The period since IDS was founded in 1966 has seen the rise and fall of state-led, market-led and society-focused approaches to development, accompanied by critique and counter-critique. Today, relationships are shifting amidst new interconnections and configurations of global and local power, and while in some contexts new alliances are opening up important opportunities, in others spaces are closing down. This article introduces a special issue of the IDS Bulletin which tracks key threads in the history and future of these major debates, and the contributions of IDS and its partners. Combining archival material with new articles drawn from debates at the IDS 50th Anniversary Conference in July 2016, this IDS Bulletin ‘looks back to look forward’, asking what combinations of state, market and citizen action in different contexts can help achieve more equal, sustainable and inclusive futures for all.