ABSTRACT
Development Economics as a discipline and the idea of the state as the organiser of economic activity are inseparable. Basic concepts and distinctions are put forward to unravel the complex question of the role of the state in the industrialisation process. These are then used to examine the state in three waves of socialist industrialisation which shows a strong capacity to mobilise and direct economic, social and political resources. The typically pervasive state may, however, outlive its historically progressive role and become a bastion of economic irrationality and political authoritarianism.
