Conceptualising Development

1. Conceptualising Development Sociology 352 January 12, 2007

2. Class outline • Thinking about the global south • Philosophical roots of the concept of ‘development’ • Ways of defining development • How can development be measured?

3. Thinking about the ‘global south’ • From Wednesday’s class: • Varied conditions in different countries and regions • Factors to consider in development • Economic • Social • Political/governmental

4. Thinking about the global south • Terms: third world, less developed, underdeveloped, developing, global south, poor • 1980 Independent Commission on Development Issues – Brandt Commission • Willi Brandt • Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

5. “Global North” and “Global South” North South Brandt Line

6. Philosophical roots of the concept of “development” • Development emerged as a key area of government concern in the wake of the Second World War • Development meant ‘modernization’ • Concepts rooted in European post-Enlightenment thought that emphasized: • Progress • Linear evolution • Convergence with Europe and North America

7. Ways of defining development • As economic growth • Development is the set of processes which increase the value of a country’s economic output (GNP, GDP) • Development involves “modernization” of both technologies and social relations • Human welfare will improve as a consequence of economic growth

8. Ways of defining development • As meeting basic human needs • Development is anything which increases the number of people who can meet a minimum standard of nutrition, housing, health and education • Economic growth may or may not enhance this process, and may even contradict it

9. Ways of defining development • As empowerment • Development means increasing people’s abilities to govern their own lives and the array of choices they can make • “Underdeveloped” countries are those where individual rights and freedoms are curtailed • Very hard to measure and to quantify

10. How can development be measured? • Economic indicators: • GNP or GDP per capita • Poverty lines (e.g. dollar-a-day) • Purchasing Power Parity

11. GNP per capita globally – published by the World Bank in 2000

12. How can development be measured? • Social indicators • Adult literacy rate, life expectancy, infant mortality – as proxies • Basic-needs indicators • Human Development Index • Human Poverty Index

14. How can development be measured? • Social indicators • Adult literacy rate, life expectancy, infant mortality • Basic-needs indicators • Human Development Index • Human Poverty Index

15. HDI measures circa 2003

16. GDP HDI .850 .800 .750 .700 .650 .600 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 Costa Rica Brazil Vietnam South Africa Egypt (UN Human Development Report 2005. http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005/pdf/HDRO5_HDI.pdf)

17. 10 Highest HDI Scores Norway Iceland (+5) Australia Luxembourg (+11) Canada (-1) Sweden (-4) Switzerland (+4) Ireland (+2) Belgium (-3) USA (-2) 10 Lowest HDIs Mozambique (+3) Burundi (+4) Ethiopia Central African Republic (-2) Guinea Bissau Chad (-6) Burkina Faso Sierra Leone (+1) Niger (-1) 2005 Human Development Report

18. 2005 Human Development Report by Region

19. How can development be measured? • Social indicators • Adult literacy rate, life expectancy, infant mortality – as proxies • Basic-needs indicators • Human Development Index • Human Poverty Index • HPI 1 and HPI 2

20. Barbados 2.5 Cuba 5 Colombia 8.1 Mexico 9.1 Germany 10.8 Brazil 11.8 Canada 12.2 Australia 12.9 China 13.2 United Kingdom 14.8 USA 15.8 Saudi Arabia 15.8 Iran 16 Nicaragua 18.3 Ghana 26 South Africa 31.7 Papau New Guinea 37 Laos 40 Haiti 41 Bangladesh 42 Cote d’Ivoire 45 Malawi 46.8 Mozambique 49.8 Burkina Faso 65 Human Poverty Index Scores 2004

21. How can development be measured? • Empowerment • As project/intervention goal • How to measure at an aggregate level • Political - Indicators of “Freedom”? • Multiparty democracy? • Non-government-controlled press? • Human rights record?

23. A brief history of ‘development’ • Considering both the ideas promoted and the types of projects that were introduced – and the political contexts that influenced them • Will look at legacies in more detail next week

24. A brief history of ‘development’ • 1945 to circa 1965: Modernization • Idea of development born in context of post war reconstruction, decolonization and the Cold War • Assumption of primordial causes of poverty • Emphasis on economic and social ‘modernization’, overcoming tradition • Economic growth as primary goal • Large scale projects • W . W. Rostow as key figure

25. Rostow’s Model of the Stages of Development

26. A brief history of ‘development’ • 1945 – 1965 • Common terms: • Developed/developing countries • Shortcomings • Social consequences and dislocation • Environmental degradation • Technology is not culturally neutral • Ignored long term causes of inequality and consequences of earlier capitalist development

27. A brief history of ‘development’ • 1965 – 1980: Underdevelopment • Context of ongoing cold war, liberation movements in the south and political turmoil in the north • Reaction to some shortcomings of modernization theories • Critical of growing poverty • Strongly influenced by Marxist theory

28. A brief history of ‘development’ • 1965 – 1980: Underdevelopment • Highlighted ahistorical models of modernization thinkers to emphasize how poverty and inequality had been created and were central to capitalism and the global order • Key figures: Andre Gunder Frank, Walter Rodney • Common terms: • Developed countries vs underdeveloped countries • First world/second world/third world

29. A brief history of ‘development’ • 1965 – 1980: Underdevelopment • Shortcomings • Tolerated authoritarian regimes that promoted social spending and agendas • Sensitive to class differences but not to gender • Tendency to universal models ignored local complexities and potentials • Rarely considered environmental consequences • Continued to favour large scale projects

30. A brief history of ‘development’ • 1980 – Present: Pluralism (and Discord) • Context of fiscal crises of 1970s, growth of neoconservatism, end of the cold war, environmental and feminist movements • For big financial agencies (IMF, World Bank) neoliberal ideas dominate – concern with balance of payments, international lending, enforcing fiscal austerity • For big international agencies (UN, UNICEF) primary concern for ‘development with a human face’, highlighting social inequities and consequences of neoliberalism

31. A brief history of development • 1980 – Present: Pluralism (and Discord) • Dramatic growth of NGOs (non- governmental organizations) • Growing emphasis on small scale projects • Common terms: • Developed and less developed countries • High income/industrialized/G8 countries versus low income countries • North and south

32. A brief history of ‘development’ • 1980 – Present: Pluralism (and Discord) • Calls for new models of development • Women in development (WID) • Participatory development • Sustainable development • Appropriate technology • Globalization concerns • Postdevelopmentalism