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1983. This book contains eight selected texts from the ten years following publication of the classic Theology of Liberation. The first present a biblical survey of some of the major sources of liberation theology, followed by three articles which were milestones in its evolution: 'Involvement in the Liberation Process'; 'Liberation Praxis and Christian Faith'; and 'The Historical Power of the Poor'. The third section represents Gutiérrez' reaction to the Latin America Bishops' Conference in 1979 at which they tried to distance themselves liberation theology. The final section illustrates Gutiérrez' attempts to reach out to people who live, think, and act outside Latin America, in which he argues that it is necessary for everyone to learn to see the world 'from below' (the 'Theology from the Underside of History'). >>>

Kofi Buenor Hadjor: Dictionary of Third World Terms

London: I. B. Tauris, 1992. Words associated with the Third World are often loaded with assumptions and cultural attitudes, and may mean quite different things to people in different parts of the world. This dictionary focuses on this complex vocabulary. The author gives not only the meaning but also the background of the terms defined, drawing on many disciplines including economics, politics, sociology, anthropology, and gender studies. Entries range from short factual definitions to in-depth essays on key concepts such as dependency theory, liberation theology, or Malthusianism. >>>

Cees Hamelink: World Communication: Disempowerment and Self-empowerment

London: Zed Books and Penang: Southbound/Third World Network, 1995. A critical examination of the role of the media in treating information as a commodity, and of transnational corporations in manipulating developments in information and communication technology for their own profit. The author traces the links between human rights - particularly political and cultural rights - and how rights and citizenship can be suppressed or enhanced through global communication. The book includes The People's Communication Charter, drafted by Third World Network, the Centre for Communication and Human Rights, and the community radio broadcasters' association, AMARC. >>>

Cynthia Hewitt de Alcántara (ed.): Social Futures, Global Visions

Oxford: Blackwell Publishers in association with UNRISD, 1996. A collection of papers from a conference organised by UNRISD to coincide with the World Summit for Social Development in 1995 to reflect on the processes currently driving social change. The scale and speed of change have rendered existing paradigms and models inadequate to understand the nature of contemporary social dilemmas, and new thinking is required to provide more appropriate conceptual and institutional frameworks for coping with escalating social problems. The essays attempt to interpret and illuminate the social changes ushered in by the forces of globalisation, and the impact of these forces on human welfare and solidarity. >>>

Ivan Illich: In the Mirror of the Past: Lectures and Addresses 1978-90

London: Marion Boyars Publishers, 1992. A collection of notes from lectures and public meetings, which serves as an introduction to the work of Illich, medieval scholar and radical thinker. Illich suggests that only by reflecting on the past is it possible to recognise the radical 'otherness' of late-20th century assumptions and become aware of the hidden orthodoxies. Famous for his critique of the educational and health professions, this collection also introduces Illich's ideas on peace and development, culture and history, the alternative to economics, literacy and language. A full listing of his books is also given. >>>

Naila Kabeer: Reversed Realities: Gender Hierarchies in Development Thought

London: Verso Press, 1994. Traces the emergence of 'women' as a specific category in development thought and examines alternative frameworks for analysing gender hierarchies. The household is identified as a primary site for the construction of power relations and the extent to which gender inequalities are revealed in different approaches to the concept of the family unit is compared. The inadequacies of the poverty line as a measuring tool are assessed, and an overview of the issue of population policies is given. >>>

Rajni Kothari: Poverty: Human Consciousness and the Amnesia of Development

London: Zed Books, 1995. Explores the meanings of poverty in its economic, social, and political aspects and analyses the role the state and the market play, both nationally and internationally in the deepening of poverty. The author also examines the phenomenon of disempowerment and the declining access of the poor to the power structures of society. >>>

Serge Latouche: In the Wake of the Affluent Society: An Exploration of Post-development

London: Zed Books, 1993. The author argues that all development is a process of Westernisation which, in reality, has become an uni-dimensional preoccupation with material standards of living. However there is little prospect of most of humanity reaching Western levels of consumption, and this reconstruction of societies in a Western ideological mould does not fit the Third World. The failure of development and its impossibility as a global idea is seen as much in the alienation of the cities of the North as in the shanty towns and wrecked villages of the South. Latouche finds hope in the response of the poor, fighting for survival in the 'informal sector': synthesising modernity and tradition, he develops an alternative model of society. >>>

John Martinussen: Society, State and Market: A Guide to Competing Theories of Development

London: Zed Books, 1997. A multi-disciplinary account of how development theory has evolved since 1945 which raises questions about the nature of development theory and the differentiated nature of countries in the South. The book presents a full range of theoretical approaches and current debates, organised around four themes: economic development and underdevelopment; politics and the state; socio-economic development and the state; civil society and the development process. >>>

Manfred A. Max-Neef: From the Outside Looking In: Experiences in 'Barefoot' Economics

London: Zed Books, 1992. This has become a minor classic since it was first issued by the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation in 1982. The author relates and reflects on two experiences in 'barefoot economics' - economics as if people mattered, in which 'the poor must learn to circumvent the national (economic) system'. The first is about the indian and black peasants in Ecuador, and the second about artisans in Brazil. One the story of a success that failed; the other a failure that succeeded. Both refer to a people's quest for self-reliance and are lessons in economics practised on a human scale, in which human facts and feelings replace abstract statistics. These ideas are explored further in Human Scale Development: Conception, Application and Further Reflections (1991). >>>

Ozay Mehmet: Westernising the Third World: The Eurocentricity of Economic Development Theories

London: Routledge, 1995. Development was an idealistic mission in the postwar period, pursued with great optimism and generosity. Now, against a rising tide of mass poverty, refugees and displaced persons, and social injustice, many developing countries are worse off than in 1970. The author blames the failure of Third World development on Western theories and prescriptions. He identifies the mainstream economic theories and demonstrates that they are Eurocentric and unsuitable for the Third World. He also examines both Classical theories of economic development and their postwar Neo-Classical counterparts, arguing that these are fundamentally flawed because of their subjective and normative assumptions. Further chapters discuss model-building and macro-planning and the New Economic Order. The book concludes with an appraisal of the current situation and an examination of the future agenda for development studies. >>>

Maria Mies and Vandana Shiva: Ecofeminism: A Feminist and Ecological Reader on Biotechnology

London: Zed Books, 1993. Offers a thought-provoking analysis of environmental, development, and feminist issues from a unique North-South perspective. The authors critique prevailing economic theories, conventional concepts of women's emancipation, the myth of 'catching up' development, the philosophical foundations of modern science and technology, and the omission of ethnics when discussing so many questions including advances in reproductive technology as well as biotechnology. In constructing their own epistemology and methodology, they look to the potential of movements advocating consumer liberation and subsistence production, sustainability and regeneration; and they argue for an acceptance of limits and reciprocity, and a rejection of exploitation, the endless commoditisation of needs, and violence. >>>

Ngugi wa Thiong'o: Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature

London: James Currey with Heinemann, Kenya, 1986. One of the most important contemporary African novelists who argues that the politics of language in African literature is about national, democratic, and human liberation. The choice of language and the use to which it is put is central to people's definition of themselves in relation to the natural and social environment. Shows how language was used as a means of oppression under colonial rule, and calls for the search for the African novel and African drama as a way of liberating the people and expressing their lives in literature.>>>

Julius K. Nyerere: Freedom and Development: A Selection from Writings and Speeches 1968-73

Dar Es Salaam: Oxford University Press, 1973. This is the third major collection of former President Julius Nyerere's speeches and writings, from 1968 to 1973. As with the previous volumes (Freedom and Unity, and Freedom and Socialism), it is a representative sample of his views of such subjects as socialism, economic policy, human equality, African unity and liberation, and international relations. Nyerere emphasises that except where specifically mentioned, these statements are not a description of what existed, but rather of what was being attempted. >>>

Charles P. Oman and Ganeshan Wignaraja: The Post-war Evolution of Development Thinking

London: Macmillan in association with the OECD Development Centre, 1991. Development thinking and practice are in a state of flux - theory apparently offering little by way of solution to the crisis. This book provides a critical survey of the different schools of development thought in which both orthodox and alternative schools of thought covered in an up- to-date and non-technical manner. >>>

Md Anisur Rahman: People's Self-development: Perspectives on Participatory Action Research - A Journey through Experience

London: Zed Books, 1993. A collection of articles and previously published papers in which the author reflects on development through collective local initiatives by people themselves - what he has called people's self-development - and how to promote such development. This thinking has grown out of the author's long involvement in popular initiatives, experimentation with participatory research, and experience of field 'animation' work and training of 'animators' in Asia and Africa. Some of the key ideas centre on what the notion of self-reliance should actually mean; an approach to Participatory Action Research (PAR) in terms of the self-emancipation of the popular classes; the importance of knowledge relations as a factor which can perpetuate domination over ordinary people; and an examination of popular knowledge. >>>

Majid Rahnema with Victoria Bawtree (eds.): The Post-development Reader

London: Zed Books, 1997. A collection of essays by over 40 thinkers and activists which critique the dominant development paradigm and what it has done to the peoples of the world and their diverse and sustainable ways of living. They also present some of the experiences and ideas out of which people are trying to construct their more humane and culturally and ecologically respectful alternatives to development. >>>

Wolfgang Sachs (ed.): The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power

London: Zed Books, 1992. A collection of essays covering some of the key ideas of the development discourse in which each concept is examined from a historical and anthropological point of view. The chapters identify the shifting role each concept has played in the debate on development since 1945, demonstrate how each concept filters perception, highlighting certain aspects of reality while excluding others, and show how this bias is rooted in particular civilisational attitudes adopted during the course of European history. Each chapter offers a different way of looking at the world and a glimpse of the riches which survive in non-Western cultures in spite of development. >>>

Edward Said: Culture and Imperialism

London: Vintage Books, 1994. Develops arguments presented in Orientalism, Said's critique of Western attitudes towards the East, focusing on a general worldwide pattern of imperial culture, and a historical experience of resistance against empire. Said examines the ways in which Western literature has represented oppressed people, and influenced the fight for equality and human community. He also discusses 'culture' and the difficulties in reconciling the cruelty of colonialist and racist oppression with the cultural expressions of societies that engage in those practices. One of imperialism's achievements was to bring the world much closer together, and although in that process the separation between Europeans and 'natives' was insidious and unjust, the historical experience of empire is a common one. >>>

Jeremy Seabrook: Pioneers of Change: Experiments in Creating a Humane Society

London: Zed Books, 1993. Describes individuals and movements worldwide who are seeking to develop new visions of society and experiment in practical ways with new lifestyles, new paths of development, and new relations with Nature. All share a belief in the value of diversity - genetic, cultural, and individual - and challenge the dominant consumerist world view. All have been recipients of the Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the Alternative Nobel Prize, which is presented in recognition of pioneering efforts in the areas of peace, sustainable development, environmental integrity, social justice, and human rights. >>>

Gita Sen and Caren Grown: Development, Crises and Alternative Visions: Third World Women's Perspectives

New York: Monthly Review Press, 1987. A brief introduction to development economics, written from Southern feminist perspectives, which examines why strategies designed to achieve overall economic growth and increased industrial and agricultural productivity have proven to be harmful to women. The authors argue that many long-term economic processes have been indifferent (if not damaging) to the interests and needs of poor people in general and women in particular. Women's contributions are central to the ability of households, communities, and nations to survive, and a much- needed reorientation of development analysis can be achieved by starting from the perspective of poor women. >>>

Naresh Singh and Vangile Titi (eds.): Empowerment: Towards Sustainable Development

London: Zed Books in association with IISD, 1995. Explores ways to move towards a concept and practice of development that integrates the needs of people, the economy, the environment, and the practical world of decision-making. It argues that poverty alleviation and sustainable development are only likely if empowerment and its practical institutionalisation in the law, the educational process, and the machinery of government becomes a reality. >>>

Rehman Sobhan: Agrarian Reform and Social Transformation: Preconditions for Development

London: Zed Books, 1993. Focusing attention on agrarian reform as a tool for eradicating rural poverty, the author discusses experiences of agrarian reform throughout the South, building a typology of such reforms, the varying socio-political circumstances in which they were enacted, and how this influenced their outcome. He concludes that only those countries where rural poverty was ameliorated rapidly and the foundations laid for permanent, all-round development had carried our comprehensive, egalitarian agrarian reforms. This applies as much to market- oriented countries like Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, as to socialist China or Cuba. >>>

The South Centre: Facing the Challenge: Responses to the Report of the South Commission

London: Zed Books in association with The South Centre, 1993. When it was launched in 1990, The Challenge to the South - the Report of the South Commission - offered a detailed analysis of the problems facing the countries of the South. This book is a companion volume of 33 commentaries on the Report, corresponding to the South Commission's wish to supplement and expand its work through public comment and debate. It contains a summary of the Report itself, and includes essays by leading intellectuals and activists, as well as senior IMF and World Bank officials. >>>

The World: A Third World Guide

Montevideo: The Third World Institute, biennial. A country-by-country compendium of history, society, and politics written from a range of Southern perspectives. It contains global and national maps with illustrated graphs and statistics, and in-depth description of key global issues such as childhood, women, food, health, education, population, employment, habitat, human welfare. >>>

Immanuel Wallerstein: After Liberalism

New York: New Press, 1995. Examines the process of disintegration of the modern world-system following the fall of the Berlin Wall and subsequent dissolution of the USSR, and speculates on the changes that may occur during the next few decades. The author argues that rather than this representing the triumph of liberalism over communism, liberal reformism is also being rejected because its policies worsen rather than improve the economic situation of the majority of the population. The author believes we are now entering into a world 'after liberalism'. He explores the historical choices available and suggests paths for reconstructing the world-system on a more rational and equitable basis. >>>

Ponna Wignaraja (ed.): New Social Movements in the South: Empowering the People

London: Zed Books, 1993. Papers by various scholars from the UN University's Third World and Development Project seeking alternatives to Western paradigms of development and democratic notions and institutions. The book identifies various social movements and people's responses to crises - poverty reproducing itself, the ecological crisis, gender conflicts, human rights conflicts, and the inability of state structures to mediate these tensions - and how these new responses also attempt to protect the South from penetration by external forces which further intensify these internal tensions. Popular responses are taking the form of new social movements, people's movements, and experiments, and this book examines several which have elements of sustainability and which promote development and democracy in new terms. The book thus provides an overview of the new thinking, and the nuances within it, that is emerging under different socio-political circumstances. >>>

Marshall Wolfe: Elusive Development

London: Zed Books, 1996. A critical overview of the policies and trends emanating from post-war thinking and practice in development, particularly at the inter- governmental level. Based on a long and intimate knowledge of the UN system, and of competing influences upon it (scholarly, political, and practical), the author dissects the myths and woolly theories that 'development' has both espoused and projected onto the world. A valuable and critical guide to the background behind concepts that still shape today's thinking; and a sceptical view of the doomed quest for a universal recipe for development. >>>