The Global Development Crisis

Beschreibung

The central paradox of the contemporary world is the simultaneouspresence of wealth on an unprecedented scale, and mass poverty.Liberal theory explains the relationship between capitalism andpoverty as one based around the dichotomy of inclusion (intocapitalism) vs exclusion (from capitalism). Within this discourse,the global capitalist system is portrayed as a sphere of economicdynamism and as a source of developmental opportunities for lessdeveloped countries and their populations. Development policyshould, therefore, seek to integrate the poor into the globalcapitalist system. The Global Development Crisis challenges this way ofthinking. Through an interrogation of some of the most importantpolitical economists of the last two centuries Friedrich List, KarlMarx, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Schumpeter, Alexander Gerschenkron, KarlPolanyi and Amarta Sen, Selwyn argues that class relations are thecentral cause of poverty and inequality, within and betweencountries. In contrast to much development thinking, which portrays'the poor' as reliant upon benign assistance, this bookadvocates the concept of labour-centred development. Here'the poor' are the global labouring classes, and theirown collective actions and struggles constitute the basis of analternative form of non-elitist, bottom-up human development.

Autor*in

Benjamin Selwyn

Themen in »The Global Development Crisis«

Development Policy Development Studies Entwicklung u. Globalisierung Entwicklungsforschung Entwicklungspolitische Strategien Globalisierung Globalization & Development Political Philosophy & Theory Political Science Politikwissenschaft Politische Philosophie u. Politiktheorie

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"Despite the rise of unprecedented inequalities in the globaleconomy, the neoliberal assertion that the 'free market' isan unalloyed source of economic opportunity for all countriesretains enormous power and influence. For the poor nations,it is market exclusion that is taken to be the central developmentproblem. Selwyn takes these sorts of neoliberal nostrums headon, arguing that understanding patterns of immense wealth and masspoverty requires a deep and sustained theoretical and empiricalscrutiny of capitalist processes of development. The GlobalDevelopment Crisis provides a masterful analysis of keydevelopment thinkers who provide the framework for a'labour-centred development'." Michael Watts, University of California, Berkeley "Selwyn's The Global Development Crisis advances criticaldebate about the goals of social change and how they might beachieved. Selwyn's critical engagement with influential ideas makesthis a fecund text for students, faculty and activists. By bringingclass relations back to the centre of development discourse, andoutlining how a labour-centred development might emerge, Selwyn isdoing great service to the goals of equality and humandevelopment." Ben Crow, University of California, Santa Cruz
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