Frameworks for Understanding

Abstract

This chapter describes the intellectual context of this study -encompassing the academic debates which informed the study and the methodology adopted. The complex technical and socio-economic issues raised in this research span at least three disciplinary areas: development studies, writings on socialist economics and technology studies. As the fields reviewed are each extensive, it has been necessary to be selective in this account of the literature and main debates. The sources used, and the framework presented here, reflect the particular concerns and values which have underpinned this study.