Walter Rodney and the Idea of Development in Politics and Pedagogy

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Abstract

This paper discusses the work of Guyanese historiographer and activist Walter Rodney, showing that his thought is an important starting point for rethinking colonial notions of development that inform political and pedagogical practice. I argue that in Rodney’s account of European history as fundamentally dependent on Africa, “development” and “underdevelopment” become entirely inextricable, as two sides of the same passage; this analysis challenges familiar senses of progress and emancipation. In parallel fashion, Rodney proposes a radically horizontal model of pedagogy, which interrogates the exceptional authority of the institution as well as notions of advancement at the level of knowledge. Across his work, Rodney sketches a radically reimagined and inverted idea of development, with significant implications for educators.

Author

• Noah De Lissovoy, University of Texas at Austin