Post-development Thesis and African Intercultural Theory of Development

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to address the question: is the end of development possible? Post-development theorists declare the end of  development. They insist that the problematisation of poverty by development theory is one of the key defects of development. The irony  in this problematisation is that development practice as an offshoot of development theory does not actually alleviate poverty, particularly in colonial spaces. Rather, the agents of development have perpetuated underdevelopment at the fringes of the colonial  metropolis. Given this perpetuation of underdevelopment, post-development theorists argue, the idea of development has run its course  and is no longer efficient; it should be put to an end. We assess this declaration of post-development theory from the perspective of  Agbakoba’s intercultural philosophy of development. Using the philosophical methods of analysis and critique, we argue that Agbakoba’s  intercultural proposal for a transition to development in Africa holds more prospects and is more feasible in addressing the  concerns of post-development scholars. This is because, Agbakoba’s intercultural philosophy of development does not insist on the end  of development, but on hybridity as the end of development.