Reinventing Development - The Sceptical Change Agent

This book debunks the foundations of contemporary government-led development policy. The author questions the predictability of success when using mainstream development doctrines and its underlying assumptions, approaching development from a sceptical standpoint, as opposed to the more common optimistic view. The book uses international development and aid as a case study of how rich countries define how change should happen. Further, it suggests alternative ways of thinking about and organizing social change.

List of contents

1.Introduction .- 2. Development today: Its Facts .- 3. Development in the Early Years and the Facts of Underdevelopment Since WWII .- 4. The Facts behind Development's Facts: The Epistemological Assumptions of Mainstream Development .- 5. Christendom, Its Companions and the Question of Knowability: The Flaw at the Core of Classic Epistemology .- 6. Contesting Classical Development Doctrines: Explaining the Movement Away from Them .- 7. Option 1: Reconstructivist Development Doctrines .- 8. Option 2: Sceptical Development Doctrines .- 9. The Reinvention of Development.

About the author

Adam Fforde is a Professorial Fellow at the Victoria Institute of Strategic Economic Studies, Victoria University, Australia. He was an advisor to the Swedish Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam, and from 1992-2013 ran his development consultancy, Adam Fforde and Assoc, p/l.

Summary

This book debunks the foundations of contemporary government-led development policy. The author questions the predictability of success when using mainstream development doctrines and its underlying assumptions, approaching development from a sceptical standpoint, as opposed to the more common optimistic view. The book uses international development and aid as a case study of how rich countries define how change should happen. Further, it suggests alternative ways of thinking about and organizing social change.

Product details

• Authors: Adam Fforde
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.01.2018
• EAN: 9783319843513
• ISBN: 978-3-31-984351-3
• No. of pages: 288
• Dimensions: 148 mm x 17 mm x 210 mm
• Weight: 411 g
• Illustrations: XXV, 288 p.
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Comparative and international political science; B, Sustainability, Economic Policy, International Relations, Regional Development, Social Change, Political Science and International Studies, Economic development, Development policy, International Relations Theory, Development Studies, Development and Social Change, Development and Sustainability, Economic development—Environmental aspects, Development Theory