Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective explains how development thinking and practice have shaped our world. It introduces students to four interconnected projects, and how their dynamics, contradictions and controversies have influenced development trajectories: colonialism, the development era, the neoliberal globalization project, and sustainable development. Authors Philip McMichael and Heloise Weber use case studies and examples to help describe a complex world in transition. Students are encouraged to see global development as a contested historical project. By showing how development stems from unequal power relationships between and among peoples and states, often with planet-threatening environmental outcomes, it enables readers to reflect on the possibilities for more just social, ecological and political relations.

About the Author
Philip McMichael grew up in Adelaide, South Australia, completing undergraduate degrees in economics and in political science at the University of Adelaide. After traveling in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and community work in Papua New Guinea, he pursued his doctorate in sociology at the State University of New York at Binghamton. He has taught at the University of New England (New South Wales), Swarthmore College, and the University of Georgia, and he is presently International Professor of Global Development at Cornell University. Other appointments include Visiting Senior Research Scholar in International Development at the University of Oxford (Wolfson College) and Visiting Scholar, School of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Queensland. Trained as a historical sociologist, his research examines capitalist modernity through the lens of agrarian questions, food regimes, agrarian and food sovereignty movements, and most recently the implications for food systems of agrofuels and land grabbing. In his work, he has studied and consulted with the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development,, the International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty, the international peasant coalition, La Via Campesina, and FoodFirst Information and Action Network (FIAN). He teaches courses on Political Sociology of Development; World-Historical Methods; Food, Ecology, and Agrarian Change; and International Development. Heloise Weber was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where she spent her childhood before growing up and studying in England. She completed her undergraduate degree in International Politics from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth (now Aberystwyth University), and received her doctorate from the University of Southampton. She held a research fellowship and also taught at the University of Warwick and has held tenure track positions at the University of Aberdeen and the University of Sussex, Currently she is Senior Lecturer in the School of Political Science and International Studies, University of Queensland. Her research interests are in the politics of global development and inequality, and critical approaches to international relations. Her publications include Rethinking the Third World: International Development and World Politics (co-authored with Mark T. Berger), and Politics of Development - A Survey. She is an active member of the Global Development Studies (GDS) Section of the International Studies Association (ISA), and has served twice as GDS Program and Section Chair. She also contributed to the setting up of the Development Studies Association of Australia.

Reviews
"This book has a strong theoretical basis. It is focused on the developing world, so if you intend for the focus of your class to be international, it would be an excellent book to use." -- Rachel Core
"I like it because it has a strong narrative and is readable rather than trying to be a comprehensive textbook. It works best for upper-level students and even then you have to spend a bit of time covering concepts, but the students seem to get more out of it because most of the material is well
contextualized and emphasizes a few critical themes. Easy to combine with other materials." -- Carolyn Bassett
"The book is very comprehensive, and uses multiple lenses to help students understand the multi-faceted aspects of development." -- Jaita Talukdar
"Students find the text engaging and relevant." -- Alexandra Springer, PhD
"This text would be useful for a Social Change class. McMichael does a brilliant job of explaining to students how the modern world system changed during the 20th and 21st centuries. He provides a conceptual architecture to understand those changes, and he also provides empirical examples to illustrate concretely how social change in the world system happens." -- Dr. Steven Panageotou
"Students find it accessible and it is a good starting point to have discussions about colonialism and development..." -- Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern
"Good book for challenging students conceptually- sets up a nice framework for development studies, globalization, and food governance." -- Gustavo Setrini



Book Information
ISBN 9781544305363
Author Philip McMichael
Format Paperback
Page Count 464
Imprint SAGE Publications Inc
Publisher SAGE Publications Inc
Weight(grams) 670g