This chapter argues that international development was initially envisaged as a doctrine of increased resource production in colonies, for international trade, during the later colonial period, from the end of the 19th century to the start of the First World War. To increase resource production, colonial administrators and planners relied on management and organization studies (MOS), for techniques and skills to build and maintain different types of required organizations, notably factories. They also turned to colonial society itself, seeking social groups that would willingly commit to such practices.

The late colonial period is not commonly seen as the time when international development ideas began to be first articulated. Though some scholars have traced development ideas even further back in history, to Aristotle's theories of human growth (Rist, 2008) and John Stuart Mill's understanding of liberty (Cowen and Shenton, 1996), it is commonplace to identify the 1950s and US President Truman's Address as marking the “birth” of development (see Chapter 3). However, consistent articulations of international development did become commonly heard in the late 19th century, during colonial expansion. The chapter begins with an overview of colonial development, highlighting the significance of the dual mandate in the doctrine of development. It then proceeds to describe colonial-era management ideas, and particularly how notions of efficiency were understood as essential for good management. The final part of the chapter offers some examples of colonial-era development that relied on civil society organizations to deliver sought-after outcomes. In the conclusion to this chapter, I present the common sense, conceptions, and hegemonic perceptions that emerged at this time.

The introduction laid out a conceptual framework of administrative crises, legitimacy crises, and common sense. This framework is used here to understand the manner in which ideas of development, management, and civil society were envisaged during distinct points in the history of international development. These distinct points, climacterics, can be considered as accommodations between global capital flows, nation-state policies, and shared aspirations. The colonial period discussed in this chapter falls within the regime of “liberal capitalism,” an accommodation between the mercantilist intentions of the dominant colonial powers (Great Britain and France) and the economically ascendant US.