ABSTRACT
In order to realize the most significant shift in development theory in the last decade of the twentieth century, one only needs to compare two editions of what may be the most widespread and influential textbook on the topic. In the 1992 edition, the first sentence reads ‘This book is about development in what has become known as the “Third World”’, and the introduction goes on to explain that ‘Third World’ is a synonym for the poorer, ‘less developed’ countries, and that alternative meanings of ‘development’ are ‘hotly contested’ (Thomas 1992: 1). The revised edition of 2000 starts with nearly the same statement, but then adds the following:
the very idea of development is under challenge to an extent not foreseen even a few years ago. Voices from the ‘post-development’ school claim that, at best, development has failed, or at worst it was always a ‘hoax’, designed to cover up violent damage being done to the so-called ‘developing’ world and its people.
(Thomas 2000: 3)