Development Disrupted
The Global South in the Twenty-First Century

Considers the development of the Global South in the context of rapid twenty-first-century technological change.

Ruth Elizabeth Gordon (Author)

9781108439527, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 4 August 2022

350 pages
23 x 15 x 1.3 cm, 0.4 kg

'Gordon's book provides a balanced and skillful portrait of this new technological terrain … Recommended.' R. M. Ramazani, Choice

Although the impact of rapid technological change is often discussed in relation to the Global North, this book explores its effects on the development of the Global South. By tracing the discourse and practice of international development in the twentieth century, Ruth E. Gordon offers necessary context to current changes in the global hierarchy. The book explores the situation of the Global South within the international legal, political, and economic order, how current development discourse and practice engages modernization efforts, and how technology can bring about significant economic and societal change for middle and low-income nations. It offers a balanced account of the positive and negative impacts of technological change on the Global South, from mobile phones allowing access to knowledge to robotics reducing employment opportunities. This book demonstrates that, for the Global South, technology is making more things both conceivable and achievable.

Introduction
Part I. An Introduction to Development: 1. Development in theory and practice
2. The East Asian developmental state
Part II. The Evolving Development Landscape: 3. The rise of the rest: middle income countries take center stage
4. Development reimagined: new actors, new paradigms
5. The new philanthropists
Part III. Development Disrupted: The Potential of Technology: 6. The global technological revolution
7. Cures for what impairs us? Contemporary uses of technology in the global south
Part IV. Clouds on the Horizon: 8. Climate change, an environmental catastrophe
9. The end of the industrial model of development.

Subject Areas: Public international law [LBB]