ABSTRACT
If the initial stages of a study narrow down the research problem, the concluding stage is a good time to broaden out again. The purpose of this chapter is threefold: (i) to summarize the colonial and postcolonial development experience; (ii) to draw some theoretical conclusions; and (iii) to suggest some policy implications. The last purpose is justified because development studies has not always been a field of detached academic enterprise. Indeed, most people engaged in it do so with the belief that their knowledge will enlighten the policy-making process and ameliorate living conditions. A study of what is wrong with the status quo must point out how a "better" socioeconomic order can be achieved.
