Introduction

[Page 511]Raymond Williams did not include ‘development’ in his Keywords (Williams, 1976), and perhaps for good reason. It is common to think of it today in association with higher living standards, higher levels of economic wealth or productivity, and a host of other outcomes or conditions that it is felt improve people's lives. These might emerge out of wider social and economic processes, or be associated with government interventions designed to accomplish these goals. As such, and with some nuances, it is applied at all manner of geographic scales, from the local to the national, and even the international. There is much disagreement and debate regarding these processes and outcomes, their feasibility, desirability, and relative ...