Promises Not Kept: Poverty and the Betrayal of Third World Development

Rating:
Summary: This is a case where newer is not necessarily better.
Review: Much of the clarity and conciseness that marked the 3rd edition of this work as an excellent introduction to the study of underdevelopment has been lost in the 4th edition. I have used the 3rd edition several times in the past two years as a primary text for a college-level course dealing with Third World culture and politics. This semester, I moved perforce to the 4th edition and have noted that my students (most of whom are having their first exposure to international political economy and who are neither political science nor economics majors) are having far more difficulty in comprehending the theoretical bases for explaining underdevelopment than they have had in the past. In short, the 4th edition is a step backwards and is somewhat disappointing. In my opinion, the 4th edition of this work has replaced an excellent resource with merely a good one.