As a branch of sociology， development studies itself is both
interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary， mainly focusing on issues
related to developing countries. Its emergence in the second half
of the 20th century is in a large part due to increasing concern
about economic prospect for the third world after decolonization.
Immediately after World War II， development economics， a branch of
economics， arose out of previous studies. By 1960s， an increasing
number of development economists realized that economics alone is
inadequate in meeting challenging issues such as political
effectiveness and provision of education. Development studies
appeared as a result of this， initially aiming at exploring the
inter-relationship between economics and politics.
The teachers and students in College of Humanities and
Development Studies （COHD） of China Agricultural University （CAU）
have long been involved in the activities of teaching， research and
practice related to development studies. During this process， they
have accumulated huge amount of valuable experience and expertise.
This textbook has selected the most common 10 topics of this field.
We hope the compilation of this book may assist undergraduate
students from both linguistic and professional dimensions.