Against the mere multiplication of empirical case studies and considering the distintion between the actual and the possible the author defends the use of a mix of economic, sociological and political theoretical approaches in order to explain the attraction exercised by some development policy paradigms, without fear of "grand theory". The idea of coerence between political concepts, development strategies and economic orientations is systematically applied in the study of their adjustments regarding the international monetary order and the hegemonic system. Globalization is conceived in its scope and in its limit, both given by the finite resources of the planet Earth
