Development Fundamentals MGDI60411
Student Number: 10063851
MSc International Development
Critical Review of:
Bernstein, H. (2006) ‘Studying development/development studies’, African Studies, 65:1, 45-62
Word count (excluding referencing): 2000 words
The context into which development studies were born has changed significantly over time, and so too have our understandings about development itself. Given this change, can we still know and study development in the way we first knew it? This is one of the primary questions explored by Henry Bernstein (2006) in his article “Studying development/development studies’.
As suggested by the article title, Bernstein positions development studies and studying development as somewhat disconnected, …show more content…
In many ways, this expansion of disciplinarity makes development studies more, not less, able to encapsulate the ‘great tradition’ than ever before – after all, what could offer a more historical perspective than the integration of history as a discipline? Brahman (1995, p.304) supports this view, stating strongly the importance of development theorists to “eschew intellectual and disciplinary arrogance…and avoid the close-minded adherence to ideological convictions that has unfortunately come to characterise much of development …show more content…
He thus presents his personal opinion rather than what could have been a more robust academic debate. Interestingly, while Bernstein offers a critique of development studies, he does not suggest to abandon the field altogether in the form of post-development. Rather, he argues that its concerns best returned to the broader domain of the social sciences for exploration. However, in repositioning development studies, the responsibility to address its important concerns risks being diffused. Woolcock (2009) proposes that while the social sciences can encompass the pursuits of development, development studies can also contribute its own unique knowledge.
It is worth noting that this article is a festschrift in honour of Bill Freund, an economic history and development studies professor.
The article therefore focuses on promoting a particular view of and presumes prior knowledge of the subject. With this in mind, the purpose of the article is not to
Resultantly, the article is not as effective as Bernstein’s other works on the topic (Bernstein,
Student Number: 10063851
MSc International Development
Critical Review of:
Bernstein, H. (2006) ‘Studying development/development studies’, African Studies, 65:1, 45-62
Word count (excluding referencing): 2000 words
The context into which development studies were born has changed significantly over time, and so too have our understandings about development itself. Given this change, can we still know and study development in the way we first knew it? This is one of the primary questions explored by Henry Bernstein (2006) in his article “Studying development/development studies’.
As suggested by the article title, Bernstein positions development studies and studying development as somewhat disconnected, …show more content…
In many ways, this expansion of disciplinarity makes development studies more, not less, able to encapsulate the ‘great tradition’ than ever before – after all, what could offer a more historical perspective than the integration of history as a discipline? Brahman (1995, p.304) supports this view, stating strongly the importance of development theorists to “eschew intellectual and disciplinary arrogance…and avoid the close-minded adherence to ideological convictions that has unfortunately come to characterise much of development …show more content…
He thus presents his personal opinion rather than what could have been a more robust academic debate. Interestingly, while Bernstein offers a critique of development studies, he does not suggest to abandon the field altogether in the form of post-development. Rather, he argues that its concerns best returned to the broader domain of the social sciences for exploration. However, in repositioning development studies, the responsibility to address its important concerns risks being diffused. Woolcock (2009) proposes that while the social sciences can encompass the pursuits of development, development studies can also contribute its own unique knowledge.
It is worth noting that this article is a festschrift in honour of Bill Freund, an economic history and development studies professor.
The article therefore focuses on promoting a particular view of and presumes prior knowledge of the subject. With this in mind, the purpose of the article is not to
Resultantly, the article is not as effective as Bernstein’s other works on the topic (Bernstein,