The history of development : from western origins to global faith / Gilbert Rist ; translated by Patrick Camiller.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 281-292) and index.

1.Definitions of Development
Conventional Thinking
A Methodological Word of Caution
Elements of a Definition
A Scandalous Definition?
'Development' as an Element in the Religion of Modernity
2.Metamorphoses of a Western Myth
What The Metaphor Implies
Landmarks in the Western View of History
Conclusion
3.The Making of a World System
Colonization
The League of Nations and the Mandate System
4.The Invention of Development
President Truman's Point Four
A New World-view: 'Underdevelopment'
US Hegemony
A New Paradigm
The 'Development' Age
5.The International Doctrine and Institutions Take Root
The Bandung Conference
The New International 'Development' Agencies
6.Modernization Poised between History and Prophecy
A Philosophy of History: Rostow's Stages of Economic Growth
Anti-communism or Marxism without Marx?
Dissident Voices
Contents note continued: 7.The Periphery and the Understanding of History
Neo-Marxism in the United States
The Latin American Dependentistas
A New Paradigm, but Age-old Presuppositions
8.Self-reliance: The Communal Past as a Model for the Future
Ujamaa and the Tanzanian Experience
The Principles of Self-reliance
Possible Futures for Self-reliance
9.The Triumph of Third-Worldism
The New International Economic Order
An Original Voice: The 1975 Dag Hammarskjold Foundation Report on Another Development
In The Wake of the NIEO: Further Proposals
The 'Basic Needs' Approach
10.The Environment, or the New Nature of 'Development'
The Return to Classical Economics Plus a Few Humanitarian Extras
'Sustainable Development' or Growth Everlasting?
The Earth Summit
Reflections on Deliberate Ambiguity
11.A Mixture of Realism and Fine Sentiments
The South Commission
The UNDP and 'Human Development'
Contents note continued: 12.Globalization as Simulacrum of 'Development'
On the Usefulness of Talking at Cross-purposes
Globalization, the Last Hope of Achieving 'Development'?
Virtual Reality as a Refuge for Continuing Belief
13.From the Struggle against Poverty to the Millennium Development Goals
Just What Is the Problem?
Who Are the Poor?
Intervention on All Fronts
The Millennium Goals: 'Development' in Shreds
'Development Aid': Massaging the Figures
14.The Great Turnaround?
'Development' Nowhere To Be Found
Towards Other Models?
Success in Reducing Poverty?
Ecology as Victim of the Crisis
15.Beyond 'Development': From Downscaling to a Change in the Economic Paradigm
Objectors to Growth and 'Development Loyalists'
Economic 'Science': An Obsolete Paradigm
The Facts
'Post-development'
Exhaustion of the Economic Paradigm: Believing or Knowing?.

In The History of Development, Gilbert Rist provides a complete and powerful overview of what the idea of development has meant throughout history. He traces it from its origins in the Western view of history, through the early stages of the world system, the rise of US hegemony, the supposed triumph of the third world, through to new concerns about the environment and globalization. In two new chapters on the Millennium Development Goals and post-development thinking, Rist brings the book completely up to date. Throughout, he argues persuasively that development has been no more than a collective delusion, which in reality has only resulted in widening market relations, despite the good intentions of its advocates.Lucidly and powerfully written, this new edition is more essential than ever for students and practitioners of development.