Democracy and development are the ideological leitmotif's of the age, used so widely that their real meaning is often lost. In Capitalism, Development and Democracy Amiya Kumar Bagchi gives a historical and material grounding to these ideas, showing their intimate but troubled relationship with capitalism.

Bagchi shows that the idea of development - of all human beings enjoying better standards of living - spread following the rise of capitalism, first in the Italian city-states and then in the nation states of Europe. He documents how capitalism systematically denied the very aspirations it raised, both widening and restricting human freedom in a contradictory process.

A stimulating and innovative contribution to the fields of development studies, political economy and political theory, Capitalism, Development and Democracy reconnects development and democracy with the critique of capitalism.