The future of development management: examining possibilities and potential

Critical development management (CDM) is an emerging field of study that is ‘questioning development management’ by connecting scholars in critical management studies to those identifying with post-development theory. Development management is an object of criticism for CDM, where this critical analysis derives from the perniciousness and pervasiveness of managerialism in aid interventions. This paper provides an overview of CDM and takes issue with this exclusively managerialist understanding of development management. I offer a more positive vision for the future, one where the aid industry can believe in the ability of generating improved livelihoods without the wholehearted import of managerialism as well as the desirability of radical reform. A theoretical argument is sketched out to support a future for development that is neither defined nor destined for failure.