Theories of Development, : Contentions, Arguments, Alternatives

337 Pages·2009·1.29 MB·English

by  Richard Peet Phd

Theories of DevelopmenT

Theories of Development
Contentions, Arguments, Alternatives
Second edition
R P
ichaRd eet
e h
laine aRtwick
the GUilFORd PReSS
new York london
© 2009 the Guilford Press
A division of Guilford Publications, inc.
72 Spring Street, new York, nY 10012
www.guilford.com
All rights reserved
no part of this book may be reproduced, translated, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording,
or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
this book is printed on acid-free paper.
Last digit is print number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Peet, Richard.
theories of development : contentions, arguments, alternatives / Richard Peet,
elaine Hartwick. — 2nd ed.
p. cm.
includes bibliographical references and index.
iSBn 978-1-60623-066-4 (hardcover : alk. paper)
iSBn 978-1-60623-065-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. economic development. 2. dependency. 3. capitalism. 4. Marxian
economics. i. title.
Hd75.P43 2009
338.9—dc21
2008050378
For our parents—
Eileen Migala,
Harold Wilfred Peet,
Anna B. Hartwick,
and John A. Hartwick
And our children—
James C. Peet,
Lukas J. Klapatch,
Eric R. Peet,
and Anna E. Peet
My AnnA ElAinE
It was while sharing a quiet moment together,
when my soft whispering to her
was answered in return
with a wondrous look and a low cooing sound
as her small hand reached out to mine
and her tiny fingers wrapped around my heart
—ABH, August 2002

preface
T
his book began as a rewrite of Global Capitalism, published
by Routledge in 1991, and then of Theories of Development, published
by Guilford in 1999. But it has become far more than both. indeed, the
final product contains only a few paragraphs entirely intact from the
earlier works. this latest version is far more a critical survey of the main
theories of development and includes more of the controversies over this
vital area of knowledge. We wrote this book during a period of trans-
formation in the global economy, a period when the new international
division of labor entered a middle-age crisis, when the certainties of the
past 40 years were increasingly viewed as precarious, when the global
economy entered financial crisis. during this time, the need for funda-
mental understanding, for reexamining the great attitudinal paradigms
of development, took on new significance. this lent our work an urgency
that, we hope, spills onto its pages, imparting to the contents some sem-
blance, at least, of the somberness we felt in composing our words.
the book results from long collaboration between what is now a
wife-and-husband partnership. Specifically, elaine wrote most of chapter
7, while Richard wrote most of the rest. More generally, the book results
from many conversations and collaborations stretching over spaces and
times scattered across the past 45 years of our friendship. Yet, authorship
should actually include many others, for—as quickly becomes evident—
we draw on the works of dozens of writers in presenting anew the fin-
est ideas in the field of development, spanning more than two centuries,
from Adam Smith, through Karl Marx, to the contemporary feminist
and poststructural thinkers. Most of the ideas that appear in this volume
belonged originally to others, and we take responsibility only for the way
they are presented in this instance.
vii
viii preface
even so, we have not taken a passive attitude toward these ideas,
content merely to present them accurately. instead, each chapter contains
a critique, some of which (especially in Part i) even undercut the very
foundations on which the key ideas rest. is this because we feel criticism
to be the highest form of appreciation? or, rather, does it result from
a more pragmatic political conclusion that rethinking the essentials of
development theory might ultimately result in replacing it with some-
thing better? We can only say that our intention has been to survey the
past in order to stimulate a new discourse about development, and this
approach not only entails negative criticisms but also aims at positive
reconstruction.
Both of us have taught courses using the book as the key source mate-
rial several times. indeed, as we wrote the new edition, memories of past
conversations with our students colored our perceptions. elaine would
like to thank the students at SUnY Albany, Mount Holyoke college, the
University of Southern Maine, central connecticut State college, clark
University, Keene State college, and, most recently, Framingham State
college who participated in her courses dealing with many of the issues
in this book. Richard would like to thank his students in Global Society,
Political economy of development, and development Policy at clark
University, but also participants in courses taught at the University of
iowa, the University of california at Santa Barbara, and the University
of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. the Guilford Press
had an earlier draft read by several reviewers, and their comments proved
useful in making revisions. Waquar Ahmed redrew the figures, and we
thank him for his generous help.
our book is dedicated to our parents directly, for making our ideas
possible, but also to all working-class people indirectly, for their hard
labor that makes existence possible. this edition is also dedicated to our
kids—for deepening our joyous lives and for all the great times we have
together in the house, in the yard, on the beach, at the river.
As Marx observed some 150 years ago: “the philosophers have only
interpreted the world, in various ways; the point, however, is to change
it.”
R iCHARD PEET
e lAinE HARtWicK
Contents
Chapter 1 Development 1
The Geography of Development, 4
Measuring Growth and Development, 6
Criticisms of Development Measures, 10
The Face of Poverty, 12
Contentions over Development, 13
PART I. ConvenTIonAl TheoRIes 21
of DeveloPmenT
Chapter 2 Classical and neoclassical economics 23
Enlightenment Origins of Political Economy, 24
The British Enlightenment, 26
The Classical Economists, 29
Adam Smith: Beginnings, 30
Utilitarianism, 33
Ricardian Calculations, 35
Mill’s Ethical Economics, 37
List’s Skepticism, 40
Critique of Classical Economics, 41
Neoclassical Economics, 45
Critique of Neoclassical Economics, 48
Chapter 3 from Keynesian economics to neoliberalism 53
Dynamic Analysis, 53
Keynesian Economics, 56
ix