Abstract
Africa’s place in the world has been closely linked to the idea of development. Building on post-development theory’s critique of development, Matthews’ chapter asks whether and how we can move beyond development in Africa. She argues that contrary to the wishes of some post-development theorists, we cannot retrieve, discover, or create something that is purely not-development, entirely non-Western, and fully outside of coloniality. However, this does not mean that we ought to acquiesce in the face of the powerful discourses that have come to dominate the way in which we talk about Africa. The chapter tentatively explores some possible ways in which development can be both resisted and reappropriated in creative ways.
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Matthews, S. (2018). Alternatives to Development in Africa. In: Iñiguez de Heredia, M., Wai, Z. (eds) Recentering Africa in International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67510-7_7
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