International Studies Compendium Project

Extract

Comment on this article   More than half a century after its emergence as a coherent field of study, international development remains a vital ingredient of global economic relations. Whereas relatively narrow concerns about decolonization and state building occupied development scholars in the field's infancy, research today encompasses a wide range of issue areas, theoretical problems, and disciplinary traditions. Although the diversity of development studies lends a perpetual appearance of disarray, the greater theoretical self-awareness, greater attention to “situationally specific” variation ( Maxfield 2002 ), and lessons learned from past experience make the field more vigorous and relevant than ever before. This essay assesses the state of international development as an academic discipline that focuses on the production and distribution of economic resources within and among nation states, particularly nonindustrialized and impoverished areas inhabited by the majority of the world's population. As such, this investigation is not purely academic in scope. As will be illustrated, predominant development paradigms, refined by scholars, are often reflected in state development strategies and in the implementation of social, trade, monetary, and fiscal policies. Long after their original advocates have left the scene, institutionalized ideas about development constrain the ... log in or subscribe to read full text