ABSTRACT

This chapter provides an overview of development theories and practices which focus on the central role of the market in promoting economic progress. It discusses the primacy of modernization theories in the post–Second World War period, and their links to the expansion of international development aid. The chapter also covers the rise of neoliberalism as the hegemonic development approach from the 1980s onwards, alongside the expansion of economic globalization, and how market-based solutions have been introduced to address a range of development issues. The chapter also considers challenges to neoliberalism, not least the 2007–9 global financial crisis and associated austerity.