The History of Development: From Western Origins to Global Faith

by Gilbert Rist, Patrick Camiller (Translator)

Overview

In this landmark text, Gilbert Rist provides a comprehensive and compelling overview of what the idea of development has meant throughout history. He traces it from its origins in the Western view of history, through the early stages of the world system, the rise of US hegemony, and the supposed triumph of third-worldism, through to new concerns about the environment and globalization.

Assessing possible postdevelopment models and considering the ecological dimensions of development, Rist contemplates the ways forward. Throughout, he argues persuasively that development has been no more than a collective delusion, which in reality has resulted only in widening market relations, whatever the intentions of its advocates.

A classic development text written by one of the leaders of postdevelopment theory.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781786997562
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	10/15/2019
Series:	Development Essentials
Edition description:	Fifth Edition,5
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.67(w) x 8.52(h) x 0.81(d)

About the Author

Gilbert Rist is professor emeritus at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. He previously taught in Tunisia, and spent several years as director of the Centre Europe-Tiers Monde. His other publications include The Delusions of Economics (Zed 2011). The History of Development was his first book to be translated into English, and has also been published in Spanish and Italian.
Gilbert Rist is professor emeritus at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. He previously taught in Tunisia, and spent several years as director of the Centre Europe-Tiers Monde. His other publications include The Delusions of Economics (Zed 2011). The History of Development was his first book to be translated into English, and has also been published in Spanish and Italian.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Fourth Edition viii

Preface to the Third Edition xi

Preface to the Second Edition xiii

Introduction 1

1 Definitions of Development 8

Conventional Thinking

A Methodological Word of Caution

Elements of a Definition

A Scandalous Definition?

'Development' as an Element in the Religion of Modernity

2 Metamorphoses of a Western Myth 25

What The Metaphor Implies

Landmarks in the Western View of History

Conclusion

3 The Making of a World System 47

Colonization

The League of Nations and the Mandate System

Conclusion

4 The Invention of Development 69

President Truman's Point Four

A New World-view: 'Underdevelopment'

US Hegemony

A New Paradigm

The 'Development' Age

5 The International Doctrine and Institutions Take Root 80

The Bandung Conference

The New International 'Development' Agencies

6 Modernization Poised between History and Prophecy 93

A Philosophy of History: Rostow's Stages of Economic Growth

Anti-communism or Marxism without Marx?

Dissident Voices

7 The Periphery and the Understanding of History 109

Neo-Marxism in the United States

The Latin American Dependentistas

A New Paradigm, but Age-old Presuppositions

8 Self-reliance: The Communal Past as a Model for the Future 123

Ujamaa and the Tanzanian Experience

The Principles of Self-reliance

Possible Futures for Self-reliance

9 The Triumph of Third-Worldism 140

The New International Economic Order

An Original Voice: The 1975 Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation Report on Another Development

In The Wake of the NIEO: Further Proposals

The 'Basic Needs' Approach

Conclusion

10 The Environment, or the New Nature of 'Development' 171

The Return to Classical Economics Plus a Few Humanitarian Extras

'Sustainable Development' or Growth Everlasting?

The Earth Summit

Reflections on Deliberate Ambiguity

11 A Mixture of Realism and Fine Sentiments 197

The South Commission

The UNDP and 'Human Development'

12 Globalization as Simulacrum of 'Development' 211

On the Usefulness of Talking at Cross-purposes

Globalization, the Last Hope of Achieving 'Development'?

Virtual Reality as a Refuge for Continuing Belief

13 From the Struggle against Poverty to the Millennium Development Goals 226

Just What Is the Problem?

Who Are the Poor?

Intervention on All Fronts

The Millennium Goals: 'Development' in Shreds

'Development Aid': Massaging the Figures

Conclusion

14 The Great Turnaround? 240

'Development' Nowhere To Be Found

Towards Other Models?

Success in Reducing Poverty?

Ecology as Victim of the Crisis

Conclusion

15 Beyond 'Development': From Downscaling to a Change in the Economic Paradigm 256

Objectors to Growth and 'Development Loyalists'

Economic 'Science': An Obsolete Paradigm

Conclusion

Conclusion 270

The Facts

'Post-development'

Exhaustion of the Economic Paradigm: Believing or Knowing?

Bibliography 281

Index 293

Editorial Reviews

Compelling and exciting reading ... Rist's book, written with deliciously mild irony, is an account of the most crucial moments in which the rites of a belief embraced by millions were elaborated and canonized.” —Praise for Previous Editions, European Jourbanal of Development Research

“This book does an outstanding job.” —Praise for Previous Editions, Jourbanal of Developing Areas

“This book is one of the most astute of its genre available today... exact in its scholarship and profound in its clear account of the philosophies and consequences of the Western example.” —Praise for Previous Editions, Rapport

“If you want to understand the ideological forces that have shaped North-South relations for half a century, you need this remarkable book.” —Praise for Previous Editions, Susan George

“This is an impressive account of the rise and demise of the belief system that has pushed mankind to the brink of disaster.” —Wolfgang Sachs, author of The Development Dictionary and Fair Future

“A much needed corrective to the work of the cheerleaders of the newly globalized order?. This book does an outstanding job.” —Jan Knippers Black, Jourbanal of Developing Areas

“At a time when globalization and humanitarian interventions are taking over from development, this book should help us understand why development has led so many well-intentioned people astray?. It presents complex debates with great clarity, provides an excellent opportunity to get acquainted with the literature and should prove essential reading for students and others interested, or involved, in development.” —Marie-Dominique Perrot, IUED

“Clear and well-written, there is no comparable book available in English.” —Martin O'Connor

“Compelling and exciting reading?. Rist's book, written with deliciously mild irony, is an account of the most crucial moments in which the rites of a belief embraced by millions were elaborated and canonized.” —Olga Nieuwenhuys, European Jourbanal of Development Research

“An excellent and challenging book?. It should be required reading for all interested in development, and particularly the economists among them.” —Peter de Valk, International Jourbanal of African Historical Studies

“There is no comparable book available in English.” —Professor Martin O'Connor, economist

“This book is one of the most astute of its genre available today?. [It] is exact in its scholarship and profound in its clear account of the philosophies and consequences of the Western example.” —Rapport

“If you want to understand the ideological forces that have shaped North-South relations for half a century, you need this remarkable book.” —Susan George

“If you want to understand the ideological forces that have shaped North-South relations for half a century, you need this remarkable book.” —Susan George

From the Publisher