The Great Diversity: Trajectories of Asian Development

This book brings together scholars from the universities of Bergen and Leeds who explore on how we may understand different trajectories of development in Asia, arguably the most dynamic and certainly the most diverse part of our world. It asserts that there is no one singular 'truth' on understanding development, or universal model on prescribing future paths of development. Evidence from Asia reminds us that the importance of locality in shaping development has not diminished despite deepening globalisation in the modern era. Furthermore, by accepting the prevalence of diversity we are able to learn certain lessons of development from each other, both within and across scholarly disciplines. The book explores how the concept of 'development' is itself highly contested, and there exist multiple narratives and discourses on the subject as demonstrated in this book. This book does not seek to define development, or prescribe a particular method of understanding it in an Asian context. Rather, it presents a number of works that in their own way touch on the subject of development, and it lays bare the inherent diversity of development as an idea, practice and experience. It is up to the reader to reflect on how the evidence and arguments presented in each chapter resonates, or not, on their own understanding of development.