Conclusion: What do we want from theory in rural development?

In this brief comment, I will discuss some questions of theory and our use of theory. They have long troubled me, and I still find them difficult to articulate. Trained in economics, I am handicapped in such inquiry because economics education is more concerned with learning the mathematics necessary to do theory than with probing the philosophical questions of what theory is and how we create and use it. I have few answers but I think the questions merit raising because our answers define what we are, what we seek, and what we ought to be doing. My questions are (1) what is good theory? (2) what kind of theories do we need in rural development? and (3) how do we create the theories that we need?.