Short Abstract

For decades, dependency scholarship has been considered to be opposed to developmental state scholarship, resulting in the two schools often being caricatured by one another. This panel invites papers to examine whether development may still be possible under contemporary globalisation.

Description

Dependency and developmental state scholarship have often been treated as opposing paradigms within the study of political economy and development. Dependency theorists have traditionally emphasised structural constraints imposed by global capitalism, highlighting the limits of national autonomy and the reproduction of underdevelopment. Segments of the contemporary literature on dependency highlight how financialisation, the fragmentation of global production and the effects of decades of market-led reforms have all made structural transformation all but impossible. In contrast, developmental state scholars (or those working in these traditions) have pointed to the capacity of certain states to harness industrial policy to achieve rapid economic transformation. Optimistic scholarship highlights the East Asian miracle as evidence that structural transformation can be achieved and often highlights several examples elsewhere to suggest that there are reasons to have a bias for hope. Extreme ends of both scholarship tend to caricature both sides rather than highlighting the long-standing dialectic between development amid dependency in the Global South.

This DSA Politics and Political Economy study group panel invites papers - both theoretical and case studies - that analyse whether development is still possible under contemporary globalisation. It is open to members and non-members of the study group.

Ideally, papers would bridge or revisit these traditions, draw on cases from the Global South, or advance theoretical innovations that reimagine dependency and developmentalism. By reopening dialogue between these two traditions, the panel seeks to reassess the prospects for structural transformation in a world economy where global interdependence and structural asymmetries persist.

This Panel has 2 pending paper proposals.
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