Poverty, Rural Development and Theories of Social Development

Part I of the book outlines the history and causes of national and individual poverty since the pre-colonial time in the Third World with emphasis on Ghana’s experience and development approaches. Part II addresses the three stages of the General Crises of Capitalism and their global impact, the birth of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund - their structure and functions. The summary of the classical sociological theories of development ushers in the Marxist / neo-Marxist critique of the right wing Modernization Theory, which informs Western development prescriptions for the developing countries. Both the lay man and the student of Social Science will find the study useful because of its introductory nature.