Debating Development Discourse: Institutional and Agency Perspectives (International Political Economy Series)

This book combines critical historical analysis and case studies of the theory and practice of post-1945 international development. Beginning with a Gramscian analysis of institutional and academic development discourse, continuing with critiques of international institutions' current neo-liberal economic and 'governance' practices, and followed by studies of African moral opposition to structural adjustment's 'scientific capitalism', South African housing struggles, Zimbabwean development strategies, Costa Rican agrarian NGO's, and northern Albertan public environmental hearings, it advocates deepening radical and popular participatory democracy.

The theory and practice of international 'development' reflect the precipices of crisis the world is currently poised upon. This book critically reflects on the current deadlock in institutional and academic development discourse, and analyses popular resistance to global 'development' strategies imposed by capital and bureaucratic state power. The book uses Gramscian methodology to investigate how post-1945 development discourse has evolved as part of capital's efforts to manufacture hegemony in a changing, crisis-ridden global political economy, and illustrates how 'buzzwords' like equity, sustainability and participation have become integral elements in this ideological battlefield. Continuing with impassioned and well-informed critiques of current neo-liberal economic and 'governance' policies, followed by studies of African moral opposition to structural adjustment's 'scientific capitalism', South African housing struggles, Zimbabwean development discourse, Costa Rican agrarian NGOs, and northern Albertan public environmental hearings, it advocates deepening popular participatory democracy to enhance global sustainability and equity.