A Radical History of Development Studies: Individuals, Institutions and Ideologies

by Uma Kothari (Editor)

In this thought-provoking collection, some of the leading thinkers in Development Studies come together to examine the history of their multi-disciplinary subject from its emergence during the era of decolonization half a century ago to its contemporary emphasis on poverty reduction. They combine personal and institutional reflections with an examination of key themes, including the intrusion into a subject traditionally dominated by Economics of social development considerations, gender awareness, and environmental concerns. They draw attention to those ongoing critiques of development studies, including Marxism and post-development discourse which have been so often marginalized in representations of the mainstream development discourse.

Genres: International Development

256 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2005

Reviews

[Laya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess a chapter here and there were very good but this was less academic and more personal than I expected. This is essentially very very good primary material for Uma’s thesis on tracing histories of professionals and associated ideologies within development studies which turned out into an okay-ish book for readers. It was nice to read reflective life histories from John Harriss and Robert Chambers. The chapter by Phil Woodhouse and Admission Chimhowu on overview of trends within ecological sciences and later political ecology and its relationship to thinking in natural resource management in development studies was the best one of this book imo. It had more of the vast literature review that I expected from the different thematic chapters in the book.