Includes bibliographical references (p. [163]-179) and index.

Table of Contents:
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 6
CHAPTER ONE: DECONSTRUCTING ¿KNOWLEDGE FOR DEVELOPMENT 10
INTRODUCTION 10
NEO-LIBERALISM IN THEORY AND PRACTICE 16
The debt crisis and the ¿Washington Consensus 19
Neo-liberalism with a Human Face? The Post-Washington Consensus 22
Neo-Classical Theory: A ¿colonizing¿ concept? 27
RE-POLITICIZING DEVELOPMENT: THE ELUSIVE QUEST FOR UNIFIED THEORY 30
Arresting Development? From Development Studies to Area Studies 35
After Marxism: ¿What is to be Done?¿ 38
Post-structuralism, Postmodernism and ¿Post-Development¿ 42
OUTLINE OF THE BOOK 49
CHAPTER TWO: THE ¿POVERTY OF HISTORY¿ IN NEO-CLASSICAL DISCOURSE: POSITIVISM, NEW INSTITUTIONALISM AND ¿THE TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS¿ 52
INTRODUCTION 52
THE ¿PROBLEM¿ OF HISTORY IN SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 54
History and Positivist Social Science 57
Debating positivism 61
THE TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS 64
Avoiding the tragedy: institutions, incentives and ¿common property regimes¿ 66
THE POVERTY OF HISTORY 73
Inequality, efficiency and the commons 76
POVERTY, INEQUALITY AND THE COMMONS: ¿ENTITLEMENT APPROACHES¿ 80
Privatizing the commons: Rights, incentives and rational choice 86
SHIPS IN THE NIGHT: HISTORY AND SCIENCE IN COMMONS SCHOLARSHIP 90
CONCLUDING REMARKS 95
CHAPTER THREE: EXPORTING THE MODEL: MARXISM, POSTMODERNISM AND DEVELOPMENT 100
INTRODUCTION 100
THEORIZING THE TRANSITION: MARXISM, DEPENDENCY AND (CAPITALIST) DEVELOPMENT 102
Exporting the Model 105
The Dependency Debate 107
World Systems Theory 112
After Dependency 116
¿HERMENEUTIC MARXISM¿: PROBLEMS OF AGENCY, IDENTITY AND ¿ALIENATION¿ 120
The Postmodern Turn 124
Postmodern politics: Class, social consciousness and (class) struggle 128
The Development ¿Impasse¿ 131
BEYOND THE IMPASSE: THE END OF IDEOLOGY? 134
The ¿People without History¿: Weapons of the Weak or a Weak Weapon? 138
CONCLUDING REMARKS 145
CHAPTER FOUR: DEVELOPMENT AS DISCOURSE: CONTESTING THE POLITICS OF ¿POST-DEVELOPMENT¿ 150
INTRODUCTION 151
¿THE FOUCAULT EFFECT¿: HISTORY, GENEALOGY AND ¿BIO-POWER¿ 153
Debating Foucault 157
DEVELOPMENT AS DISCOURSE: THE POLITICS OF POST-DEVELOPMENT 163
Post-development history (ies) 166
Normalization and discourse 169
Visions of change 173
DEBATING POST-DEVELOPMENT 176
Romanticism, relativism and representation 182
ENCOUNTERING JAMES FERGUSON 186
Discourse, agency and power 190
Policy, discourse and praxis 195
CONCLUDING REMARKS 201
CHAPTER FIVE: DEVELOPMENT AS FREEDOM OF CHOICE: FROM MEASUREMENT TO EMPOWERMENT TO RATIONAL CHOICE 206
INTRODUCTION 206
POVERTY AS ¿CAPABILITY DEPRIVATION¿: THEORIZING THE WORK OF AMARTYA SEN 211
Bridging structure and agency: Sen¿s theory of entitlement 215
Sen¿s Theory of Public Action 217
Restricting the freedom to choose: Sen¿s theory of ¿social commitment¿ 219
Political action and the freedom to choose . . . what exactly? 227
PARTICIPATORY APPROACHES: FROM ¿PRA¿ TO ¿THE SLA¿ 231
Creating capabilities: The ¿sustainable livelihoods approach¿ 234
Assessing the SLA 240
CONCLUDING REMARKS 245
CHAPTER SIX: ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE 250
INTRODUCTION 250
¿Making Services Work for the Poor¿ 252
DEBATING THE DISCIPLINE: BIG THEORIES, LOCAL PROCESSES AND THE ART OF COMPARISON 257
¿Analytic Narratives¿ 262
An "Anti-History Machine"? 269
Bringing History Back In: Advancing Knowledge for Social Change 273
CONCLUDING REMARKS 283
BIBLIOGRAPHY 290