"In recent years there has been a considerable rethinking of the whole concept of development, including a growing awareness of its gender, cultural and environmental dimensions, and the impact of globalisation. The contributors to this volume seek to extend these debates to a more fundamental level, tackling such issues as the crisis of development as an intellectual and practical project, the need for a break with development as a Eurocentric concept, and the viability of alternative, non-Western forms of development. This thoughtful volume by authors of quite diverse intellectual positions transcends those critiques of development which simply engage in a blanket dismissal of the whole enterprise. Instead they offer innovative ways of engaging with a reality that, despite globalisation, is very much still a dimension of our era. "--Publisher description.