Competing Perspectives of Development / Iris Borowy.

Frontmatter -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Contents -- Iris Borowy and Matthias Heymann -- Introduction -- Acknowledgement -- Iris Borowy -- How good or bad is global development and when will we know it? Some thoughts on complex assessments -- Is the world getting better or worse? And what does that even mean? -- Material wellbeing -- Environment -- Health -- Social connections -- Good governance -- Self-fulfillment -- Assessing developments over time -- Conclusions -- Paul Warde -- "Fallacies of misplaced concreteness"? History in post-war environmental arguments -- Why do people write about history? An empirical approach -- The uses of History: finding the general in the particular -- People as populations: stage theories and evolutionary thinking -- Lessons from the past: the case study -- Histories of knowledge -- Histories of freedom -- Environmental history as sacred history -- Integrated histories -- Conclusions -- Nicholas Ferns -- A mixed blessing? Phosphate mining, development, and the discourse of Nauruan wealth -- A Brief History of Nauru -- Colonial Exploitation and the "Development" of Nauru -- The push for resettlement and Nauruan faith in their own development -- Independence and the phosphate boom (and subsequent bust) -- Conclusion-navigating the end of phosphate wealth -- Amit Das Gupta -- Initial failure, late success? Short-term and long-term effects of Nehruvian development policy -- Introduction -- Historical backgrounds of Indian development policy -- The fundamentals of Nehruvian development policy -- The 1950s -- The end of the Nehruvian Era-towards stagnation and frustration? -- The Indira Gandhi years-Public discontent via tacit donor content -- The boom of the 1991s and its Nehruvian Roots -- Conclusion -- Paul Sprute.

A Gateway of Development: San Pedro's New Port project and continuing histories of Development in South-West C ote d'Ivoire -- Introduction -- The background of the San Pedro port construction: from French colonialism towards a multi-lateral post-colonial development project -- Establishing the "gateway of development": from the San Pedro "new port" and "new town" towards the region -- The San Pedro port and region as "gateway of development" -- The long-term history of the new town as a "gateway of development" -- Conclusion -- Matthias Heymann -- Narratives of global fat: Aarhus Oliefabrik and United Plantations Company -- Introduction: The needs and challenges of investigating global resource chains -- Industrial success narratives: The rise of the Aarhus oil industry -- Heroic pioneer narratives: Establishment and operation of United Plantations -- (Post‑) colonial exploitation and environmental destruction narratives -- Development narratives: Creating a national industry -- Sustainability narratives: Responding to environmental pressures -- Discussion and outlook -- Shakila Yacob -- Ambivalent development: FELDA and the politics of smallholder welfare -- Introduction -- Colonization, decolonization, and state intervention -- FELDA, rural development, and poverty alleviation -- FELDA, sustainability, and certifications -- Lifespan of FELDA and generational shifts -- The politics of smallholder welfare -- Concluding remarks -- Felix Amoh-Siaw -- Peacekeeping dilemmas and contested realities: The unraveling of MINUSMA amidst a perception crisis -- Introduction -- Background to the Malian crisis and the rounds of intervention -- The French involvement: A precursor to suspicions around MINUSMA -- Problematizing MINUSMA's achievements in a challenging environment -- a) Political maneuverings -- b) Negotiating the civilian protection mandate.

c) Economic boom for the few, disadvantage to many -- MINUSMA in decline: How controversies informed local perceptions -- Conclusion -- Claiton Marcio da Silva, R omulo de Paula Andrade -- Contesting tales and traditions: Two case studies of development ideals in Brazil (1940-1950) -- The urgency of development in a "backward" country -- Interpretations of the colonial past: "The Brazilian rural problem" -- Turning Amazonian communities into experts -- Conclusion: The paths and pitfalls of development in Brazil -- Michelle Mart -- The perils of abundance: The unintended consequences of plentiful food in the modern United States -- Cultural consequences of abundance -- Health consequences of abundance -- Environmental consequences of abundance -- Social consequences of abundance -- Odinn Melsted -- Finding oil for the developing world: Maurice Strong, the environment, and the International Energy Development Corporation (IEDC), 1979-1983 -- Introduction -- Strong's contradictory journey: From oil to UNEP and back to oil -- Strong's business plan: Finding oil for the developing world -- Sustainable development? The promise and limitations of Strong's IEDC venture -- Conclusion -- List of Contributors.

Developmental policies frequently have contradictory effects.These typically play out in different sectors of life and are analyzed in different academic disciplines, using different assumptions, methods and bodies of literature.The results translate into conflicting political demands.

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