The six articles in this special issue focus attention on the dissemination of DI around the world, with particular emphasis on China. These papers cover a wide range of issues, including how people in different areas of the world conceptualize and use the concept of development and global international hierarchies, how the attributes of individuals and communities affect perceptions of developmental hierarchies, and how people place China in that global hierarchy. These papers also examine how people conceptualize DI beliefs concerning the consequences and causes of development and the reliability and stability of DI measurement at the individual level.