Continuity and Change: Confronting Epistemological Issues in Contemporary Development Thought.

The theme of "exploring the past and anticipating the future," and related questions of continuity and change in international relations draw attention to numerous pressing empirical and practical problems facing the discipline. However, in approaching these issues in the context of contemporary processes of globalization, and diverse reactions to these, such themes also require careful reflections on, and perhaps reconsiderations of, the epistemological foundations of contemporary development thought specifically, and the modern social sciences in general. Focusing on discourses of international development, at the intersection of international relations and comparative politics, this paper explores patterns of both epistemic privilege and oppression within post-World War II development theory and practice. By tracing the evolution of both dominant and oppositional approaches to development over the post-war period and drawing on crucial insights produced by past debates, as well as their limitations, valuable new insights will be gained into prospects and avenues for making dominant approaches to development and North-South relations more epistemologically democratic and reflexive. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]