From Keynesian consensus to Washington non-consensus. a world-systemic interpretation of the development debate

The essay aims to rethink the debate on economic development from a world-systemic perspective with particular attention to epistemological aspects. Development theories of the Golden Age, including the most radical ones, are interpreted as dissenting voices within the same paradigm shaped by the Keynesian Consensus of post-War state capitalism. Its crisis is related to major transformations in the global economy and to the success of state action. The global project, based on “free” markets, is analyzed in the context of capitalism as a system of contre-marché, and of the emergence of alternative paradigms to the Washington Consensus. In reconstructing structures of development theory, the ground is laid to reflect on intellectual, social and policy implications for present and future.