book review

Development, Neoliberalism, and Islamism in South Asia: The Case of Bangladesh poses the issue of development, in which development for a group of people can lead to underdevelopment for marginalized others. The author critiques the neoliberal definition of development on two important grounds: first, it is limited to material wealth, and second, ignores people's freedom and well-being. He argues neoliberalism is a “great reversal” of the theories of John Maynard Keynes and contradicts the development history of the industrialized West.

By Carl Harrison

For the first time this book asks pertinent questions, about the nature of product in its non-western context, the social, cultural, political and economic reasons why many producers within the developing world appear to be unwilling or unable to forge creative directions of their own.

By Trina Gorman Kentaro Toyama's Geek Heresy: Rescuing Social Change from the Cult of Technology urges the development community to turn its focus from cookie cutter fixes to the people who provide and use the given fix – whether it be microcredit, school vouchers, or fancy gadgets. Poor people don’t need “turbo-charged, heat-seeking, robotic fishing poles” but rather, devoted/skilled/present teachers and mentors who nurture their capacity, and then decide whether a fishing pole is necessary.

By Bak Hyejin Education can be regarded as a crucial factor for the development of capabilities as well as human development. A review of Amartya Sen's seminal work Development as Freedom.

I tend to get pretty depressed after reading many economic, international development and environmental books—factual, fiction or otherwise. If you do not know what...

by Ioulia Fenton One of the hardest things to do for anyone interested in issues of environmental sustainability is to translate ideas and complaints into...