DS 101: Development Perspectives I

1. DS 101: Development Perspectives I Instructor: Mr. Patrick

2. Course Rubrics & Instructions • Course Coordinator: Patrick Erasto (Office #: Room 322) • Mode of Delivery • 2 Lectures per week • 1 Seminar per week • Lecture Hours • Lecture Venue: • Mode of Assessment • 100 Marks course • 60 marks –Final Examination • 40 marks - Seminars • 15 Marks – Presentation • 20 Marks – Timed Essay • 5 Marks – Participation • Seminars Registration-during the second week of lectures

3. Course References • Katie Wills. (2005) Theories and Practices of Development. London, Routledge. • Walter Rodney. (1973) How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. Dar es Salaam & London, Tanzania Publishing House. • Other Applicable books, Chapters and Journal Articles

4. An Overview • What is Development Studies • It is and interdisciplinary concentration with mission to provide students with the knowledge, critical perspectives and skills needed to engage with issues and challenges of socio-economic development as they relate to global south. • Why study Development Studies? • Understand some of the biggest challenges facing the world today; • Structures and processes that create poverty and vulnerability • Development actors; NGOs, Governments, International organizations etc. • The experience of poverty (National and personal)

5. Lecture 1 Module 1: Theories of Social Development

6. Explaining What Theories do • Theory….provides concepts/propositions/assumptions/beliefs which learned people use to understand and interpret the world around them. • Each theory has a historical, institutional and structural context to seeking to understand a context-specific problem/phenomenon: there are no universal truths/social theories. • Body of knowledge keeps changing, as society accumulate more and new information through observations, interactions, experimentations, and/or through try-and- error processes.

7. Explaining Development • There are three perspectives which are considered when we attempt to define development. These are: • Economic perspective (economists): • Look at indicators of development such as economic growth of a particular nation like increasing of gross national product (GDP). • Increasing of foreign investments into activities such mining, industries, infrastructure, banking etc. • High level of technology in a country • Increasing income among the households.

8. Explaining Development • Political perspective : • Availability of democracy, free and fair election, freedom of movement, speech, assembling, worship, choosing leaders, opinions etc. • Availability of human rights e.g. right to work, marry, to education, right to an adequate standard of living like having appropriate food, shelter, water medical care. • Low level of corruption in a country.

9. Explaining Development • Social perspective: • Availability of social services e.g. electricity, houses, food, education health, infrastructure etc. • Increasing of life expectancy e.g. in developed countries most people die within the range of 80 years and above years, but developing countries you have most of the people dying at ages below 45 years. • Lack of diseases and low mortality rate e.g. for infants, low rates of maternal mortality rates etc • Development is a multi-dimensional concept, embracing all perspectives: political, social and economic perspectives.

10. Development Concepts • Can you determine which countries are more development and which are less? • How do you measure development? • Underdevelopment • Having a low level of economic growth and technological Sophistication • A state of inadequate development • Sustainable Development • MDGs (8 goals) • SDGs (17 Goals)

11. Theories of Social Development • The Political Economy perspectives • This embraces that society, politics and economic issues cannot be easily investigated separately. • Two broad streams of Political Economy • Classical Political economy • Considers structural conflicts, class struggles and the role of the state • Bourgeois/Modern Political economy • Considers interactions between groups

12. BOURGEOISIE/ MODERNIZATION • The modernization theories emerged after the Second World War. The theories tried to answer the question: Why Europe/North America is more developed or advanced than Third World? • Why today there is a wide gap among these countries? What contributes to these differences?

13. Theoretical claims (of modernisation theories): • Variants of the modernization theory seek to describe and explain the processes of social transformation from “traditional societies and systems” to “modern ones” following the path that the Western Europe and North America followed from the 15th century to the present. • (Read Walt Rostow. Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto, 1960)

14. Assumptions of modernisation theories • That modernization is a phased, stage-by-stage linear social development process and that all societies have to go through the same path as was the case with Western Europe, the USA and Japan. • Modernization can only take place within a capitalist framework not socialism/communism. • For modernization to take place traditional structures and values must give way to modern ones (more achievement oriented; more receptive to change; more technologically-oriented; more participatory decision-making via universal suffrage, political parties, parliaments and meritocratic bureaucracies; industrialization, urbanization, money economy, technical upgrading of production and service etc)

15. Assumptions of modernisation theories • That critical missing modernization inputs are made available (institutions, technology, expertise, capital and markets). • We shall concentrate on two main modernisation theories, namely; Professor Rostow’sFive Stages of Human Development and Professor Nurkse’sVicious Circle of poverty.

16. Rostow’s Five stages of human Development: • Stages of Growth Walt Rostow’s Stages-of-Growth Model uses the analogy of an airplane moving along the runway until it reaches the take-off stage then soaring into the sky. • He views development as a process that follows a linear trajectory starting from low to high by passing through five stages of development. • Each stage of human development should be fulfilled clearly in order to allow the society to undergo the next stage of human development.

17. 1. Traditional stage: • The society here is characterized by the following; • Agricultural sector is dominant in the society. • Low productivity because of poor methods of farming. • Low level of technology, mostly depending on technology imported from elsewhere not local. • High mortality rate e.g. Especially of infants between ages 0-5 years. • High fertility rate. • Extended family and clan alliances

18. 1. Traditional stage: • Little social mobility- or no movement at all. • Poor political organization characterized by conflicts and non consensus, e.g. what we are observing in Somalia, Congo DRC, Southern Sudan etc. No serious development that can be achieved in such scenarios in the said countries. • Availability of diseases and nefarious local beliefs • In summary: traditional society’s stage is pre-scientific, low productivity, family and clan alliances, undifferentiated social roles, investment in security and religion, feudal land ownerships).

19. 2. Transitional Stage: (pre-condition for take-off stage) • Expansion of trade both at international and national level. • Increase of external influence from outside of the country/society. • Introduction of modern methods of production in both agriculture and industries. • National investments being raised to 5% of the national income to sustain economic growth. • Willingness of people to change their values e.g. borrowing/lending money for investments. • High level of entrepreneurship and the society being innovative and creative.

20. 2. Transitional Stage: (pre-condition for take-off stage) • Level of science and technology being raised in order to bring innovation. • In summary: pre-condition for the Take-off stage (emphasis on the role of the state, education, technology and capital….savings and investment above pop. growth rates, national-level organizations and institutions, new elites, integration in world economy, diffusion of Western of S&T etc.)

21. 3. Take off stage: • National investments level should rise to 10%. • Increasing productivity in agriculture, industries, mining and fishing. • Strong political organization- high level of democracy, there is a consensus and hand shaking whenever one wins the election and the loser not opting to fighting. • Agricultural sector is mechanized. • Science and technology is higher. • In summary: The Take-Off Stage (same as above….investment and savings above 5 to 10% of national income, substantial manufacturing, appropriate institutions, more integration in world economy)

22. 4. Drive to Maturity Stage: • Emergence of industrialized society. • Transportation and communication are more complex. • Science and technology is at higher stage. • The old industries are now replaced by new ones with new advancement methods of production. • High political organization, high level of democracy, free and fair elections, good governance and observance of human rights.

23. 4. Drive to Maturity Stage: • In summary: The Drive to Maturity Stage (same as above…technology use throughout the economy and society, investment and saving 10-20 % of national income, new sectors of economy, efficient institutions)

24. 5. High Mass consumption: • The society here is too matured all aspects of human life: politically, socially, economically and culturally. • Strong political organization, high level of democracy, free and fair elections, good governance and human rights. • Transportation and communication are more complex. • Science and technology is at higher stage. • Good allocation of resources to her people; e.g. the specialist ones are taking authority in organizing society.

25. Proposed Policy Interventions/Limitations of the theories • The promised modernization failed to occur: aid, technology and loans increased Africa’s indebtedness • Import substitution industrialization strategy failed to modernize the economy as manufactures remained only enclaves with no forward or backward linkages. • Education system remained Western in outlook, elitist in character, fostering alienation. Few could attain it • Western social value systems have own historical specificities and could not be transplanted everywhere and anywhere.

26. Proposed Policy Interventions/Limitations of the theories • The modernization theory is explicitly about economic growth not development per se • There are more than one path to development with different end-points • Development could take place outside the capitalist system References • Katie Wills. Theories and Practices of Development. Pp.1-69 • Walter Rodney. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. Chapters 1, 3, 4 and 5

27. The Nurkse’s Theory THE VICIOUS CIRCLE OF POVERTY THEORY Professor Nurkse’s vicious circle of poverty: • His main argument is that; • ‘‘If a society is poor that society will continue to be poor and poor forever”. • ‘‘We are poor because we are poor, and therefore; we shall continue to be poor all the time. (Do you subscribe to Nurkse’stheory?).

28. Vicious cycle of poverty in a schematic diagram:

29. The Nurkse’s Theory • Nurkse’s summarizes that, for Third World countries to achieve development they are supposed to receive external push (big push) from outside. • The push should be from e.g. financial institutions and other social assistances. (We have had IMF, World Bank and so many Foreign Direct Investments- grants, loans etc. Have this helped in our countries?).

30. Is it true that external push is a solution to African development? Or is it true that globalization is a solution to African poverty? • Globalization has brought issues like the SAPs with its associated conditionalities and the grants or assistances from outside have had price tags e.g. • Devaluation of local currency, • Removal subsidy in agriculture sector, • Cost sharing in education, health etc • Minimizing government expenditure, • Privatization, and • Free markets and multi-party system etc. • Assistances from outside should be for complementing our development and should not have a lot of tied strings e.g. that leads to being depend on others.

31. LIMITATIONS OF NURKES’S THEORY • Unclear way of breaking the circle • Nurse’s theory fails to tell us the root causes of underdevelopmentof Third World countries; rather it tells us the outcomes of underdevelopment which could be a result of external forces for example the rise of capitalism in Europe. Secondly, • He fails to show how did European countries managed to break the circle of povertyif formerly all countries lived in the same circle of poverty.

32. POLITICAL ECONOMY THEORY (KARL MARX) Historical background: • Marx lived during the time of Industrial Revolution in Europe where majority of people were too poor to sustain their daily life. This was the time where there was mass poverty within the society. • At that time, two antagonistic classes existed among the society, namely; the class of have not (proletariats) and the richclass (bourgeoisie). • During that time, this was observable in England and Germany where people had to move from rural to urban areas in order to look for better lives. • So Marx wanted to study what contributed to such disparities among the societies and likewise, to propose for lasting solutions for those changes.

33. Marx’s main arguments: Class struggle: • He argues that; within societies, class struggle is very necessary in producing positive changes. For he believed that, in order for the society to develop, there must be a class struggle. Class conflict: • Development in the society normally depends on class conflict, so he views class conflict in positive manner rather than negative one. • Therefore to understand the process of class struggle and class conflict in the societies, he identified five main stages of human development

34. Marx’s stages of Social Development: 1. Primitive accumulation: • This was initial stage of human development • Productive forces were very poor e.g. sticks and stones. • Ownership of the means of production was communal. • Relations of production were collective. • There was no antagonistic class(exploitation of man by man).

35. 2. Feudalism: • At this stage there are some improvement of productive forces. • Two antagonistic classes : the class of serfs and landlords. • Serfs were largely exploited by land lords in terms of rent in kind/ money. • This led to class conflict which led to the mode to fail and usher in another mode.

36. 3. Capitalism: • Two antagonistic classes, the class of bourgeoisie and proletariat. • The major means of production were primarily controlled by bourgeoisie. • The bourgeoisie paid proletariats a little wage which did not sustain their lives. (Is this still going on under multinational capitalism under globalization? Examine how employees are paid by their employers at their places of work, are they adequately paid or not??). • Due to class conflict in the society this led to change the mode to another one.

37. 4. Socialism: • According to Marx, this was the higher stage of development - had no antagonistic classes. • The working class (proletariats) was controlling the major means of production.

38. 5. Communalism: • This is the highest stage of social development. • There was no exploitation of man by man. • The level of investments and production were primarily determined by national plans.

39. CRITICISMS/LIMITATIONS OF THE THEORY: • Bourgeoisie criticizes Marx that his arguments of class struggle and class conflict are too ideological which cannot be successfully implemented in the society. • That the society can never develop without exploitation that is without classes. • Marx believed on working class as an instrument of leading real revolution in the society, but this is not true because real revolution should come in collaboration between workers and peasants. Workers alone can never bring real revolution in the society. (May be he was right at that time: but a theory has to hold true for all times!).

40. CRITICISMS/LIMITATIONS OF THE THEORY: • Marx believed on class conflict as important aspect for development but he is contradicting himself because in socialism and communalism modes there is no class conflict so the question comes: how could socialism and communalism emerge as the highest stage of human development while there is no any exploitation of man by many?

41. DEPENDENCY THEORIES (Neo-Marxist Theory) Neo-Marxists: • These are people who wrote after Marx. They borrowed some arguments of Marx to propound their views. The dependence school of thought was advocated by The Latin America’s school of thought called Dependencia School. • It was developed during the 1950’s to early 1960’s. • It was a response to the failure of the Bourgeoisie’s theory to answer some prevailing questions. • The school assumes that development in the society can be understood in connection with the world political economic system.

42. Theoretical Claims of the dependency theory • According to dependency theory, the cause of underdevelopment is the dependence on industrialized countries while internal factors of developing countries are considered irrelevant or seen as symptoms and consequences of dependency. • Poor countries are poor and underdeveloped not because they lagged behind the scientific transformation but rather they were coercively integrated into the European system wherein they are economically exploited, socially oppressed and politically dominated with rigid economic divisions of labour. • Today’s developed Western economies and societies were never underdeveloped.

43. Underlying theoretical assumptions • Two sets of states: metropolitan nation-states and peripheral nation-states as parts of the global capitalist structure. • Interactions between two sets are unequal, exploitative but largely beneficial to metropolitan nation-states. • External forces negatively impacting peripheral societies and economies include MNCs and MNBs, international commodity markets, multilateral and bilateral agencies, and cultural institutions.

44. Underlying theoretical assumptions • The cause of underdevelopment is the dependency on industrialized countries • Developing countries are dependent countries • The economic and political interests of industrialized countries determine development of the periphery countries • Walter Rodney once argued that, “the intervention of European powers in African social, economic and political processes throughout the 19th C created a situation of dependency and led to the impoverishment of African people”.

45. Types of dependence • Exploitation: where core countries advances at the costs of periphery • Dependent development: economic growth happens even with exploitation by the core capitalists but it is not self sustaining and does not lead to independence • ‘Economic Imbalances’ unequal trade, investment, technology and debt • Political marginalization and social domination

46. Theoretical and Policy Shortcomings • Dependency theories neglect the role of contemporary internal political and economic conditions. • The external dependency is not sufficient to explain lack of development in the South. • In explaining the process of underdevelopment the role of internal politics should be looked at, but always with historical approach. • Dependency theory does not identify the ultimate causes of underdevelopment apart from saying they spring from the centre/the core. • It stresses much more on external obstacles to development and neglects the highlighting of how to initiate development once the obstacles are removed. • Ultimately, we can say that dependency theorists disregard the anthropological level of analysis (i.e. the local content).

47. Proposed policy intervention • Total disengagement dependent relations with capitalism as was the case with China • Strategic participation in the global capitalist markets via trade, investment and technology transfer • Promotion of South-South cooperation • Development of national economies via developmental states to regulate trade, investment and technology transfer, satisfy domestic demands and improve the social welfare of majority. • Promote regional cooperation and integration to widen markets • Restructure society to struggle for socialism and self-reliance.

48. World Systems Theory: • Emmanuel Wallenstein wrote about this theory. • He believes that the world is divided into three parts, the core, semi-periphery and periphery. • The core countries have the following features • They are industrialized • Have highly integrated economies • Manifest high level of productivity • Have skilled labour • Are democratic

49. World Systems Theory • The Periphery countries are: • Politically undemocratic • Vertically integrated with the core countries • Have peasantry economies • The Semi Periphery countries are: • The intermediary countries that can fall back to the periphery or can leap to the core • Dynamic economies with rigid but negotiable wages • Countries that use capitalism as their mode of production

50. Assumptions of WST • The world system consists of a single market and its unit of analysis is the world market • There are series of state structures which exist as subsets of the global market • The world is capitalistic in nature • The world is hierarchically structured with the core countries at the center, semi-periphery in the middle and periphery countries at the bottom