A critique of “catch-up” theories of development

Abstract

The Asian crisis has rekindled the debate between advocates of neoliberalism, left-wing neoliberalism, and developmental-statism over the best institutions and policies for achieving economic development. However, this debate continues to generate far more heat than light. One reason is that, despite their alleged differences, all three mainstream theories share a common conception of development as “catch-up.” A second and even more important reason is that this shared conception is seriously flawed because of its technological determinism and uncritical stance towards capitalist relations of wage-labor and competition. A Marxist perspective on development dynamics is superior because it recognizes the contradictions of capitalist development and can therefore inform (and be informed by) the ongoing struggles of workers and communities for new development alternatives on national, regional, and global levels.