Perspectives on development

A decade ago when we were in process of setting up Manchester University's interdisciplinary Master's degree in Development Stu dies we realised that we already had more than forty courses at undergraduate or postgraduate level in the Faculty of Economic and Social Studies which covered topics relevant to development. This was to say nothing of the possibilities of tapping the resources of other Faculties - we little thought at that time, for instance, that a valued contribution would come from the Faculty of Theology. The presence of so many specialists in the field of development, many of them with international reputations, was a major factor in enabling the course one of the first of its kind in Britain - to become viable from the start. It is now firmly established and successful, an important part of the activities of Manchester University's International Development Centre.

Strength of this kind carries with it also a severe challenge: to create from the many separate offerings a genuine interdisciplinary entity and not to be content with a mere adding together of a fascinating but uncoordinated menu of optional and compulsory subjects. The chief arena in which this challenge has been faced has been the annual construction and reconstruction of the Core Course in which the various disciplines come together. It would be going too far to say that we have resolved the questions which have arisen. The problems of interdisciplinary study have not been solved at Manchester or any where else. But at least circumstances have forced us to consider the issues, and this book is one product of those annual efforts in the planning and execution of a coherent Core Course. Given the subject matter, it cannot be regarded as a systematic textbook to be followed closely. But it is based upon a discussion of the questions which have arisen for us and will, we feel, fulfil many of the needs of students following Development Studies courses anywhere, in that it details the varied perceptions and concerns of the many contributing disci plines and points out the complexities and contradictions which attend interdisciplinary interaction.