ABSTRACT
This chapter examines post-development, which shows that at least two stages must be distinguished in Escobar's propositions: in the post-development was emphasized as a form of critical analysis; and in addition to this criticism, more and more attention was given to different alternatives. A post-development perspective allows us to highlight concepts that are critical but nevertheless supportive of the development project —the idea that the social condition of people, or a targeted population changed in a progressive direction. Post-development in its initial understanding as poststructuralist criticism is appropriate for a critical evaluation of the zero level. It is clear that it is not the best tool to study the effectiveness of a particular development strategy, especially its known limitations in dealing with the heterogeneity of development. Ecological economics provides essential instruments for addressing, inter alia, the impossibility of perpetual economic growth, the actual metabolisms of the links between society and nature, and the ecological and economic effects of environmental impacts.
