Their Future

“This is an ambitious and original book on the absence of historical sensitivity in postwar development discourse, and the damage this shortsightedness causes. Brilliantly researched, tightly argued and clearly written, Gubser’s book authoritatively demonstrates that development must be understood not as a mere ideological construct but in its practical dimension, and that by failing to incorporate historical analysis, development economists and practitioners seriously undermine the development project. A must-read for both development scholars and aid practitioners.”—Michele Alacevich, author of Albert O. Hirschman: An Intellectual Biography“Beyond filling an enormous historiographical gap, Their Future promises to be dog-eared and highlighted by policy makers and project designers and carried into the field by development practitioners, who have much to learn from the history of ignoring history that its pages contain. It is a tour de force.”—J. T. Way, author of Agrotropolis“Everyday practitioners of economic development have been a curiously understudied subject, and the valuable contribution of Michael Gubser’s Their Future lies in its focus on this ‘meso-scale’ of development practice—between the creators of development doctrine and policy (the focus of most histories of development) and the on-the-ground experience of the subjects of development (the focus of much sociological analysis).”—Nils Gilman, chief operating officer and executive vice president, Berggruen Institute

Michael Gubser is professor of history at James Madison University. He has published three books on European intellectual history and international development.