This book examines the failure of 'development' in Central America, where despite billions of dollars of development funding and positive indicators of economic growth, poverty remains entrenched and violence endemic. Martin Mowforth shows how development is predicated on force and systematic violence, through which the world's most powerful governments, financial institutions and companies punish the global south. Crucially, the analysis in The Violence of Development comes from many development project case studies and over sixty interviews with a range of people in Central America, including nuns, politicians, NGO representatives, trade unionists, indigenous leaders and human rights defenders. This book is a compelling synthesis of first-hand research and development theory.