• DOI:10.1525/CAN.1988.3.4.02A00060
• Corpus ID: 55332626

Power and Visibility: Development and the Invention and Management of the Third World

@article{Escobar1988PowerAV,
  title={Power and Visibility: Development and the Invention and Management of the Third World},
  author={Arturo Andr{\'e}s Hern{\'a}ndez Escobar},
  journal={Cultural Anthropology},
  year={1988},
  volume={3},
  pages={428-443}
}

• A. Escobar
• Published 1 November 1988
• Sociology
• Cultural Anthropology

This article presents in a succinct manner the basic argument and the major results and lines of analysis of a doctoral dissertation on the constitution of a number of nations (much of Asia, Africa, and Latin America) as "Third World" or "underdeveloped," and their treatment as such thereafter (Escobar 1987). The study builds upon recent work in various fields on the dynamics of discourse and power in the representation of social reality, and examines (1) the conformation of a new mode of thinking about social and economic life in those countries in the early post-World War 11 period; (2) the anchoring of this new mode of thinking in Western economic practices; and (3) the institutional practices through which "development" functions, at the same time enacting the discourse and creating extended cultural and social relations. Some of these issues will be illustrated with the experience of one country, Colombia. Finally, some conclusions are offered in relation to anthropology.