'Beneath the pavement only soil': the poverty of post-development [Review Article]

Reviews of: The History of Development: From Western Origins to Global Faith. By Gilbert Rist. London: Zed Books, 1997. Pp.vi + 276. £42.50/$65 and £14.95/$25. ISBN 1 85649 491 8 and 492 6 Grassroots Post-Modernism: Remaking the Soil of Cultures. By Gustavo Esteva and Madhu Suri Prakash. London: Zed Books, 1998. Pp.223. £45/$62.50 and £14.95/$22.50. ISBN 1 85649 545 0 and 546 9 The Post-Development Reader. Edited by Majid Rahnema with Victoria Bawtree. London: Zed Books, 1997. £45.00/$65 and £15.95/$25. ISBN 1 85649 473 X and 474 International Development and the Social Sciences: Essays on the History and Politics of Knowledge. Edited by Frederick Cooper and Randall Packard. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1997. Pp.xii + 361. £40/$50 and £14.95/$20. ISBN 0 520 20956 7