ABSTRACT
For a period in the 1960s development theory seemed to be taking form. If there was never a full-blown paradigm that was widely accepted, there were substantial pieces of theory and evidence that together gave the outlines of a framework: the process of dual economy growth through industrial investment and labour absorption; import substitution followed by export diversification; technology transfer, exemplified by the Green Revolution; social and demographic transition to ‘modern’ attitudes and life-styles, induced especially by education and urban-industrial experience; and so on. But the convergence of theory was short-lived. For a few countries the framework accurately described the course of development (as indeed it should have, being derived in large measure from their particular experience); for many others, it became apparent, it was much less adequate. Development theory retired in disarray and political controversy.
