Understanding Development: Theory and Practice in the Third World

by John Rapley

An introduction to the theory and practices of development in the third world, tracing the evolution of development theory over 40 years, and examining why so many of the benefits of development are still not shared by millions.

Genres: Economics, International Development, Nonfiction, Politics, Political Science, Anthropology, School

205 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[JP]

Understanding Development is a short, succinct, effective look at the history of developmental economics throughout the 20th century. Because it was written in 1996, some of the important changes in the international economy since then are missing, but John Rapley does an excellent job of covering the predominant theories in question. First, he looks at ISI and its roots in Dependency Theory, presenting the case for state-led growth, and why the Third World placed such emphasis on their newly independent governments to yield economic growth. He points out all of the critiques of ISI as if he were a mid-80s IMF employee with space in a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed. He then explains how Neoliberalism was introduced to the scene to fix those problems created by ISI and why/how it can be an effective theory to follow through on - trusting the market over the state. Neoliberalism, however, created significant problems in those countries it was foisted upon, and so Rapley once again switches sides in the debate to present a rebuke of the system along the lines of that argued by leftists the world-over. While I felt almost hurt reading his criticism of state-led growth (I'm not a fan of Neoliberalism), I realized that there was no noticeable bias at all while reading his criticism of neoliberal reforms (privatization, deregulation, austerity). He then presents the re-introduction of leftist development theory in the form of the New Political Economy. He discusses how Africa, in particular, faces challenges largely unforeseen by either side of the development debate, and in his conclusion, he offers a projection of how the future might be affected by a potential return of left-leaning dominance, given that state socialism is largely a thing of the past.

Entertainment: 1 Star
Education: 1 Star
Thesis: 1 Star
Readability: 1 Star
Inspiration: 1 Star

[Tobi Lawson]

Rapley brilliantly summarizes the history of thought in development. The book suffers from a compulsion of "balance" by trying to find something wrong with each ideology. There's also a scarcity of evidence in the coverage. But overall it's a good introduction to the subject but a bit too dense for the uninitiated.

[Ted Tyler]

Clearly introduces each of the basic theoretical and policy components of economic development. A good text for anyone that wants to start learning about the discipline and the various schools of thought. Rapley's work is a tad dry, but not too dense that it's unreadable for a theoretical, academic work.

[Jonathan]

An excellent introduction to the recent trends in the ongoing quest for the economic development of the poor nations of the world. Rapley chronicles the rise and fall of the Import Substitution Industrialisation (ISI) strategy and the dawning of the neo-liberal era of the push to market liberalisation. He offers an acute diagnosis of the failings and successes of the ISI period with reference to trends in Africa, Asia and Latin America before going on to assess the impacts of recent developments in these regions.

The thrust of the book is both clear and readily comprehensible, a workable and reinvigorated model of state-led development is needed which looks beyond the narrow confines of market-led strategies championed today. In short, the dogma of neoliberalism which has failed to deliver what it has promised must be supplanted by more diverse and varied strategies which leave room for the "developmental state".

[Jonathan]

This just popped up on my amazon account. I think I'm going to wait to see some reviews, its pretty new.

[Lauren Adams]

this book was a milestone in the development of my mind.

[Nigel]

its eye opening toward the third world we already are in