Theories of Development: Contentions, Arguments, Alternatives

by Richard Peet, Elaine Hartwick

The stakes involved in development debates are enormous. While development can use the productive resources of society to improve the living conditions
of the world's most vulnerable people, it can also form the basis of intense manipulative power on behalf of elites. This important new text surveys the
leading theories and models of economic and social development. Chapters examine sociological,economic, neo-Marxist, poststructuralist, feminist, and
radical democratic approaches, as well as an array of development models including modernization, dependency, and neoliberalism. Reaching conclusions
at odds with much of the recent literature, this volume is critical of neoliberal, market-driven economic growth, arguing instead that an alternative,democratic form of development remains a viable possibility.

Genres: Nonfiction, Economics, Sociology, International Development, Psychology, Political Science, Economic Development

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[L L · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book presents an overview of major theories of development (a.k.a. why some countries are poor and some are rich and what to do about it)—neoclassical, sociological, dependency, feminist etc… It does an excellent job of describing the different intellectual assumptions that underly these theories and how it influences the solutions that they advocate. Throughout all of this, the authors present their own view on development. While this book is an great primer on development, it can be at times a bit dull and confusing. The authors try their best to coin the development of these different theories, but sometimes end up listing a bunch of scattered conferences, papers and ideas.

[Puloma Dasgupta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended read for those interested in learning about alternative approaches to development. Emphasis on socialist, feminist and post-structuralist approaches.

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had this sitting on my bookshelf for way too long before finally picking it up. I'm not sure what motivated me to read this, but I would like to thank it. Going through the history of modernity and development, the authors showcase a fantastic overview of the different styles of thought surrounding development: classical and neoclassical, sociological, Marxism, postmodernism, feminism.

The book states how religion (with the augmentation of Puritanism and Calvinism) influenced not only a newfound emphasis placed on science instead of the mysterious/supernatural, but how it impacted early classical writers such as Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill and many others. These are the thoughts that have led to the authoritarianism of the market and have been used as cover for some extremely heinous acts (read Late Victorian Holocausts by Mike Davis), but also have allowed for productivity to skyrocket which allows for a continued cycle of technological advancements and subsequent improvements of the lives of most people. Not only that, but the book also mentions the shift of emphasis from economics being tied to a moral philosophy exhibited the classical thinkers, to a form of scientific calculus, totally detached from philosophy and morality. The neoclassical approach also differed from the classical in the idea that surplus value does not come from labor, but the utility of the product (I'm not sold).

The chapter of Marxism was the highlight of the book for me. In only 30 pages this chapter distills the foundations of Marxist thought into an easily digestible reading. Touching on the philosophical, the social, and the economic, it explains historical and dialectical materialism, the social nature of production, the exchange value and use value of an object (and the disinterest of use value by the capitalist mode of production), the labor theory of value, and much more. There is a mention of Marx's thinking being universalistic and Eurocentric, believing that all societies would go through the same history as Western European society (in terms of social relations of production), but towards the end of his life he seemed to have transcended this viewpoint, stressing a multilinear history instead of a unilinear one.

The solution that the authors of the book ultimately land on is the Marxist critique of development. Even though postmodernism/poststructuralism have some solid critiques of the discourse of development being elite driven and formed only through "domination", the authors believe that modernist "reason" (including the scientific) has yet to be fully realized for the direct purpose of liberation and the fulfillment of needs. They argue that this high jacking of reason for the unequal development of society is inevitable due to private property and the capitalist mode of production. Only through democratic planning will society truly be able to use modernist tools for the well-being of all, especially in a sustainable way given the climate crisis.

Cannot recommend this book enough.

[Ara Arumugham Raju · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting concise theories of economic development, We get to know from conventional theories such as Classical and neo classical theories, liberalism and strucuralism and nonconventional theories such as Marxism , post structualism. The book gives perspectives aon how nations adopt certain policies time to time and why they succeed or why they fail.

[Cmarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

rather marxist aren't we Richard...

[Margaret Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent summary of the various development theories. Can't say I read this "for fun", though.

[manasa k · Rating 4 out of 5]

imagine going through life thinking classical and neoliberal economics is anything other than a system used to support a capitalist class. this made me feel so validated after sitting through multiple economics lectures that tried to play a cost-benefit analysis using human life. make 2021 the year we stop acting as if economic concepts are created in any way separate from politics. tell ur local econ major we can totally print more money and also that his professional business fraternity is a scam.

[Zoi · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and approachable piece of academic literature.
Perfect for those interested in critically engaging with development theory and how it is inextricably linked to legacies of colonialism and Eurocentric ideology.

[Alyssa Wiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is absolutely packed with information but a bit dry to read. Good textbook on development overall.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

So so dense. I could barely say I read it because I don’t recall anything from it

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough read, but I do feel smarter. This will be a book I will keep forever as a reference.