developmentalism

noun

An economic theory which states that the best way for Third World countries to develop is through fostering a strong and varied internal market and imposing high tariffs on imported goods.

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Meanings

noundevelopmentalism (uncountable)
  1. uncountableAn economic theory which states that the best way for Third World countries to develop is through fostering a strong and varied internal market and imposing high tariffs on imported goods.

    Nevertheless, the strong political reasons which supported developmentalism had vanished before the World Bank made its diagnosis.

    2007, Costas Lapavitsas, Beyond Market-Driven Development, Routledge, →ISBN
    3 more examples

    Most fundamentally, Sachs argues, developmentalism advocates the wrong values. Under developmentalism, the economy dominates society rather than the more rational opposite.

    2006, Mark Mattern, Putting Ideas to Work, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 325

    By invoking developmentalism as more than a statist project for economic growth and one that is also led by an imperative to generate well-being among citizens, I focus on the discursive and other practices through which developmentalism is experienced as a condition, a mode of being and a lived experience.

    2014, Sumi Madhok, Rethinking Agency: Developmentalism, Gender and Rights, Routledge, →ISBN

    When President Dwight Eisenhower took office in the United States in 1953, he took a decisive stand against developmentalism, which he regarded as a threat to the commercial interests of America's multinational companies.

    2017, Jason Hickel, “The Age of the Coup”, in The Divide […] , London: William Heinemann, →ISBN

Origin

From developmental + -ism.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan desenvolupamentisme
  • desenvolupamentismeeconomic theory
Indonesian developmentalisme
  • developmentalismeeconomic theory
Korean 개발주의
  • 개발주의 (gaebaljuui)economic theory
Portuguese desenvolvimentismo
  • desenvolvimentismoeconomic theory
Spanish desarrollismo
  • desarrollismoeconomic theory
Cite this entry
APA

developmentalism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/developmentalism

MLA

“developmentalism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/developmentalism. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “developmentalism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/developmentalism.

Source: developmentalism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.