Neoliberalism and the Search for Another Development

Abstract

Development as a political and intellectual project has its roots in the eighteenth century project of modernising the economy and creating economic progress, but to all intents and purposes it was born in the post-war period of the 1940s and 1950s. The historical context of this process includes (i) a cold war between the socialist and capitalist blocs; (ii) anti-colonial wars that resulted in the national independence of countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia; and (iii) the institution of a liberal world economic order.¹