Knowledge, learning and development: a post-rationalist approach

Colin McFarlane
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Colin McFarlane: Department of Geography, The Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK

Progress in Development Studies, 2006, vol. 6, issue 4, 287-305

Abstract: The relations between knowledge, learning and development are of growing importance in development, but despite the growth of interest in this area since the mid-1990s, key issues have yet to be explored. This review argues the need to attend to how knowledge and learning are conceived in development and how they are produced through organizations. Drawing on mainstream development literature, the review argues that there is a pervasive rationalist conception of knowledge and knowledge transfer as objective and universal, which has political implications. By contrast, the review argues for a post-rationalist approach that conceives development knowledge and learning as partial, social, produced through practices, and both spatially and materially relational.

Keywords: knowledge; learning; rationalism; post-rationalism; World Bank; Slum/Shack Dwellers International (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:prodev:v:6:y:2006:i:4:p:287-305

DOI: 10.1191/1464993406ps144oa

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