Postdevelopment in Practice

In recent years advocates of postdevelopment and critical development studies have destabilised the concept of development, challenging its assumptions and exposing areas where it has failed in its objectives, and even made the lives of many worse. Postdevelopment in Practice aims to critically engage with these ideas, though it is not simply a project of theory and critique. As academics, practitioners and activists realise that efforts towards development focusing on catch up, have been futile, many are seeking an alternative practice. This volume demonstrates that there are multiple and innovative examples of postdevelopment practice already underway. Overall, the contributions reveal the complexity of postdevelopment alternatives, encompassing research on economy and care, art and design, pluriversality and buen vivir, the state and social movements, among others.

Bringing together emerging and established contributors from across Latin America, Southeast Asia, Europe, India, Australia and elsewhere, the book reflects a range of ways of doing postdevelopment work. Drawing on feminisms and political economy, postcolonial theory and critical design studies, the `diverse economies' and `world of the third' approaches, and discussions on ontology and interdisciplinary fields such as science and technology studies, the chapters illustrate what postdevelopment practice can look like. The edited collection seeks to uncover already existing paths contributing to the discussion on postdevelopment and to reveal how the practice of postdevelopment is already being carried out by actors in and out of development.

Students, scholars and practitioners in critical development studies and those seeking to engage with postdevelopment will find this book an important guide to applying theory to practice.