This is a book for those concerned about the trajectory of development, and about the continuing encroachment of managerialism into social life. The authors challenge the objectivity and neutrality claimed by proponents of managerialism and seek to overturn and/or reclaim ideas such as participation, community, governance, NGOs and civil society.

The book attempts to bridge the current division between development and management studies by constructing a critique of "development management"--an approach to development that blends seemingly objective and neutral claims of managerialism with notions of modernity and other connected utopian ideas of "Third World" progress. Some of these approaches are affiliated with the growing field of critical management studies; others are from the development world, turning their critical frames of reference to address increasingly managerialized development processes and practices.

This critical treatment of development management is a sorely needed and very persuasive intervention. Dar and Cooke remind us that development management is never simply a technical matter, but comes with its own historical baggage, perennially entangled in complex sets of unequal power relations. The everyday tools of the trade will never seem the same again.