The Last Refuge of the Noble Savage? A Critical Assessment of Post-Development Theory

The most ostensibly radical response to the crisis in development theory has been to reject outright the idea of development. Theories of post-development argue that all ideas of development imply the exercise of power over subject peoples in the so-called Third World. Some writers argue that the id...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEuropean journal of development research Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 30 - 55
Main Author Kiely, Ray
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Palgrave Macmillan UK 01.06.1999
Palgrave Macmillan
Subjects
Alternatives
Colonialism
Criticism
Deconstruction
Developing countries
Development and Social Change
Development Economics
Development Policy
Development Studies
Development theory
Discourse
Discredited
Ecofeminism
LDCs
Modernization
Post
Post-structuralism
Postmodernism
Poststructuralism
Refuge
Social Sciences
Theory
Online AccessGet full text
ISSN0957-8811
1743-9728
DOI10.1080/09578819908426726

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Summary:The most ostensibly radical response to the crisis in development theory has been to reject outright the idea of development. Theories of post-development argue that all ideas of development imply the exercise of power over subject peoples in the so-called Third World. Some writers argue that the idea of development therefore constitutes a new form of colonialism. This article questions such views, by suggesting that not all theories of development can be tarred with the same brush. Post-development theory is guilty of homogenising the idea of development, thereby conflating all theories of development with the outmoded (and long discredited) theory of modernisation. Moreover, post-development theory is reluctant to suggest concrete political alternatives, arguing the post-structuralist position that to do so implies ‘capture’ by the development discourse. But this view similarly homogenises the development discourse, and leads to an alternative politics that uncritically celebrates resistance without analysing its differing political implications. When more concrete alternatives are suggested (as for example by ecofeminism), the result is an uncritical, romantic celebration of the local which can have reactionary political implications. Finally, an alternative, dialectical approach is suggested, which seeks to combine deconstruction with reconstruction, and which stresses the contradictory unity of development.
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ISSN:0957-8811
1743-9728
DOI:10.1080/09578819908426726