This is the Introduction to a four-volume collection of articles on Law and Development, due to be published by Routledge in 2012 (Critical Concepts in Law Series). It is divided into two sections. The first section describes and compares the two main approaches to the study of Law and Development: the first approach developed by US legal academics in the late 1960s and early 1970s; the second approach, initially promoted by the World Bank in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and later adopted by most multilateral and bilateral donors agencies. The second section offers an overview of the main themes covered in the collection, which includes articles on a range of topics, such as economic growth, governance, institutions, political development, gender, human rights, judicial reform, customary law, rule of law, democracy and access to justice.