In the late twentieth century, structural adjustment policies became the West's received wisdom as a solution to the economic problems of the South. Based on detailed empirical research, the contributors to this volume take a more heterodox and even critical approach. Indeed, many of the issues raised here are now being assimilated into a new 'Post-Washington Consensus'. The range of geographical coverage matched with the coherence of the approaches taken by the contributors allows striking comparisons to be made.