International Development: Ideas, Experience, and Prospects

by Bruce Currie-Alder (Editor), Ravi Kanbur, David M. Malone

Thinking on development informs and inspires the actions of people, organizations, and states in their continuous effort to invent a better world. This volume examines the ideas behind their origins, how they have changed and spread over time, and how they may evolve over the coming decades. It also examines how the real-life experiences of different countries and organizations have been inspired by, and contributed to, thinking on development. The extent to which development 'works' depends in part on particular local, historical, or institutional contexts. General policy prescriptions fail when the necessary conditions that make them work are either absent, ignored, or poorly understood. There is a need to grasp how people understand their own development experience. If the countries of the world are varied in every way, from their initial conditions to the degree of their openness to outside money and influence, and success is not centred in any one group, it
stands to reason that there cannot be a single recipe for development.

Each chapter provides an analytical survey of thinking about development that highlights debates and takes into account critical perspectives. It includes contributions from scholars and practitioners from the global North and the global South, spanning at least two generations and multiple disciplines. It will be a key reference on the concepts and theories of development - their origins, evolution, and trajectories - and act as a resource for scholars, graduate students, and practitioners.

976 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dives into many diverse perspectives on ID, which is precisely what is needed. The authors realize (as Amartya Sen writes in the foreword) that no single approach or perspective is 'correct' or sufficient for ID in our complex world. The book gives a thorough primer and most chapters are an enjoyable read in themselves. Good for any intro ID class.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

thick book, covers many fronts in each chapter. good as intro into each respective front