SUMMARY Development interventions, including those of the United Nations, have been shaped by shifting paradigms, notably Keynesianism and monetarism. The globalization process witnessed since the late 1980s led to a more modest ‘agnostic’ stance. Most recently, a new multidimensional paradigm that addresses economic, social, environmental and political concerns, is being discussed in the UN system: the notion of social exclusion. The article argues that this new paradigm could be used to generate a different type of development policy.