Western Developmental Approaches

Abstract

Looking at theory as it has been applied to Central Europe tells us a great deal about the specific political and economic concerns of the day. Twenty years ago Western developmental approaches concentrated heavily on the ‘Third World’. Today, developmental literature, in the West, devotes considerable space to those countries in ‘transition’, that is former communist countries. Change in theoretical approaches can be heavily influenced by a given political environment. Therefore, it is not necessarily the most inventive or nuanced theories that become adopted as policy. The well-developed arguments of authors of critical theory, radical International Political Economy and post-modernism, have not been able to make a substantive impact on mainstream economic development policies. The Western developmental approaches applied to CEECs have tended, it seems, to be dominated by some form of orthodoxy. This, however, does not mean that the approaches applied have always been the same. Indeed they have changed dramatically over time. The thread that links approaches in this geographical region is an unfortunate one. All Western orthodox developmental theories, whether Realist or neo-liberal have either marginalized this area or exploited it. For scholars of economic development, particularly as it pertains to Africa, the above supposition would not be a new one.