Abstract
There are two central focuses that guide Robert Gates’ book, The Development Dilemma: Security, Prosperity, and a Return to History: one is the power of politics and its repercussions on development, and the other is the tension between nations that are developed and those that are not. Bates crafts his arguments based on the political history of development. The central thesis of the book is that development requires prosperity and security and yet, in practice, these two concepts are often at odds with each other. This rather short and impactful book begins with the notion of development as embedded in political economy, which, despite being a dynamic concept, remains dominated by methodological practices developed by Western nations. These discourses and practices, Bates argues, often undermine social, cultural and economic ‘successes’ of developing countries.
The core tension of development exists in the form of hegemonic control of resources by powerful families within states where development is difficult to achieve because the powerful cannot achieve both prosperity and security (p. 10). Furthermore, Bates suggests that there is not enough information available to us to understand ‘how nations develop’ (p. 3). To situate these arguments, Bates steers his narratives through economic and political history of development in England and France.
In Chapter 3, Bates situates his argument in the historical context of the 8th-century England and France when the two nations were engaged in feudal disputes over land, revenues and power. In this context, his discussion of the ‘Great transformation’ (p. 37) is central to the discovery of urban development as a vehicle for development. England during this transformation, focused on investment, whereas France relied on export which served the interests of rich and powerful land owners and business owners. While England was able to prosper through innovative state policies, France was crippled by the state’s focus on granting ‘privileges and rights’ to the rich and powerful. This, Bates argues, represents a geographical paradox of development.
In the following chapter, Bates shifts the narrative to how colonial and imperial powers have dominated political and economic development in Kenya and Zambia. Here, he argues that ‘developing nations were configured by their colonial overlords in ways … that retarded their development’ (p. 52). He builds this argument using empirical evidence around imperial legacy. For example, the control of land, he argues, was central to British power and control. The expansion of British rule was designed to invest—in oil, tea, spice, coffee—in favour of their own interests, often at the costs of the local economy in their colonies. Bates forcefully argues that the socioeconomic and political climate of developing countries is still deeply influenced by colonial legacies. From these narratives, it is perhaps not too farfetched to argue that the legacy of control and power of colonial and imperial powers underscores, the ‘political terrain of today’s developing world’ (p. 61).
In Chapter 5, Kenya and Zambia are foregrounded as central case studies to support Bates’ preceding arguments about how the tensions of development arise from power, conflict and politics. These factors dominate the description of political and economic terrain of both countries by contributing to the transformation and politicization of agrarian cultures and systems in Kenya and Zambia. Charting narratives of politics and policies of Kenya and Zambia, Bates demonstrates how the foundations of political changes were orchestrated by colonialists. To deepen the discussion about the political roots of contemporary development, in Chapter 7, Bates uses an example of land acquisition. Colonial strategies of land acquisition typically gave unchecked power to imperial landowners and to sustain their ownership and power, landowners tended to ‘recruit local confederates and … devolve power upon them’ (p. 118). These narratives imply that the source of conflict of Africa’s inner politics often arises from its own internal problems—migration, power and greed.
Although Bates touched upon the cultural strength and diversity of Kenya and Zambia in the beginning of Chapter 6, he remains noncommittal to exploring the influence of politics and policies of Colonial and Imperial past in contemporary Africa. Instead, he charts through a political terrain where both nations fell victim to conflicted internal politics that leads to division and denial of the political instruments to represent their growth and liberty. Perhaps, linking with Edward Said’s seminal work on Orientalism would have shed some historical and contemporary contexts about the effects of Western power that aims to undermine the diversity, culture and people it colonizes (Sharp, 2009). In this context, Michael Foucault’s work on power and knowledge would have been relevant to discuss how Orientalism ‘emerged through institutions and practices … to name and describe the Orient’ (Sharp, 2009: 18).
The familiarity of Bates’ knowledge of history and political economy of development in Africa is thought-provoking and thorough. His arguments take cues from the works of noted development writers such as David Apter, Crawford Young and Samuel Huntington in explaining the features and drivers of development. In doing so, Bates actually takes a different approach, in which he focuses not just on the politics but how the politicians shape development trajectories. Furthermore, to discuss the central tenets of the book—power of politics and the tension between the powerful and the weak—Bates, stresses on the ‘internal forces’ (p. 125) that dictates development in Africa.
Perhaps because of this approach, it feels like some of the chapters, or even the book itself is written without having its arguments fully developed. While volatile and contested political conflicts in postcolonial Africa present a challenge for development, its diverse and rich culture remains a fertile ground for negotiating peace and accord. Bates’ focus (or rather blame) on corrupt, unaccountable and non-transparent governance in Kenyan and Zambian local politics has a relevance but it does not adequately interrogate why local governments are often acting in response to colonial legacies, for example, histories of land and resource grabbing that shape present-day resource use.
This insufficiency warrants further analysis on the history of development and its subsequent effect on people’s lives rather than relying on the empirical evidence of two countries—Kenya and Zambia—alone. The book also misses evidence that development is not only about power and security but it can be a powerful tool for empowering people to claim their own way of life and wellbeing.
The Development Dilemma is a thought-provoking book on the political and economic history of development. While the book’s central focus is on the political economy of development, it demonstrates how development history has equally illuminated the understanding of the role of power and conflict that has dominated tensions among the poor, the rich and the state. These tensions are central to understanding development and set the tone for this book. This book is an excellent platform for further discussion among development students, human geographers, development practitioners and academics from other social science discipline such as anthropology in contributing to the ongoing debates on development.