Uneven Development and Regionalism:A Critique of Received Theories

This paper attempts to critically examine various theoretical approaches towards uneven development and regionalism. Major theories propounded by the neoclassical regional school, institutionalists, political economists and, finally, modern geographers have been interpreted with reference to their strengths and weaknesses. Though modern geographers do provide a sensible analysis of the causes of uneven development, the perpetuation of backwardness in a developing country context awaits deeper thinking. Moreover, the rise of a strange brand of apolitical neo-localism in recent decades has further diluted any meaningful quest in this direction. Given this, typical interventionist strategies, based upon experiences of matured capitalist societies, are still uncritically tried out in developing countries as possible solutions to the problematic of uneven development and regionalism.