constituencies for change' at home. In this sense Edwards sees NGOs as being in the vanguard of an emerging global civil society, and which need to make important decisions about their future role in development.
One curious aspect of the book is the target audience, which is never made explicit. There are obvious engagements with a wide range of in¯uences, from the academic to prominent activists based in the South. Nevertheless the style of the book is somewhat journalistic. Often, complexity gives way to simplicity and case studies are added in anecdotal style and boiled down to the minimum of explanation and context. This is not merely academic nit-picking (the above discussion on sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia is a case in point). Two of the central concepts in his vision of future international development, social capital and civil society, are not explored in any depth, a serious omission given their current status as development buzzwords'. Social capital is used following Robert Putnam's work (ignoring a growing critique that points to a neglect of politics). Civil society reappears in every chapter of this book as innovator, facilitator, bridge builder and counterweight' (p. 231) but is not subjected to much critical interrogation. While Edwards' characterization of civil society may be a legitimate one, there is nevertheless increasing evidence to suggest that civil society does not contain any inherent democratic qualities and that the roles currently being assigned to it in fostering democratic development might actually be overstating the case.
No doubt Edwards has pitched the style of the book in order that it might be read more widely and not only by academics. Nevertheless, there are some signi®cant points that Edwards pulls out from the literature and answers in pragmatic, yet considered, style. In an engagement with the postdevelopment literature, Edwards acknowledges the very real problems associated with the concept and practice of development', yet dismisses the notion that development should be abandoned as too sweeping'. It is not the idea of progress that lies in ruins ± that remains as a near-universal aspiration ± but standardized notions of what it means, how to achieve it, and whether it represents an unstoppable forward march . . . Must we abandon the very idea of progress' because it seems politically incorrect? Don't we know anything about the causes of development, nor how we can help? ' (p. 19). This pragmatic yet humanistic approach is essentially what underlies much of the book and Edwards' idea of international co-operation, ensuring that Future Positive makes a timely contribution which raises important questions for anyone involved in teaching, writing, thinking about, or even `doing', development.