Sociology of Development PDF

Sociology of Development 7  DEVELOPMENT 6  DEFINING DEVELOPMENT - A normative term, which at various times has meant: a. Economic growth b.structural economic change, c. autonomous industrialization, d.capitalism or socialism, e.self-actualization, f...

Sociology of Development 7  DEVELOPMENT 6  DEFINING DEVELOPMENT - A normative term, which at various times has meant: a. Economic growth b.structural economic change, c. autonomous industrialization, d.capitalism or socialism, e.self-actualization, f. and individual, national, regional and cultural self- reliance 7  DEFINITION OF GOVERNMENT DURING THE WWII PEROID Development – in terms of a long-term view with an emphasis on socio-economic structural transformation. However, since the 1990s development has come to be defined with a shorter horizon related to policy objectives and performance indicators. 8  MOST COMPREHENSIVE DEFINITION OF DEVELOPMENT As defined by Todaro, “Development – is not purely an economic phenomenon but rather a multi-dimensional process involving reorganization and reorientation of entire economic and social system.” Development is process of improving the quality of all human lives with three equally important aspects. 9  1.Raising peoples’ living levels 2.Creating conditions conducive to the growth of peoples’ self- esteem through the establishment of social, political and economic systems and institutions which promote human dignity and respect 3.Increasing peoples’ freedom to choose by enlarging the range of their choice variables 10  DEVELOPMENT - an “event constituting a new stage or a changing situation” - is implicitly intended as something positive or desirable. - usually means improvement, either in the general situation of the system, or in some of its constituent elements when referring to a society or to a socio-economic system 11  The word “develop” “has come from an Italian word “voluper” meaning to unwrap or unfold. The definition of ‘development’ has been always controversial over time. 12  Development can be defined as the process of economic and social transformation that is based on complex cultural and environmental factors and their interactions. 13  Thomas (2000) explains three ways the word ‘development’ is used. 1. Development as a vision: a vision or description of how a desirable society should be. 2. Development as a historical process: social change that takes place over long periods of time due to inevitable processes. 3. Development as action: deliberate efforts to change things for the better and to ensure a better standard of living. To Prof. Yogindra Singh: “Development is a strategy of planned social change which is considered desirable by the members of a society.” 14  1. CHARACTERISTICS OF DEVELOPMENT 1. Development is a continuous process. - The process of development continues from the moment of inception of the society. 2. Development follows a pattern. - Development occurs in an orderly manner and follows a certain sequence 3. Development has a direction. - the process of development follows a definite direction. - the direction is always forward and never backward. 4. Development can be evolutionary or revolutionary in nature - Development when occurs in a slow and gradual manner it is said to be evolutionary in character. Evolutionary development - takes its natural course, time and in not very spectacular in nature. Revolutionary development - refers to the abrupt and rapid change in the society. 15  5. Development is multidimensional - has to be multidimensional touching various aspects of the society. So that it can become better yielding in nature. It should not confine itself to the economic dimension, but should have its political, cultural and social dimensions, too. 6. Development is universal, but not uniform - Development is a common process witnessed by every society however primitive or modern it is. Every society witnesses the process of development in some form or the other. 7. Development insists upon adaptability - process of development demands the existing institutions to change and adapt to the upcoming demands to fulfil the emerging needs of the individuals. 8. Development stands for dynamism - the concept of development is against the notion of static. Development necessarily entails change. 16  9. Development is irreversible - Development as a process is always forward looking and has no look back. 10. Development is diffusive - Development never remains concentrated in the place of its origin. It has a natural tendency to spread beyond its place of origin. 11. Development always has positive yields - the outcomes of development are always positive. It is for the betterment of the society. 12. Development has got its qualitative and quantitative connotations - Development as a process can be judged through the qualitative improvement human conditions of living. Similarly when there is a quantum lift or there is an increase in number of some institution, then also we feel the impact of development. - Thus the qualitative aspects of development are felt while the quantitative aspects of development 17 are observed.  2. PERSPECTIVE ON DEVELOPMENT Development as a concept can be discussed from various perspectives. They are: 1. ‘Development’ as a long term process of structural societal transformation. 2. ‘Development’ as a short-to-medium term outcome of desirable targets. 3. ‘Development ‘as a dominant ‘discourse’ of western modernity. 18  1. ‘Development’ as a long term process of structural societal transformation The first conceptualization is that ‘development’ is a process of structural societal change. Thomas (2000, 2004) refers to this meaning of development as ‘a process of historical change’. This view, of ‘structural transformation’ and ‘long-term transformations of economies and societies’ 19  The key characteristics of this perspective are that: It is focused on processes of structural societal change. It is historical. It has a long-term outlook. When there is development in the economy, there is a change in the social institutions like: family, marriage, education, system of stratification in the society. 20  2. ‘Development ‘as a short-to-medium term outcome of desirable targets A second perspective on ‘development’ can be seen in the light of some targeted goals and their degree of achievements. Thomas (2000, 2004) characterizes this second approach as ‘a vision or measure of progressive change’ and Gore (2000) relates it to ‘performance assessment’. It is focused on the outcomes of change so that it has a relatively short-term outlook. 21  3. ‘Development’ as a dominant ‘discourse’ of western modernity This is the ‘post-modern’ conceptualization of development. It is also referred to as the ‘post-development’, ‘post-colonial’ or ‘post- structuralism’ development perspective. This third perspective emerged as a reaction to the deliberate efforts at progress made in the name of development since World War II and was triggered in particular by the 1949 Declaration by the US President Truman. “We must embark on a bold new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas.” 22  The discourse and strategy of development produced its opposite: massive underdevelopment impoverishment, untold exploitation oppression 23  The western development model was super imposed on the Third world countries with a: top down approach, ethnocentric, and technocratic approach. 24  3. The Third World: Overview of a Contested Nation “Third World“ - was coined by economist Alfred Sauvy in 1952. - The term gained widespread popularity during the Cold War when many poorer nations adopted the category to describe themselves as neither being aligned with the West (NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization) or the East (USSR-United Socialist Soviet Republic) after World War II, but instead composing a non-aligned "third world". “The Global South” – developing countries, least developed countries 25  Africa, Latin America, and Asia Third World countries are those that display economic, social, political, and environmental issues such as: high poverty rates, economic instability, and lack of essential human resources compared to the rest of the world. 26  “First World” -refers to so called developed, capitalist, industrial countries, roughly, a bloc of countries aligned with the United States after World War II, with more or less common political and economic interests. North America, Western Europe, Japan and Australia "Second World" -refers to the former communist-socialist, industrial states, (formerly the Eastern bloc, the territory and sphere of influence of the Union of Soviet Socialists Republic) today. Russia, Eastern Europe (e.g., Poland) and some of the Turk States (e.g., Kazakhstan) and China 27  "Third World" is all the other countries, today often used to roughly describe the developing countries. capitalist (e.g., Venezuela) communist (e.g., North Korea) very rich (e.g., Saudi Arabia) very poor (e.g., Mali) countries 3rd World classified by various indicators Political Rights and Civil Liberties, Gross National Income (GNI) Poverty of countries Human Development of countries Freedom of Information within a country 28  "Fourth World" -first came into use in 1974 with the publication of Shuswap Chief George Manuel “Indian reality” - the term refers to nations (cultural entities, ethnic groups) of indigenous peoples living within or across state boundaries (nation states). 29  The Third World: Unity, Diversity & Inequality Development has been studied because of the problems of inequality polarization and “uneven/unequal” development within the global system of state societies. The main focus of development studies should be differentiation and diversity within the third world which is misleading and inadequate. “Above all development theory must not only be concerned with diversity but also inequality” 30  Samir Amin, a scholar, argued that in recent decades there is an increasing concentration of wealth and power in the hands of few core countries. He also argued that, the core/developed/industrialized countries has increased their control on what he calls the five monopolies of the center. 31  5 Monopolies of the Center 1) Technological Monopoly - this requires huge financial power that only large and very rich/wealth states can afford. 2) Control over global financial markets and institutions 3) Monopolistic access to the planets resources 4) Media and communication monopolies 5) Monopolies over Weapons of Mass destruction 32  Characteristics of Third World Generally the following characteristics are usually given for third world countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America: 1. They are relatively young 2. They are confronted with similar development problems 3. They are engaged in the developmental task of nation-building and socio-economic progress 4. The per capital income is less 5. They are technologically less advanced 6. They are socially backward 7. They depend up on Foreign Aid 8. Politically - undemocratic 33  4. Dimensions of Development Development is always multi dimensional. Here are 4 important dimensions of development: 1. Economic dimension 2. Human dimension 3. Sustainable dimension 4. Territorial dimension 34  1. Economic development: is traditionally seen as the initial form of development. It has been strictly associated with the concept of economic growth determined through an increase in the per capita income. 2. Human development: should be measured in terms of the richness of human life. Development needs to ensure greater access to knowledge, better nutrition and health services, more secure livelihoods, security against crime and physical violence, satisfying leisure hours, political and cultural freedoms and sense of participation in community activities to people of a society. 35  3. Sustainable development: The concept of “sustainable development was first introduced by Brundtland (1987), who defined development as “sustainable” if it “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Sustainable development contains within it two key concepts: a. The concept of needs in particular, the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given b. The idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet 36 present and future needs  4. Territorial development: this dimension of development refers to a territorial system. It is intended to establish interrelationships between rural and urban areas connecting them by information systems and transport infrastructures. - Processes to improve the quality of life. Better territorial development levels are strongly related to fewer asymmetries between regions’ level of development and therefore better levels of cohesion (economic, social and territorial) 37  urban metropolitan regional or rural jurisdiction watershed coastal mountainous border areas Most often, the term is used to encompass both local development (narrowly associated with smaller, first-tier, jurisdictions or even part of them and regional development Ex. the development of larger, intermediate jurisdictions 38 (districts, provinces, regions, etc.).  5. Determinants of Development Natural Resources - is anything people can use which comes from nature. People do not make natural resources but gather them from the earth. These natural resources are resources which occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undistributed by mankind in a natural form. Classifications of Natural Resources: 1. Renewable resources 2. Non-renewable resources 3. Biotic resources 4. Abiotic resources 5. Potential resources 39 6. Actual resources  Classifications of Natural Resources: 1. Renewable resources - resources that grow again or comeback again after we use it 2. Non-renewable resources - are resources that do not grow or come back 3. Biotic resources - are resources obtained from the biosphere 4. Abiotic resources - non-living things 5. Potential resources - are those which exist in a region and may be used in the future 6. Actual resources - are those that have been surveyed, their quantity and quality determined and are being used in present times 40