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Abstract

Global poverty and inequality, in the context of current capitalist crisis, will remain a daunting challenge in the twenty-first century. This reality will unleash an era of postdemocracy bedeviled by multifaceted meltdowns in political, cultural, and economic structures. The outcome will be a catastrophe that will be beyond any human intervention unless we think self-critically and fast. This chapter seeks to theorize the main processes that thwart the rational-humane logic of development in the “post-American world.”

Trillions are being spent on financial rescue packages. Just 1% of that could turn hunger into hope for 59 million hungry school children.

(World Food Programme, Time, 2009:59)1

… his waxen wings did mount above his reach, and melting heavens conspired his overthrow.2

“Promoting Social Development and Diminishing Inequality: Who Must be Responsible?” Paper delivered to the 16th ICSD Symposium, Monterrey, Mexico, July 27–31, 2009. Also published in Journal of Comparative SocialWelfare, 2009, 25, 3: 255–268.

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© 2011 Brij Mohan

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Mohan, B. (2011). The Politics of Development. In: Development, Poverty of Culture, and Social Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230117655_4

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