The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power [Paperback]

Wolfgang Sachs (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1856490440 | ISBN-13: 978-1856490443 | Publication Date: December 15, 1991

In this pioneering collection, some of the world’s most eminent critics of development review the key concepts of the development discourse in the post-war era.

Each essay examines one concept from a historical and anthropological point of view and highlights its particular bias. Exposing their historical obsolescence and intellectual sterility, the authors call for a bidding farewell to the whole Eurocentric development idea. This is urgently needed, they argue, in order to liberate people’s minds - in both North and South - for bold responses to the environmental and ethical challenges now confronting humanity.

These essays are an invitation to experts, grassroots movements and students of development to recognize the tainted glasses they put on whenever they participate in the development discourse.

Editorial Reviews

Review

‘Short, pithy and well reasoned... There is something in each chapter to challenge, even assault, our dearest, most tightly held assumptions.’--Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society

‘Unique...the book is a scream of pain from the receiving end of a process experienced as cultural genocide.’ --Guardian

‘The Development Dictionary questions the whole basis for twentieth century development through a series of brilliantly written essays by leading writers from around the world.’ -- Resurgence

About the Author

Wolfgang Sachs is a senior research fellow at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. He has long been active in the German and Italian green movements and is currently chairman of the board of Greenpeace in Germany. Amongst the various appointments he has held, he has been co-editor of the Society for International Development’s journal Development in Rome; Visiting Professor of Science, Technology and Society at Pennsylvania State University in the USA; and a Fellow at the Institute for Cultural Studies in Essen. His first book, For Love of the Automobile: Looking Back into the History of Our Desires was published by University of California Press in 1992. He also edited the immensely influential Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power which was published by Zed Books in the same year and has since been translated into numerous languages. His most recent book in English (coauthored), Greening the North: A Post-Industrial Blueprint for Ecology and Equity, marks an important shift of agenda beyond critique to envisaging concrete alternatives and feasible processes of social transition. Wolfgang Sachs travels widely as a public speaker and university lecturer in Europe, North America and the South. His books published by Zed Books: The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power (edited) (1992) Global Ecology: A Mew Arena of Political Conflict (edited) (1993) Greening the North: A Post-Industrial Blueprint for Ecology and Equity (coauthored with Reinhard Loske and Manfred Linz) (1998)

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Zed Books (December 15, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1856490440
• ISBN-13: 978-1856490443
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #246,752 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST READ!, September 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power (Paperback)

I read this book in a Third World Development class. It takes a lot for a book to impress me the way this book has. For the first time, I could not put down a book I had to read for class. If you want a different, non-western perspective of development, this is a must read. The arguments and writing within the different topics are very strong. It's definitely a keeper and well worth the money. I highly recommend it!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Paradigmmatic Transcendence, August 24, 2004

By 

Param Srikantia (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power (Paperback)

I prescribe this book for an Executive MBA Class that I teach on Global Strategy. Most of the 20 students this year talked about this book as one of the most profound life-changing, world-view altering books they have ever read! I think the book is profound and thought provoking. I have earned four Master's Degrees and a Ph.D and nothing I have ever read in my life comes even close to The Development Dictionary in terms of the level of intellectual stimulation that it engenders. This is a wake up call and I hope more of my former colleagues in the World Bank and IMF would read it! It has been of immense scholarly and practical benefit in my work.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mandatory Reading, January 1, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power (Paperback)

Like the related Post-Development Reader, this stunning collection of essays are mandatory for any development student or practitioner. It is essential for complementing all the traditional readings and providing an important critical outlook. The advantage of this book lies in its organization. Broken up by topic such as "Development", "Poverty", "Market", and "Science", the book provides excellent insights into these concepts. In fact it's critiques reach much further than just development, to science, the state, and modernity overall. A must read!