THE UN AND DEVELOPMENT THINKING: FROM OPTIMISM TO AGNOSTICISM AND BACK AGAIN
Abstract
SUMMARY Development interventions, including those of the United Nations, have been shaped by shifting paradigms, notably Keynesianism and monetarism. The globalization process witnessed since the late 1980s led to a more modest ‘agnostic’ stance. Most recently, a new multidimensional paradigm that addresses economic, social, environmental and political concerns, is being discussed in the UN system: the notion of social exclusion. The article argues that this new paradigm could be used to generate a different type of development policy.