ABSTRACT
The modernisation paradigm, and its chronological successors liberal modernisation and neo-modernisation, were and are implemented with the assumption that they are culture free and culture neutral in the host country. Modernisation called for quantitative development and liberal modernisation began the journey in search of qualitative development. It would not be fair to blame liberal modernisation entirely for the failure of conventional development. The essential tool of post-modernism is deconstruction – a form of analysis in which the central assumptions of a theory are identified, challenged and deliberately opposed in order to expose them as invalid. The influence of post-modernism on development theory and in the third paradigm has been very important. The essential tool of post-modernism is deconstruction – a form of analysis in which the central assumptions of a theory are identified, challenged and deliberately opposed in order to expose them as invalid.
