The triumph of capitalism and the failure of socialism is a commonplace theme today in both scholarly and publicist circles. In particular, it seems to be taken as irrefutable in widening spheres of the highest intelligence, including many of those on the political left, and in all parts of the world, that in modern – and more especially “postmodern” – circumstances, capitalism most proficiently induces, and socialism most dolefully obstructs, development.

The question of development, however, including its conditions and prospects, is as relevant, urgent, and problematic for societies like the United States, Britain, West Germany, France, Italy, Canada, and Japan, as it is for societies like the Soviet Union, Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia, as it is for societies like China, the Philippines, Argentina, Cuba, Chile, Pakistan, Egypt, Nigeria, and Iran, as it is for societies like Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Bolivia, Peru, and Nicaragua, as it is for societies like Mexico, India, Brazil, South Korea, Taiwan, and South Africa. In other words, development is not a problem simply for “Less Developed Countries” (LDCs), or for Communist-ruled countries, or for clerical-ruled countries, but for all countries of every degree and kind of development.

As this implies, societies of various types, and most of those in the world today, currently embrace, in principle or in effect, a commitment to or an affirmation of, something we call development.