The Two New Middles

Abstract

This chapter sets the scene in a panoramic discussion of changes in the developing world, in particular the substantial economic growth since the 1990s. In doing so, the chapter focuses on the first great transformation outlined. It is argued that there is a new polarization in the developing world and that two new precarious ‘middles’—one of countries and one of people—that have emerged since the end of the Cold War. Both are threatened by stalled industrialization and the spectre of deindustrialization. The chapter discusses the related myth emerging from this first transformation—that economic development is ahistorical. The chapter focuses on why late development remains a crucial concept in understanding contemporary development.