ABSTRACT
Imagine Marx, after completing Das Kapital, having second thoughts on the feasibility of communist society, and concluding that, since no practical solutions can be drawn from his critique of the capitalist system, we better stick to the system we know. According to some, history might have proven him right, but that would have left us without the denaturalizing critique of capitalist relations that still serves as an inspiration for many today. A similar attitude seems to be gaining ground with regard to the theories that have been loosely grouped under the headings of post-development and the post-structuralist critique of development. Some authors (e.g. Nederveen Pieterse 2000; Schuurman 2000) offer an evaluation of the critique of development put forward in the last decade, and conclude that, while the critique is sensible enough, post-development is flawed because no alternatives can be derived from it. So, the argument goes, post-development offers an interesting critique of the development apparatus, but it does not point to a way forward.
