No Development (Economics or Studies) Without Decolonisation

Abstract The decolonisation of development studies and knowledge in general has become a very popular conversation. However, the idea of decolonisation is rather ill-defined in academia, with a variety of arguably unrelated initiatives being pursued in the interest of decolonising development studies. This paper defines what decolonising development studies entails by arguing that development studies is characterized by eurocentrism. Specifically, I argue that the idea of development in development studies is that of the development of capitalism, which is seen to have developed in Europe due to largely intrinsic European characteristics related to resource availability, labour productivity, and institutions. Therefore, much of the discourse of development is based on this implicit idea that the periphery can and should follow this path of progress. However, this is a path of development is mythical, and ignores the role played by colonialism and the slave trade, and the transformation of social relations. And since the Eurocentric understanding of the development of capitalism in the capitalist centre is the epistemological norm for development, the periphery can only be understood as aberrant from the ideal developmental norm. This compromises our understanding of the process of development. This article argues that decolonising development studies means dismantling the dominance of Eurocentric theories, methodologies, and approaches in development studies and to challenge the structural exclusions in development studies that supports and legitimizes Eurocentrism, and in turn, imperialism.