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Dilemmas of Development Discourse: The Crisis of Developmentalism and the Comparative Method

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  • Jan Nederveen Pieterse

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ABSTRACT Developmentalism, or the theory of linear progress, has taken several forms — evolutionism, modernization theory, development thinking — which correlate with different epochs of western hegemony. The comparative method serves as its underpinnings in theoretically incorporating non‐western societies into the developmental paradigm. Developmentalism is universalist and ahistorical, teleological and ethnocentric. A discourse of power, it is presented and taken as a recipe for social change. The present crisis of developmentalism is both a crisis of development in the south and a crisis of modernism in the west. In the west, developmentalism is being challenged by new social movements and, in theoretical terms, by postmodernism; in the south, alternative development strategies test the limits of the developmental paradigm. Non‐western concepts of modernization have also been developed. This discussion concludes with two queries, one concerning the passage from the bi‐polar world of the Cold War to polycentrism, and one with respect to the deconstruction of the west as a prerequisite to the deconstruction of development. If ‘development’ itself has become a problem, and has sowed the seeds of discontent and ethnic conflict, a corrective to development can only come from other worldviews, other visions.

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  • Jan Nederveen Pieterse, 1991. "Dilemmas of Development Discourse: The Crisis of Developmentalism and the Comparative Method," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 22(1), pages 5-29, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:devchg:v:22:y:1991:i:1:p:5-29
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7660.1991.tb00401.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Cheryl McEwan, 2001. "Postcolonialism, feminism and development: intersections and dilemmas," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 1(2), pages 93-111, April.
    2. David Simon, 2003. "Dilemmas of development and the environment in a globalizing world: theory, policy and praxis," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 3(1), pages 5-41, January.
    3. Rosario Espinal, 1992. "Development, Neoliberalism and Electoral Politics in Latin America," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 23(4), pages 27-48, October.
    4. Dixon, Keith & Gaffikin, Michael, 2014. "Accounting practices as social technologies of colonialistic outreach from London, Washington, et Cetera," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(8), pages 683-708.
    5. Van Alstine, James & Barkemeyer, Ralf, 2014. "Business and development: Changing discourses in the extractive industries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 4-16.

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