Development, charity and poverty: The appropriate development perspective Available to Purchase

Thinking about poverty alleviation depends greatly on one’s underlying theory about the way the global economy works and, therefore, about the reasons for the existence of poverty. The development literature does not sufficiently acknowledge the contradictions that exist between the conventional or neo‐classical position on development and the critical or “appropriate development” perspective. The following discussion considers the main differences between these two positions and argues that the neo‐classical position must be abandoned. Implications for development practice in general and for the issue of poverty alleviation are then taken up.