Development Discourse and Global History: From Colonialism to the Sustainable Development Goals

by Aram Ziai

Overview

Development Discourse and Global History introduces readers to the shifting ways in which people have been talking and writing about ‘development’ over time, and the rules governing the conversation.

Drawing on the methods of Michel Foucault, Ziai’s ground-breaking book traces the origins of development discourse back to late colonialism and notes the significant discontinuities that led to the establishment of a new discourse and its accompanying industry. This book goes on to describe the contestations, appropriations, and transformations of the concept over time. It shows that trends which have emerged since the 1980s, such as an emphasis on participation and ownership, sustainable development, and free markets, are incompatible with the original rules, and so lead to serious contradictions. The Eurocentric, authoritarian and depoliticizing elements in development discourse are uncovered, whilst still recognizing its progressive appropriations. This new edition includes revisions throughout, and an important new chapter on race and racism, as well as a discussion of the evolution of the Sustainable Development Goals.

This book is perfect for students and researchers in development studies, global history and discourse analysis as well as an interdisciplinary audience from international relations, political science, sociology, geography, anthropology, language and literary studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032691626
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/25/2025
Series:	Routledge Explorations in Development Studies
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	324
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Aram Ziai is Executive Director of the Global Partnership Network (Excellence Centre for Exchange and Development), and Heisenberg-Professor for Development and Postcolonial Studies at the University of Kassel, Germany.

Table of Contents

New Preface to the second edition 1. New Introduction: The Promise of ‘Development’  2. Poststructuralism, Discourse and Power  3. From ‘Civilising Mission’ to ‘Development’  4. An Archaeology of Development Knowledge  5. The Concept of ‘Development’ and Why It Should Be Abandoned  6. Development Discourse: Appropriation and Tactical Polyvalence  7. The Transformation of Development Discourse: Participation, Sustainability, Heterogeneity  8. From ‘Development’ to ‘Globalisation’  9. World Bank Discourse and Poverty Reduction  10. ‘Development’: Projects, Power and a Poststructuralist Perspective  11. Millennium Development Goals: Back to the Future?  12. Justice, not Development. Sen and the Hegemonic Framework for Ameliorating Global Inequality  13. Migration Management as Development Aid? The IOM and the International Migration and Development Initiative  14. The Post-2015 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals: The Persistence of Development Discourse  15. The Legitimation of Displacement in Development Discourse   16. Race and Gender in Development Discourse  17. Conclusion: The Contribution of Discourse Analysis to Development Studies

Editorial Reviews

"Development Discourse and Global History vividly follows the avatars of the development discourse from colonialism to the present, from the ‘civilizing mission’ to the SDGs and the newest subfields such as migration and development. It admirably deploys Foucauldian theory and methodology, demonstrating why its author has become the most persistent and insightful analyst of development from poststructuralist perspectives. With this collection of essays not only does Ziai bring the critical analysis of development up to date, he enlightens us on previously understudied aspects of it, principally the change and transformation it has undergone since its inception. By showing us the inconsistencies and contradictions of the discourse, and not only its negative effects and progressive appropriations, he provides us with a new platform for arguing why the concept of development needs to be abandoned, perhaps in favor of simpler, more honest notions, less encumbered by colonialist histories and Eurocentric categories. In doing so, finally, he renews the promise of critical theory as a crucial element in the toolkit for constructing other possible worlds."

Arturo Escobar, Kenan Professor of Anthropology, University of North Carolina

"In 1978 Edward Said published Orientalism. Almost 20 years later, in 1995, Arturo Escobar published Encountering Development. Both works established a benchmark in Foucauldian critical discursive analysis of how the West represents ‘the Other’ (the Orient, the underdeveloped) in the international relations’ realm. In 2016, about 20 years later, Ziai takes the baton and publishes a work that carries on their critical perspective until the most influential development discourses today. […] Overall, I shall conclude that his book is a great contribution to critical development studies and that Ziai achieves his goal: the reader will find abundant, solid, coherent, empirically based arguments which show that ‘development’ isn’t a self-evident, neutral concept, but an exemplary case of a knowledge-power discursive formation."

Juan Telleria, Assistant Professor at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and a researcher at Hegoa Institute

From the Publisher