The Presentist Bias: Ahistoricism, Equity, and International Development in the 1970s

Michael Gubser

Journal of Development Studies, 2012, vol. 48, issue 12, 1799-1812

Abstract: This article examines development thinking in the 1970s, when modernisation templates stressing growth and industrialisation gave way to a direct concern for relieving poverty. Although this new direction broke with development paradigms that presented Western history as a model for universal emulation, equity advocates cultivated new forms of presentism that continued to overlook the local histories of developing nations. An increased sense of the ethical urgency of development and demands for immediate practical action hardened the technical and ahistorical biases of development practice.

Date: 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00220388.2012.682989 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:48:y:2012:i:12:p:1799-1812

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/FJDS20

DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2012.682989

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Development Studies is currently edited by Howard White, Oliver Morrissey and Ken Shadlen

More articles in Journal of Development Studies from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().