Rethinking Development : Modernization, Dependency, and Post-Modern Politics

Development theory is at a crossroads. Dominant theories such as modernization and dependency have run their course. In Rethinking Development one of the preeminent political and social theorists of our time offers his view of the direction of the discipline. Using major themes such as the relation between development and democracy, the problem of innovation and marginality, Professor Apter offers an innovative comparative study of development.

Rethinking Development takes a new look at scientific, romantic and teleological formulations of development, showing how conventional concepts of development prevent us from seeing its negative consequences. It argues that development will generate democracy, but not e

Development theory is at a crossroads. Such dominant theories as modernization and dependency have run their course. Now, one of the preeminent political and social theorists of our time offers his view of the direction of the discipline. Using major themes such as the relation between development and democracy, the problem of innovation and marginality, and questions of violence and governability, David E. Apter offers an innovative comparative study of development. Apter provides a new look at development, its science, romanticism, and teleology. He persuasively argues that development will generate democracy, but not easily. Instead of presenting a single dogmatic theory of development, he gives scholars and students of political and social change an articulate and fresh view of development. "Apter was the recipient of the American Political Science Association′s Woodrow Wilson Award for Choice and the Politics of Allocation (1971). Most appropriate for upper-division, honors, and graduate audiences." --Choice "A wide-ranging work. . . useful for background thinking in approaching the doctrinal problems of Leninist systems. . . worth the effort required to absorb it.′′ --Indochina Chronology "Apter offers an innovative comparative study of development. These essays provide a new look at development, its science, romanticism, and teleology." --Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society "Among the more useful ideas in this book are Apter′s ruminations on the diverse historical origins of terrorism in the French Revolution, the characteristics of the terrorist cell organization, and a typology of the various expressions of violence." --Studies in Comparative International Development