The Idea of Development in Africa: A History

Abstract

In The Idea of Development in Africa, Corrie Decker and Elisabeth McMahon examine development theory and practice over time, asserting that development “arose directly out of imperialism, colonialism, and neocolonialism” (275). This text not only situates development in a historical setting but also explains key theories and connects the past to the present. Ultimately, Decker and McMahon conclude, “Despite the rhetoric on saving, helping, and equalizing, the development industry has done more to maintain global and local inequalities than it has to dismantle them” (16). Thus they make a compelling argument for rethinking established development paradigms by centering the futures and visions that Africans have for themselves.This work builds on a body of literature that has focused on how the construction of both development expertise and the objects of development have been political projects. Unlike previous scholarship, Decker and McMahon emphasize the origins of what they call “the development episteme itself,” shifting the standard narrative away from the creation of the Bretton Woods institutions and instead locating those origins in Enlightenment philosophies and the “civilizing mission.” In doing so, the authors argue that the “logic of difference and differentiation is built into the foundations of development,” and they then show how these ideas have shaped policy and practice up to the present (4–5).Relying largely on published scholarly works, published primary sources, online reports, and news media, along with limited oral histories and archival research, The Idea of Development is broken down into three parts. Part 1 examines the origins of the development episteme in the nineteenth-century world, emphasizing its imperialist setting, knowledge production, and racist ideologies, and closing with a chapter calling for decolonizing development. Part 2 explores how these ideas have shaped colonial and postcolonial development practice in Africa, with chapters on the importance of science, African contestations of development, economic development theories, and nongovernmental organizations. Part 3 focuses on some specific development “problems” in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Here Decker and McMahon take residential spaces, education, health care, and manufacturing as their case studies.This work is at its strongest when centering African ideas, explaining difficult concepts, and tying the past to the present. The section on African communities' vernacular notions of progress illustrates, for example, how various societies “have generated their own diverse meanings of development” (5). The authors' explanation of knowledge production—noting that “its collection and construction by individuals was deeply subjective”—will be especially helpful for undergraduate readers (42). Perhaps most important, this work emphasizes that the racist underpinnings of early colonial development have endured in more recent development discourse that distinguishes between the “developed” West and the “developing” countries of Africa.Such contributions will be of interest to students and scholars alike. The focus on the genesis and earlier history of development, as well as the accessibility of the writing, make this an especially appealing book for teaching. Readers of Agricultural History will also find much of relevance in this volume. With sidebars on the Amani Research Institute, the Tanganyikan groundnut scheme, usufruct land tenure, Wangari Maathai's Green Belt Movement, and pastoralism, there is ample space devoted to agricultural development. Various chapters, particularly in part 3, delve into additional questions related to agriculture, such as land resettlement, agricultural commodities, and irrigation schemes.The book not only provides rich insights into an impressive number of development topics, but it also covers the history of development in Africa from the nineteenth century to the present. Writing such a sweeping history is no easy task and necessarily entails making some omissions. This monograph does tend to emphasize the more distant past as well as the present, with the mid- to late twentieth century—particularly, the rise of neoliberalism and the implementation of structural adjustment programs—garnering less attention.Even so, this is an important work and will be essential teaching material for courses on the history of development. The authors strike a delicate balance between writing a history that pushes scholarly understanding forward, while also making this work accessible to students. The epilogue persuasively argues, “Development is not the powerful edifice it claims to be; it is a holdover of colonialism that is quickly losing relevance in our current world” (288). The Idea of Development in Africa is a smart and engaging study, which will be of interest to scholars and students of African history, development history, agricultural history, and labor history.