Economics imperialism and the new development economics as Kuhnian paradigm shift?

This paper addresses the evolving relationship between economics and other social sciences. It sets the present intellectual scene as one in which economics imperialism is rampaging across other disciplines. The designs of economics upon development studies are examined in terms of the Kuhnian notion of paradigm shift. Thereby the conclusion is drawn of the potential prospect of open debate around the economy and development, not least outside economics itself. But there is danger of economics imperialism, in the form of the post-Washington Consensus, foreclosing the analytical agenda at the expense of approaches based on the political economy of capitalism. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.