Development, Security and Unending War: Governing the World of Peoples

by Mark Duffield

According to politicians, we now live in a radically interconnected world. Unless there is international stability - even in the most distant places - the West's way of life is threatened. In meeting this global danger, reducing poverty and developing the unstable regions of the world are now imperative. In what has become a truism of the post-Cold War period, security without development is questionable, while development without security is impossible.In this accessible and path-breaking book, Mark Duffield questions this conventional wisdom and lays bare development not as a way of bettering other people but of governing them. He offers a profound critique of the new wave of Western humanitarian and peace interventionism, arguing that rather than bridging the lifechance divide between development and underdevelopment, it maintains and polices it. As part of the defence of an insatiable mass consumer society, those living beyond its borders must be content with self-reliance.With case studies drawn from Mozambique, Ethiopia and Afghanistan, the book provides a critical and historically informed analysis of the NGO movement, humanitarian intervention, sustainable development, human security, coherence, fragile states, migration and the place of racism within development. It is a must-read for all students and scholars of development, humanitarian intervention and security studies as well as anyone concerned with our present predicament.

Genres: Politics, International Relations, Nonfiction

280 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Michael Griswold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Duffield's Development, Security, and Unending War is not a read for the faint of heart, the pages and smaller text tend to blur together turning a 234 page read into a 500 page psycological albatross. Sitting in the Rock Valley College library, I almost feel asleep reading it.

But the argument itself, if you manage to see it through the trees is very fascinating. Duffield argues that the means of liberal governance such as NGO's, humanitarian intervention, and sustainable development actually act as way of governing underdeveloped populations and keeping their problems away from The West.

Duffield concludes his argument with a masterstroke of a chapter that outlines Western governments treatment of immigrant populations--this was pivotal because it illustrated not just how Western governments act abroad, but domesticly which gave the argument greater and broader pull. A thought-provoking and engaging argument for all scholars of international relations.

[Charlotte Livesey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the layout of this book, chapter 8 especially was a 5/5 for me, I learnt a lot and think this book to be incredibly well written and readable (rare for academic books🤣). Some very prominent ideas which are gaining traction in political philosophy, I think his analysis of racism, anti-racism, multiculturalism and threat is so interesting and I also enjoyed the bio political aspect of the insured vs non-insured lives of people around our world.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantastic theoretical framework. Poor execution in explaining his work within that framework. Underwhelming and dense.

[Nguyen Tran · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a captivating and thought-provoking book that delves into the intricate web of colonialism, capital accumulation, and the repercussions that followed. It takes readers on a journey through history, shedding light on how the pursuit of economic growth and the fear of surplus populations shaped the policies of Western nations.

As the narrative unfolds, the book explores the profound impact of slave emancipation on the economic landscape, which fueled the need for new markets and intensified the apprehension surrounding surplus populations. Duffield skillfully analyzes how these factors intertwined, giving rise to the development-security nexus that became an inseparable part of Western nations' policies.

Within the pages of this book, readers will also encounter the compelling concept of contingent emergency. The author delves deep into the wars waged among different peoples, examining the complex dynamics between aid activities and political agendas in the context of peace-building processes.

[Lukáš · Rating 4 out of 5]

Building on his previous engagement with the problematics of the security terrain, the author continues his path with using the theories of biopolitics by Foucault and Agamben in order to discuss a series of puzzling questions about the way how the development industry got itself into the place where it is. Not just that we get further insights about the political role of NGOs, discourses of civilized life and human security politics as regulative principles of formation and ordering of the global biopolitical borderzones, with the usual Duffield quality, these are well-documented with cases from countries such as Mozambique or Afghanistan in order to explore the remains of the realm of the possible.