Towards a new development theory
Working group on historical and contemporary thinking around development in the Global South
The field of development theory is dedicated to the study of societal change and how it is best achieved. Theories of development have existed for thousands of years, but the modern field of development theory is centered mainly around the challenges facing so-called “underdeveloped” states in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
With our partners at Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, we are revisiting the development theory debates that unfolded during the 20th century in the West, the socialist East, and the so-called Third World. Our collaboration relies on data processed by Global South Insights in order to develop empirical analyses of financial patterns, industrialization paths, and the development of social indicators. The Zetkin Forum convenes a working group of researchers from Argentina, India, China, the UK, Germany, and South Africa to investigate past and contemporary paths to industrialization in the Global South.
Our work and research
Tricontinental published a dossier in January 2025, which lays out the debate over the failed development theories of neoliberalism and the need for a new development theory for the Global South, offering an initial framework for the latter. Over the course of the next few years, we will produce more texts on a new development theory of this nature by analysing specific countries and regions and then studying the overall possibilities.
Through the Internationale Forschungsstelle DDR (IFDDR), we have also been exploring the theoretical debates and practical application of development theories in the socialist bloc during the 20th century. A series of articles on the socialist theory of “non-capitalist development” have been published by the IFDDR:
Article: The “Global South”: Analyses from the Socialist World
In this article, we explore the work of leading socialist scholars from the USSR and DDR who were studying the development of the capitalist world economy in their time. The socialist states organized entire academic faculties to develop Marxist analyses of the economic, political, legal, and cultural developments in the former colonies. Through international conferences and journals, they fostered lively discussions amongst workers’ parties and popular movements from the Global South. Many of the insights gained during this historical period can help orient our debates today.
Article: “L’option socialiste”: Mali’s non-capitalist development
From 1960 to 1968, the Republic of Mali was at the forefront of social revolution in Africa. The country’s governing party, the Union Soudanaise, had refused to settle for formal political sovereignty and declared in 1960 that the republic would opt for “l’option socialiste” to secure economic independence from imperialism and social liberation for the Malian people. This brief episode of revolutionary upheaval in Mali offers insights into several central aspects of anti-imperialism in the 20th century.
Article: Smashing Neocolonial Rule in Congo-Brazzaville
From almost three decades, Congo-Brazzaville chartered an unparalleled revolutionary course in Central Africa, becoming the first people’s democracy on the continent. This article traces out the path of the Congolese revolution and examines how socialist states in Eastern Europe and Asia influenced this process.
Article: The Mongolian People’s Republic: A pioneer of non-capitalist development
The Mongolian People’s Republic, founded in 1924, was the second state after the Soviet Union in which the immense working masses seized power from their former exploiters and set out to construct a socialist society. Yet in practically every regard, Mongolia was even more underdeveloped than its Soviet neighbour to the north. The working people were confronted with the brutal feudal rule of both the Mongolian nobility and the Chinese occupiers. Following the 1921 revolution, the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party led the country from a backward feudal-theocratic society through a period of democratic transformation towards an agro-industrialized socialist economy.
