Critiques

In Defence of Development

Series: 

Author:
Tom Brass
Critiques presented here in defence of development range across a number of issues, all of which are central to discussions about the desirability or undesirability of this historical process. These include one particular aspect – labour market competition – of the debate about racism, why the reproduction of this ideology is more acute at some historical conjunctures but not others, the same question that can also be asked of the industrial reserve. Equally contentious is the current dominance of populist and postmodern interpretations of rural development, in the misleading guise of new paradigms, the object of which is to exorcise two ghosts: not just development itself, but also Marxist theory about development.
Copyright Year:
2025
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978-90-04-71177-8
Publication:
21 Oct 2024
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ISBN:
978-90-04-71176-1
Publication:
24 Oct 2024
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Tom Brass (DPhil, 1982) formerly lectured in the SPS Faculty at Cambridge University and directed studies for Queens’ College. He edited The Journal of Peasant Studies for almost two decades, and has published extensively on agrarian issues and rural labour relations, including Transitions: Methods, Theory, Politics (Brill: 2022).
"Tom Brass’s book, Critiques: In Defence of Development, presents a bold and unforgiving defense of development in the face of mounting criticism from postmodernist and populist perspectives. The book challenges contemporary academic trends that question the sustain- ability of development, arguing that these critiques often obscure the structural, economic, and political forces necessary for meaningful social progress. [...] Brass’s incisive analysis and unflinching defense of Marxist approaches provide a refreshing and necessary intervention in development discourse amidst the many complex challenges of today’s contemporary era. The book is a call for academics and practitioners to reassess the fundamentals of development and resist the dilution of economic struggles in favor of depoliticized critiques." – Alem Febri Sonni Luthfiah & Rahm an Saeni, in Community Development, 7 April 2025 [DOI: 10.1080/15575330.2025.2487297]
Acknowledgements

Introduction: Last Rites for Development Studies?
  Are We the Masters Now?

  Dismantling Development

  Post-development?

  This Sense of Identity

  Climate, Class, Risk

  Themes


part 1
Questioning the Paradigm
1 Racism and Development: Blood, Sweat and Fears
 Introduction: More Lessons from History

 An Absent Nationality

 A Race against Time, a Time against Race

 Southern Myths

 No Ear to Hear

 Differences, Sameness

 Common Heirs to Its Impositions

 The Battle for Bread

 The Pinch of Hunger

 Conclusion


2 The Industrial Reserve and Development: A Vanishing Army?
 Introduction: Redefining the Industrial Reserve

 19th Century Marxist Views

 20th Century Liberal Views

 20th Century Marxist Views

 Border Wars

 Human Flourishing, but Whose?

 What Marx Really Said

 Travelling the Same Road?

 Conclusion


3 Sociology and Development: A Warning from The History Man
 Introduction: Publishing, Hierarchy, Power

 The Bleak End of Things

 Who Is The History Man Now?

 The Power of Hierarchy

 No One Is Listening?

 Conclusion


4 Critical Agrarian Studies and Development: A Populist Land Grab
 Introduction: The Sleep of Forgetfulness

 In the Academic Salon

 Deprivileging Marxism

 ‘Marxist’ Questions

 ‘Marxist’ Answers

 Reprivileging Agrarian Populism

 Conclusion


part 2
Alternative Agendas
5 Development: A Theory without a Past, Present, or Future?
 Introduction: Paradigms/Concepts That Disappear/Reappear

 Call a Friend

 Concepts, Origins

 Capitalism Everywhere, Capitalism Nowhere

 Development Theory?

 The Sharpest Weapon

 Conclusion


6 Liberalism and Development: Fukuyama’s Scylla and Charybdis
 Introduction: A Benign Capitalism?

 Floreat Classical Liberalism?

 I Am a Nice Shark …

 A Progressive Left?

 Political Corrections, Problematic History

 Conclusion


7 Anthropology and Development: Self in the World, World in the Self
 Introduction: What Do I Know?

 The Self (in the World)

 Self-help

 No Friends There

 The World (in the Self)

 Insufficiency

 Self-sufficiency

 Humanity’s Priority

 Restlessness

 Conclusion


8 Labour Regime and Development: Deproletarianisation and Neo-bondage Compared
 Introduction: Explaining Unfree Labour

 Deproletarianisation, Neo-bondage

 Unfreedom, Patronage, Politics

 Differences Explained?

 Misinterpreting Capitalism

 Conclusion


part 3
Beyond Capitalism?
9 Postmodernism and Development: Misremembering the Peasantry
 Introduction: Doing without Development?

 Methodology

 Sources

 Stories

 Theory

 Definitions

 Economy

 Politics

 Conclusion


10 On the Continuing Necessity of (Marxist) Critique
 Introduction: Paradigms, Polemics, Popularity

  A Return to Yesterday

  New Paradigms, Old Assumptions

  Class Dismissed

  Producing Curtains

  Urgent Need of Renewal

  Conversation, Collaboration, Cooperation?

  Hegemonic Formation, Populist Moments, Floating Signifiers?

  Taking People’s Beliefs Seriously?

  Conclusion


   Conclusion


Bibliography

Index

This book is especially suited for those with an interest in political economy and development studies, with particular reference to debates about the link between capitalism and culture.
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