Capitalism, Development and Democracy

Democracy and development are the ideological leitmotif's of the age, used so widely that their real meaning is often lost. In Capitalism, Development and Democracy Amiya Kumar Bagchi gives a historical and material grounding to these ideas, showing their intimate but troubled relationship with capitalism.Bagchi shows that the idea of development - of all human beings enjoying better standards of living - spread following the rise of capitalism, first in the Italian city-states and...
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Democracy and development are the ideological leitmotif's of the age, used so widely that their real meaning is often lost. In Capitalism, Development and Democracy Amiya Kumar Bagchi gives a historical and material grounding to these ideas, showing their intimate but troubled relationship with capitalism.Bagchi shows that the idea of development - of all human beings enjoying better standards of living - spread following the rise of capitalism, first in the Italian city-states and then in the nation states of Europe. He documents how capitalism systematically denied the very aspirations it raised, both widening and restricting human freedom in a contradictory process.A stimulating and innovative contribution to the fields of development studies, political economy and political theory, Capitalism, Development and Democracy reconnects development and democracy with the critique of capitalism.