Modern Production Among Backward Peoples (Routledge Revivals)

First published in 1935, Modern Production Among Backward Peoples (now with a new foreword by Barbara Ingham) stands as a groundbreaking early contribution to development economics. In this pioneering work, the author challenges prevailing colonial assumptions about indigenous economic systems, rejecting the conventional wisdom that labelled tropical populations as "primitive”. Instead, she presents a sophisticated analysis of labour dynamics in plantation economies and smallholdings across colonial territories.

The author integrates political economy, classical theory, and institutional perspectives to demonstrate how labour supply responded to complex historical, social, and legal influences rather than inherent cultural limitations. Her examination of tropical development within the context of European colonial expansion offers remarkable perspectives that remain relevant to contemporary discussions of economic inequality and development. This book is a must-read for researchers of development economics and economic history to understand the intellectual foundations of their fields.

Ida Greaves was a pioneering figure in development economics. She was educated in economics and political science at McGill University in Canada. She Completed her PhD at the London School of Economics (1932–1934) and held research and teaching fellowships at Radcliffe College (Harvard) and Bryn Mawr College. Her work on colonial monetary systems and labour dynamics in plantation economies established her as an important, though often overlooked, contributor to economic thought.