In an overview chapter at the beginning of the collection, editors Indermit Gill, Yukon Huang and Homi Kharas of the World Bank suggest that four themes permeate the essays.

“Despite the fact growth has really been strong, the impact on poverty this year has been more muted than in previous years,” says Homi Kharas, Chief Economist for the World Bank's East Asia region.

After Homi Bhabha introduced it into the cultural studies, it has become an important concept of postcolonial criticism.