ABSTRACT
This paper provides a critical analysis of the emergence of an approach within the practice of international development that adopts a ‘value chain’ discourse, and traces the conceptual underpinnings of this discourse and practice through its translation from scholarly literature. This practical application of value chain theory has involved the selective application and interpretation, by development practitioners, of key scholarly ideas on global commodity chains, development strategies and industrialization. The specific application of value chains in Indonesian development practice, however, is silent on other aspects of the global value chain framework, such as the role of the state in mediating development strategies, power asymmetries within chains, and world-historical circumstances that shape upgrading possibilities. Despite foundational roots in critical analyses of global capitalism, recent ‘value chains for development’ applications appear to be perpetuating a neoliberal development agenda, which is facilitating the enhanced penetration of multinational capital into the economy and lives of the rural and urban poor.
