It would be an understatement to say that the defi nition of ‘development’ has been
controversial and unstable over time. As Thomas (2004: 1) argues, development is
‘contested, … complex, and ambiguous’. Gore (2000: 794–5) notes that in the 1950s
and 1960s a ‘vision of the liberation of people and peoples’ dominated, based on
‘structural transformation’. This perception has tended to ‘slip from view’ for many
contributors to the development literature. A second perspective is the defi nition
embraced by international development donor agencies that Thomas notes. This is a
defi nition of development which is directly related to the achievement of poverty
reduction and of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).