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ID: 144265

Elite development theory: a labour-centred critique / Selwynv, Benjamin

Selwynv, Benjamin	Article
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Summary/Abstract

Much development theory is based upon elite-led conceptions of social change. Elite development theory (EDT) conceptualises ‘the poor’ as human inputs into or, at best, junior partners within elite-led development processes. This elitism contributes to the continual (re)framing of the poor as passive beneficiaries of elite policy, and legitimates economic exploitation of the poor. These claims are illustrated by discussing a number of EDT traditions – the Washington/Post-Washington Consensus, statist political economy, modernisation Marxism and varieties of pro-poor growth. As an alternative to EDT the article argues for a conception and practice of ‘labour-centred development’.

Key Words

Markets ; States ; Elite Development Theory ; Labour-Centred Development ; Labouring Classes

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ID: 171928

Elite-led development and Mexico’s independent coffee organisations in the wake of the rust epidemic / Henderson, Thomas Paul

	Journal Article
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Summary/Abstract

Between 2012 and 2016 a virulent strain of coffee rust reduced Mexican yields by more than 50%, and it is still devastating production. The government has responded by replacing traditional arabica plants vulnerable to the pathogen with resistant, high-yielding varieties to recover the sector and encourage long-term adaptation to a disease that cannot be eradicated. However, this contribution will attempt to show that the intractable nature of the epidemic and the biological characteristics of resistant varieties threaten the survival of independent coffee organisations and their agroecological shade coffee systems. With little or no possibility of recovering production without the use of resistant plants, the alternative production and marketing models that these organisations have constructed over the past three decades face unprecedented challenges.

Key Words

Mexico ; Climate Change ; Autonomy ; Elite Development Theory ; Agroecology ; Coffee Rust

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