Abstract

Any student, academic or practitioner wanting to succeed in development studies, radical or mainstream, must understand the World Bank's role and the evolution of its thinking and activities. The Political Economy of Development provides tools for gaining this understanding and applies them across a range of topics.

The research, practice and scholarship of development are always set against the backdrop of the World Bank, whose formidable presence shapes both development practice and thinking. This book brings together academics that specialise in different subject areas of development and reviews their findings in the context of the World Bank as knowledge bank, policy-maker and financial institution. The volume offers a compelling contribution to our understanding of development studies and of development itself.

The Political Economy of Development is an invaluable critical resource for students, policy-makers and activists in development studies.
'This powerful volume provides a highly effective critique of the 'knowledge' activities of the World Bank'
Ha-Joon Chang, University of Cambridge, author of Kicking Away the Ladder and Bad Samaritans
'Bayliss, Fine and Van Waeyenberge do a great service by putting together what I believe to be the first book, and certainly the most comprehensive, on this subject'
Dr Robin Broad, Professor at American University, Washington DC and co-author of Development Redefined: How the Market Met its Match
'Excellent… a profound, convincing critique of the World Bank approach to development research and policy'
Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru university, New Delhi, and the Executive Secretary of International Development Economics Associates (IDEA)