A history of development economics thought: challenges and counter-challenges [Book Review]

Thomas, Alex M. (2015) A history of development economics thought: challenges and counter-challenges [Book Review]. History of Economics Review (61). pp. 108-110.

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Abstract

Shahrukh Rafi Khan’s History of Development Economics Thought is part of the ‘Routledge Studies in Development Economics’. The book is divided into four parts. The first part deals with heterodox challenges to the mainstream view of development; the second part is about challenges to the mainstream view of development from within the mainstream neoclassical school; the third part summarises the ‘neo-classical counter-challenge’; and the fourth presents the challenges to ‘Neo-liberalism’. According to the author, the ‘book adopts a history of development thought approach’ (xvi) and ‘is designed to complement textbooks in development economics but can also be a standalone monograph for scholars and students interested in the evolution of macro development economics’ (xvi). It is, as Khan mentions in the Preface, a selective study in which he ‘focuses on key thinkers and their contributions and in some cases key debates’ (xviii). These ‘key thinkers’ reviewed number more than 35, spanning over 145 pages, with Adam Smith getting two and a half pages and Karl Marx slightly over one page. Khan writes: ‘I avoid critically engaging with the arguments in the text … . Comments are provided in the endnotes, or in the summary section, when I think they may be relevant’ (xvii). However, the presence of critical engagement in the main text would have contributed towards a better representation of ‘challenges and counterchallenges’ in development economics.

Item Type: Article
Authors: Thomas, Alex M.
Uncontrolled Keywords: Economics,Development
Subjects: Social sciences > Economics
Divisions: Azim Premji University > School of Arts and Sciences
Full Text Status: Restricted
Note: Shahrukh Rafi Khan. A History of Development Economics Thought: Challenges and Counter-challenges. London: Routledge. 2014. Pp. xx + 145. ISBN 978 0 41567 630 4. $125.00.
URI: http://publications.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/id/eprint/90
Publisher URL:

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