ABSTRACT
In the aftermath of the Second World War and within the general context of de-colonisation the modern discipline of Development Economics and its offshoot-the rather wider inter-disciplinary field of Development Studiesbecame established. During their first quarter century or so both subjects expanded at a very rapid rate and first in the West and then subsequently in many parts of the emergent ‘Third World’, a Liberal-Orthodox development tradition came into being. The rise of this tradition is briefly examined in the first part of this paper, and although I make no claim to provide a comprehensive review of its many component parts, I do seek to highlight what I take to be its basic ethos. Now partly as a result of a whole series of perceived development failures, over the last decade a growing sense of disillusionment and questioning has characterised the orthodox development profession. Both from within as well as from without the tradition there has been a growing challenge to the earlier consenses, and these pressures are explored in Part II. I argue that the current state of the art is highly unsatisfactory on many counts and in particular there is now a great deal of confused thinking about the meaning, relevance and measurement of many of the key concepts-especially the central notion of economic development itself. Finally, in Part III I suggest how it might be possible to clarify the major issues, reconcile some of the different approaches and point a way forward out of the impasse. The burden of the argument rests upon the proposition that a long-run perspective is required if we are to understand the underlying causes of ‘late-’, ‘less-’ or ‘under-’ development and then go on to identify its manifestations. Although the injunction of an explicit historical dimension inclines us more towards explanation and development education than the current preoccupations with prescription would seem to allow, far from being a source of weakness or even withdrawal, it is contended that without it the very basis upon which various policy strategies and pronouncements are made, is both inadequate and unsound.
