ABSTRACT
This chapter interrogates some of the major themes in development studies and also those of post-coloniality, pointing to the implication for African development and the African Diasporas. The roots of development studies can be traced to colonial anthropology and the imperial wish to understand the 'natives' in order to control them and eventually to use this understanding to advise on transition to nationhood via 'false decolonisation' and Western-style capitalist development. The rise of neo-Liberalism as a theoretical category in the academy and an ideological model in the major Western countries led to the problematisation and deconstruction of the state in Third World societies. Zack-Williams' contribution, 'Africa and The Project of Modernity' provides a useful link between discussions on African development and the African diaspora by pointing to the often forgotten role Africans played in the emergence of global capitalism through the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The chapter looks at African reaction to underdevelopment and economic marginalisation.
