ABSTRACT
Development became a worldwide program after the end of World War II, and the United States was at the forefront to define it. Modernization theory, the dependency school, the Washington Consensus, and new approaches from the south, all correspond with development periods, during which thoughts and thinkers, the transfer of ideas, and concrete practices were introduced. The scientification of the social strengthened not only the power of experts, but also the belief that one development model fits all. The transfer of an American-orchestrated development from above failed, and the promise of catching-up remained unfulfilled, although the modernizing elites in Latin America undertook massive efforts toward import-substituting industrialization. The reduction of inequality was taken seriously, and the developmental state experienced a renaissance. With regard to the “distorted character” of colonized societies, they identified internal political alliances, ideologies, and class structures. They arrived at concepts like structural heterogeneity, marginality, and internal colonialism.
