"Ruined buildings hide their secrets under piles of earth and rubble. Archaeologists, shovel in hand, work through layer upon layer to reveal underpinnings and thus discover the origins of a dilapidated monument. But ideas can also turn out to be ruins with their foundations covered by years or even centuries of sand. I believe that the idea of development stands today like a ruin in the intellectual landscape, its shadows obscuring our vision. It is high time we tackled the archaeology of this towering conceit, that we uncovered its foundations to see it for what it is: the outdated monument to an immodest era... Wind and snow stormed over Pennsylvania Avenue on 20 January 1949 when, in his inauguration speech before Congress, US President Harry Truman defined the largest part of the world as "underdeveloped areas". There it was, suddenly a permanent feature of the landscape, a pivotal concept which crammed the immeasurable diversity of the globe?s south into single category: underdeveloped. For the first time, the new world view was thus announced; all the peoples of the earth were to move along the same track and aspire to only one goal: development. And the road to follow lay clearly before the President?s eyes: "Greater production is the key to prosperity and peace." After all, was it not the US which had already come closest to this utopia? According to that yardstick, nations fall into place as stragglers or lead runners. And "the United States is pre-eminent among nations in the development of industrial and scientific techniques". Clothing self-interest in generosity, Truman outlined a programme of technical assistance designed to "relieve the suffering of these peoples" through "industrial activities and "a higher standard of living". Looking back after forty years, we recognise Truman?s speech as the starting gun in the race for the South to catch up with the North. But we also see that the field of runners has been dispersed, as some competitors have fallen by the wayside and others have begun to suspect that they are running in the wrong direction..."