Development I

This article situates and deconstructs the meanings associated with the term ‘development’ in the context of the developing world as they have been used by geographers. The arguments made highlight the deeply contested and fragmented terrain of development. The article provides a historical overview of the changing nature of discourses on development and how the imageries of development have shifted since the post-war period. It deploys diverse meanings associated with development as a concept and as a theory. Themes covered include modernization, dependency and neo-Marxist perspectives on development, neoliberalism, grassroots development, sustainable development and postdevelopment. The article discusses how and why definitions and practices of development have varied over time and space, focusing particularly on how power is implicated in these processes.