Developing to Scale: Technology and the Making of Global Health

Developing to Scale, the first critical book on "appropriate technology," explores how global health was understood as a problem to be solved with the right technical interventions. E. F. Schumacher's 1973 book Small Is Beautiful introduced the theory of "appropriate technology," which gained widespread appeal due to cuts to foreign aid budgets, national interests, postcolonial activism, and the rise of the US tech sector. Heidi Morefield's study shows that appropriate technology is malleable and can be interpreted according to different constituencies' needs, as policymakers wielded it to constrain aid and scale the practice of global health.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 27 October 2023
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

The groundbreaking work "Developing to Scale" is a seminal text that revolutionized our understanding of global health and the role of technology in addressing it. Authored by economist E. F. Schumacher in 1973, this influential book introduced the concept of "appropriate technology" to a mainstream audience. Schumacher believed that international development projects in the Global South were most sustainable when they were small-scale, decentralized, and balanced between traditional and modern approaches. His theory gained widespread appeal as cuts to foreign aid budgets, national interests, postcolonial activism, and the rise of the US tech sector drove stakeholders across public and private institutions toward cheaper and more efficient tools.

Over the ensuing decades, US foreign assistance shifted away from massive modernization projects, such as water treatment facilities, toward point-of-use technologies like village water pumps and oral rehydration salts. This transition toward the small scale had profound implications for the practice of global health.

In her book, "Developing to Scale," Heidi Morefield delves into the history of appropriate technology in international health and development, exploring the people, organizations, and events that shaped this consequential idea. Morefield examines how certain technologies have been defined as more or less "appropriate" for the Global South based on assumptions about gender, race, culture, and environment. Her study reveals that appropriate technology is not a fixed concept but rather a malleable tool that can be interpreted and applied in different ways by different constituencies. She also highlights how policymakers have wielded this tool to both constrain aid to a scale that did not threaten Western interests and to scale the practice of global health.

Through its comprehensive analysis, "Developing to Scale" provides valuable insights into the complex relationship between technology, development, and global health. It challenges us to think critically about the ways in which technology is deployed in the pursuit of development and to ensure that it is used in a way that promotes equity, sustainability, and human well-being. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the field of international health and development, as it offers a wealth of knowledge and perspective on this critical topic.

Dimension: 229 x 152 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780226828633