Theories of Development

Contents: 1. Introduction. 2. Economic theories of growth and development. 3. Sociological theories of modernization. 4. Marxist and neo-Marxist theories. 5. Poststructuralism, postcolonialism, and postdevelopmentalism. 6. Feminist theories of development. 7. Critical modernism, radical democracy, development. References. Index.

"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. Critical of neoliberal, marker-driven economic growth, the authors argue instead that an alternative, democratic form of development remains a viable possibility." (jacket)