Social Change and Development Perspective PDF

BA Sociology (Hons) Core-6 Social Change and Development Directorate of Distance &Continuing Education Utkal University, Vani Vihar Website: www.ddceutkal.org UNIT-1 1.0. Objectives 1.1. Concept and Definitions of Development 1.1.1. Characteristics of Development 1.1.2. Perspectives on Development 1.1.3. Dimensions of Development 1.1.4. Models of Development 1.2. Economic Growth 1.2.1 Meaning 1.2.2. Characteristics of economic growth 1.2.3. Why countries desire economic growth? 1.2.4. Key drivers of economic growth 1.2.5. Circle of Economic Growth 1.2.6. Phases of economic growth 1.2.7. Economic growth and development 1.2.8. Barriers to economic growth 1.3 Human Development 1.3.1. Human Development: The Concept 1.3.2. Human Development in the United Nation’s Agenda 1.3.3. Human development Approach vs. the Conventional Development Approach 1.3.4. Indicators of human development 1.3.5. Economic development and human development 1.3.6. Barriers to human development: 1.4. Social development 1.4.1. Social development: Meaning and definitions 1.4.2. Features of Social Development 1.4.3. Social Development in the United Nation’s Agenda 1.4.4. Social Development in India 1.4.5. Factors facilitating Social Development 1.4.6. Factors hindering Social Development 1.5. Sustainable Development 1.5.1. Meaning and definition 1.5.2. Origin of the concept 1.5.3. World Conventions on Sustainable Development 1.5.4. Objectives of sustainable Development 1.5.5. Requirements of sustainable Development 1.5.6. Dimensions of Sustainable Development 1.5.7. Key Issues in Sustainable Development 1.5.8. Challenges to Sustainable Development Unit-I Development is a buzz word of the world since the period following the Second World War. It is a social process affecting as well as wanted by both the rich and the poor nations. This unit gives an overview of the theoretical concept of development and the associated dimensions of it. Here an attempt is made to provide a conceptual analysis of the concept of development, its related concept of economic growth. Further the unit tries to focus on the paradigm shifts in the concept of development over the years. It also focuses on the concept of social development, human development and sustainable development which have become the dominant paradigms in the development discourse in the present day. 1.0 Objectives: After studying this unit, you can  Conceptualize what is development, its characteristics, its dimensions, perspectives and models.  Understand the meaning of economic growth along with its characteristics, need of economic growth, phases of economic growth, driving forces that promote economic growth, its difference from economic development and barriers to the process.  Develop an idea of the concept of human development, the reflection of the concept of human development in the UN agenda, how the concept departs from the conventional development models, indicators of human development and barriers to human development.  Comprehend the meaning and features of social development and the UN’s commitment for social development. Added to that you can note the process of social development in India along with the factors facilitating and hindering social development.  Trace out the meaning, origin, requirements of sustainable development, its pre-requisites. The unit will also impress upon you the world conventions on sustainable development, its dimensions, issues arising and challenges faced by the process. 1.1 Concept and Definitions of Development Social and economic development as processes is inherent to a society right from its inception. However, the emergence of the concept of development is a recent one dating back to the early nineteen fifties. The post Second World War period and the period of decolonization witnessed the emergence and the dominance of the concept of “Development” in academic literature. The declaration of 1960s as the Development decade by the United Nations led to a burgeoning of literature on the concept. Initially development was conceived as an exclusive economic term referring to “growth”, “increase in per capita income” etc. But soon it was felt, development cannot be thought of in a one- dimensional way having economic implications. It should affect the other dimensions of the society. Since then development became a sociological lexicon. Simply speaking development came to be interpreted as a process that is for the benefit of the society and only economic growth minus societal progress cannot be termed as development. Development thus stands for improvement in quality of life and conditions of living. In general terms, “development” means an “event constituting a new stage or a changing situation”. “Development” is implicitly intended as something positive or desirable. When referring to a society or to a socio-economic system, “development” usually means improvement, either in the general situation of the system, or in some of its constituent elements. The concept of development though was not explicitly used, finds its essence in August Comte’s ‘Law of Three Stages”, in Herbert Spencer’s evolutionary theory, in Emile Durkheim’s ideas on the progress of society from mechanical to organic solidarity, in Karl Marx’s ideas on the progress of societies through different epochs and Max Weber’s ideas on the growth of modern capitalism. But it was in the post Second World War period and the subsequent process of decolonization, the concept of “Development” got a momentum. During this period, the pro active role of the International agencies in assisting the war affected nations to rebuild their economies, the nation building process initiated by the newly liberalized countries gave a boost to the concept of development. 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. As Thomas argues, development as a concept is ‘contested, complex, and ambiguous’. “Although development has been a constant concern of governments, policymakers, economists and other social scientists – and has touched the lives of more people than ever before – there has been little agreement on what constitutes development, how it is best measured and how it is best achieved. One reason for this lack of agreement is that dissatisfaction with the pace and character of economic and social change has instilled a desire to redefine the aims and measures of development.”(UNDP 1990, 104) Development can be defined as the process of economic and social transformation that is based on complex cultural and environmental factors and their interactions. Thomas (2000) explains three ways the word ‘development’ is used.  Development as a vision: a vision or description of how a desirable society should be.  Development as a historical process: social change that takes place over long periods of time due to inevitable processes. Here development refers to the unavoidable results of progress like agricultural to industrial society.  Development as action: deliberate efforts to change things for the better and to ensure a better standard of living like providing food, education, health services etc. To Prof. Yogindra Singh “Development is a strategy of planned social change which is considered desirable by the members of a society.” 1.1.1. Characteristics of Development The following are the important characteristics of development. 1. Development is a continuous process The process of development continues from the moment of inception of the society. The society always marches forward. Sometimes the process of development is faster and under some situations it slows down. However, it witnesses no complete halting point. It is ongoing in nature. 2. Development follows a pattern Development occurs in an orderly manner and follows a certain sequence. Thus, primitive, medieval and modern are the different phases of development of the society. The society cannot skip one stage to reach at the other in the process of development. The pattern is always maintained. 3. Development has a direction It runs as corollary from the above said feature that the process of development follows a definite direction. The direction is always forward and never backward. August Comte’s “Law of Three Stages”, Herbert Spencer’s proposition that the society moves from a simple to the complex one, Ferdinand Tonnies’s idea that the society transits from community to association, Emile Durkheim’s proposition that the society makes a shift from mechanical to organic solidarity and Karl Marx’s idea that the society progresses from a class to a class less society amply justify the directionality involved in the process of development. It also impresses that in the process of development, the society progresses towards maturity. 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. In the long run the impacts of development become visible. On the other hand, revolutionary development refers to the abrupt and rapid change in the society. Revolutionary development is triggered by some factors like education, migration in large scale, introduction of policies etc. Revolutionary development is marked in a quick span and is vividly visible in nature. For example, transition of a society from pre modern to modern is evolutionary development, but transition of a society from monarchy to democracy due to some revolution is revolutionary in nature. Even the developments taking in India in the post globalization period can said to be revolutionary. 5. Development is multidimensional The conventional notion of development always insisted upon the uni dimensionality of the concept of development focussing on economic growth. However, later on it was felt economic growth is a parameter of development, but not the sole or whole of it. At this moment the social scientists and development practitioners felt that development 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. Its political dimension is expressed through the process of democratization, distributive justice; increased consciousness for human rights, equity, liberty etc. The cultural dimensions of development is manifested through the growth of secular culture, increased consumerism etc. The social dimensions of development include increased participation of people in societal affairs, development of self reliance, better human development and environmental sustainability, etc. 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. Time and space cannot arrest it. Right from the beginning of the society development process is initiated. The rich and the poor societies, the most developed and the most under developed societies too experience it. In some societies it is faster while in some societies it is slow. In some societies the yields of development are more remarkable than other societies. So, the process is universal, but the outcome is not uniform. 7. Development insists upon adaptability Development as process is driven by human needs. Human needs change with the changing time and situations. The process of development demands the existing institutions to change and adapt to the upcoming demands to fulfil the emerging needs of the individuals. For example: with the process of industrialization there was increased migration which required the institution of joint family to disintegrate structurally. 8. Development stands for dynamism Development necessarily entails change. It brings changes in the status quo of a society. No development process can be imagined without bringing subsequent changes. Thus, the concept of development is against the notion of static. 9. Development is irreversible Development as a process is always forward looking and has no look back. There may be temporary stalemates but once a society is into the process of development, it will never revert back to its original state. So development is always progressive. 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. The best example of it is that when a new technology is innovated, very soon, it spreads to other areas beyond the place of its origin. 11. Development always has positive yields The outcomes of development are always positive. It is for the betterment of the society. Development thus is progressive. But sometimes when development outcomes are used by human beings in a negative way its consequences become disastrous. For e.g. Development of technology necessarily improves human quality of life. But when men blindly use it for destructive purpose the outcomes become sorrowful. 12. Development has got its qualitative and quantitative connotations Development as a process can be judged through the qualitative improvement human conditions of living. For example when there is a reduction of house hold drudgery for the women we find a qualitative change in their living conditions and term it as development of women. 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. For example the increase in the number of educational institutions is also described as development. Thus the qualitative aspects of development are felt while the quantitative aspects of development are observed. 1.1.2. Perspectives on Development Development as a concept can be discussed from various perspectives. They are:  ‘Development’ as a long term process of structural societal transformation.  ‘Development’ as a short-to-medium term outcome of desirable targets.  ‘Development ‘as a dominant ‘discourse’ of western modernity ‘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’, as Gore noted, is one that predominated in the 1950s and 1960s in particular. 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. In this conceptualization development relates to a wide view of diverse socio-economic changes. The change in one structural element of the society has the propensity to bring changes in other institutions and elements. For example, 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. ‘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’. At its most basic level it is simply concerned with development as occurring in terms of a set of short- to medium-term ‘performance indicators’ – goals or outcomes – which can be measured and compared with targets. For example change in the level of education, increase in income, poverty reduction etc. is the short or medium term outcomes used to indicate development. It is a practitioner accepted model of development very much used by the development agencies like the UNDP (the United Nations Development Programme), OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), The World Bank etc. The key feature of this second perspective is that it is focused on the outcomes of change so that it has a relatively short-term outlook. But it becomes easy to measure development in terms of some pre fixed objectives and the level of their attainment. ‘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 that: “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.” Michel Foucault (1966, 1969) is a strong advocate of this post modern approach to development. The post modern theorists are vocal against the development maladies created in the Third World countries. To the post modern development theorists development created a neo colonial regime in the Third World countries. Instead of creating abundance promised by theorists and politicians in the 1950s, the discourse and strategy of development produced its opposite: massive underdevelopment and impoverishment, untold exploitation and oppression. The western development model was super imposed on the Third world countries with a top down, ethnocentric, and technocratic approach. It neglected the local people, their needs and cultural demands. 1.1.3 Dimensions of Development Development is always multi dimensional. Four important dimensions of development can be introduced here. They are: economic dimension, human dimension, sustainable dimension and the territorial dimension. Economic development: 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. It proposes economic transformations to initiate growth and does not speak much about social transformation. However, soon it was realised that economic development cannot ensure true development as the benefits are cornered by a few. Human development: Human dimension of development presupposes that development should be measured in terms of the richness of human life. The concept was insisted upon by a Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq and Indian economist Amartya Sen in 1990 and was published by the United Nations Development Programme. To quote Haq income or growth figures cannot be the sole determinant of development. 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. The objective of human development lies in creating an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy and creative lives. Today human development approach has profoundly affected an entire generation of policy-makers and development specialists around the world. 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”. It contains within it two key concepts:  The concept of needs in particular, the essential needs of the world's poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and  The idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future needs. Sustainable development implies minimising the use of exhaustible resources to create a constant flow of it across generations, and making an appropriate use of renewable resources. This applies to energy, fish stock, wildlife, forests, water, land and air. The concept of sustainability has also been extended beyond environmental concerns, to include social sustainability, i.e. long term acceptance and ownership of development changes by the citizens, their organisations and associations (civil society), and financial and economic sustainability. Thus, sustainable development recognizes that growth must be both inclusive and environmentally sound to reduce poverty and build shared prosperity for today’s population and to continue to meet the needs of future generations. It is efficient with resources and carefully planned to deliver both immediate and long-term benefits for people, planet, and prosperity. The three pillars of sustainable development are economic growth, environmental stewardship, and social inclusion. 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. Territorial development implies focusing on the assets of the territory, its potential and constraints (FAO, 2005).Policies to exploit and enhance this potential play an important role in the development process. 1.1.4. Models of Development The post-World War II period, the process of decolonialisation, the emergence and need for economic reconstruction of nation-states, and the shadow of the Cold War widely shaped the development discourse till the late 1970s. The industrial and political rise of the West and Southern Europe and North America on the one side, and Russia and communist states on the other, with the stagnation of a vast number of nations with low productivity, industrial backwardness and poverty gave rise to the First, Second and developing world models of development respectively.The first world model of development is called the “Capitalist Model”, the second world model was popularly known as the “Socialist Model” and The third world development model was named as the “Developing World Model”. The capitalist model of development is characterised by provision of private ownership of property and means of production, minimum state control on economic enterprises, and a free economy regulated by competition. This developmental model also emphasises sustained growth and modernisation with massive state investment at the takeoff stage. This perspective insists economic development would revolve around industrialisation. This model of development is criticised as pro rich and anti poor in character. It is claimed that it increases the rich poor gap and results in uneven development. The Second World model or the socialist model was contradictory to the capitalist model of development. It challenged the capitalist model of development. It propagated the abolition of ownership of private property and means of production, emphasised state ownership of means of production, state-owned public enterprise, and a state regulated economy and centralised planning by the state for economic growth. While both the capitalist and the socialist models laid primary emphasis on economic growth, the socialist model also emphasised on the equal distribution of the fruits of growth among all sections of the population. This model of development faced its tragic consequences in the 80s when there was the fall of communism in Soviet Russia. The model could not yield its targeted result and failed to create an egalitarian society. Rather, poverty and unemployment became the worst outcomes of this model of development. The developing world is represented by the ex-colonial, newly independent and non-aligned countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. These countries were industrially backward at the time of liberation. These countries witnessed wide diversity in terms of their socio-cultural and political settings and historical experiences and levels of technological and economic development. These countries were economically and technologically underdeveloped, and were undergoing the process of nation-building and fast social transformation in the post-colonial era. As against these backdrops, these countries have been experimenting with diverse models of development. For example, India has followed the path of “mixed economy” by adopting a path of development in between the capitalist and socialist models. With the process of Globalization and the subsequent structural adjustment policies this model is tending to take a capitalist trend of development. 1.2. Economic Growth Economic growth is one of the prime goals of every nation be small or large. Right from the beginning of the development debates, it is taken as the key driver and indicator of development. The prosperity of a nation is judged in terms of the rate of economic growth it achieves from time to time. 1.2.1 Meaning Economic growth is the long-term expansion of a country’s productive potential. It is the process by which a nation’s wealth increases over time. Although the term is often used in discussions of short-term economic performance, in the context of economic theory, it generally refers to an increase in wealth over an extended period. An increase in the capacity of an economy to produce more goods and services, compared from one period of time to another becomes an indicator of economic growth. Economic growth is indicated through GDP or GNP per capita. Increase in the capital stock, advances in technology, and improvement in the quality and level of literacy are considered to be the principal causes of economic growth. In recent years, the idea of sustainable development has become a prime indicator of economic growth. Sustainable development focuses on environmentally sound processes that must be taken into account in growing an economy. Economic growth has two meanings: 1. Firstly, and most commonly, growth is defined as an increase in the output that an economy produces over a period of time. 2. The second meaning of economic growth is an increase in production of an economy by the use of its scarce resources. When an economy is in a position to produce more, it is termed as economic growth. The increase in production can be noted through the increase in the production of consumer goods and capital goods. Economic growth, thus simply means an increase in the production and consumption of goods and services. Todaro and Smith define economic growth as “The steady process by which the productive capacity of the economy is increased over time to bring about rising levels of national output and income.” Economic growth has been defined by Arthur Lewis as “the growth of output per head of population”. Economic growth is often and generally indicated by increasing real gross domestic product (GDP) or real gross national product (GNP), and it has been a primary, perennial goal of many societies and most governments. However, it should be remembered that economic growth has its limitations and sometimes blind stress on economic growth results in negative yields like degradation of environment which becomes detrimental to the lives and longevity of the people and the planet. So instead of brining economic welfare it proves disastrous for human existence. 1.2.2Characteristics of Economic Growth There are some marked characteristics of economic growth. According to Simon Kuznet there are six characteristics of modern economic growth. They are:  High rates of growth of per capita incomes.  High rates of growth of total factor productivity.  High rates of structural transformation of the economy.  High rates of social and ideological transformation.  Growth of trade, specifically import of raw materials and  Export of manufactures. 1.2.3Why countries desire economic growth? Economic growth is the most important economic indicator of development. It simply tells us how much more the economy is producing than it did before. If the economy is producing more, businesses are more profitable, and stock prices rise,it leads to more capital investment and more employment. As more jobs are created, incomes rise. This gives consumers more money to buy more products and services, driving more economic growth. For this reason, all countries want positive economic growth. Positive economic growth generates economic welfare. It raises the level of employment. It brings more purchasing power to the people. It betters of their consumption capacity and ensures them a better standard of living. When there is a general rise in the standard of living of the people, the country’s economy moves forward. 1.2.4 Key drivers of economic growth There are certain driving forces of economic growth. According to Arthur Lewis, economic growth is conditioned by (1) economic activity, (2) increasing knowledge and (3) increasing capital. In other words, these three factors are labour, technical improvements and capital. Taking into consideration the aforesaid factors, the following factors can be discussed as the most important drivers of economic growth. Growth in physical Growth in the size of Growth in the quality of labor capital stock active labor force (Growth of Human Capital) leading to increase in per capita income Technological progress Stable system of democratic Increase in the stock and innovation leading governance, economic stability of knowledge to increase in production (both qualitative and quantitative leap) The most important driver of economic growth is the increase in the physical capital stock of a nation. The amount of physical stock determines the distribution pattern. Physical capital stock includes land available, natural resources, water, forest etc. In every country there is a dearth of physical capital available to the population. If the stock of physical capital can increase through the careful utilization pattern or better exploration of the natural resources, then there is a necessary increase in the stock and the number of users increase and the amount available to each user increases. This gives birth to economic growth. An increase in the labour force participation rate symbolizes economic growth. The challenges of growth, job creation, and inclusion are closely intertwined. Increased labour force participation creates opportunities for people, increase their economic self sufficiency and lead to a better standard of living among them. It also reduces the dependency rate. The demand for products increase and it brings transformations in the process of production. When production increases due to increased demand, the market expands and diversifies. This brings economic growth. Along with physical capital an important factor of economic growth is productive labour force. Productive labour force is needed to make an optimal and efficient use of physical capital. Productive labour force is the outcome of an increase in the quality of human capital in the country. The human capital depends on the level of education, skill development, health of the workers, their training and ability to innovate, motivation for work etc. When a country fosters all these qualities or provides these inputs, economic growth is spearheaded, because the process of production is well anchored and very efficiently managed to yield the maximum output. When the human capital of a country is overstressed, there is a qualitative improvement in the labour force. This brings forth tremendous innovations and transformations in the process of production. There are rapid technological progresses. The intelligent labour force provides a new face to the process of production. There is both a quantitative increase and a qualitative rise in production. This significantly contributes towards economic growth. However economic growth is always tied to economic stability and a stable system of governance. Economic instability like recessions, depressions retard the process of economic growth. Economic stability is dependent on a prudent and stable government which plays a significant role in making economic policies, planning and programmes. A visionary government can better facilitate economic growth. Particularly, when a government remains free from rifts, challenges and threats it remains relatively stable and focuses on better investment of capital for economic growth. Finally, the stock knowledge or knowledge capital plays a crucial role in economic growth. Of all the factors of production, knowledge capital creates the longest lasting competitive advantage for economic growth. Knowledge capital is an essential component of human capital.Stock knowledge is an intangible asset that comprises the information and skills of the individuals who serve as employees, their experience with the process of production, group work and on-the-job learning. Thus, knowledge capital refers to the know how that results from the experience, information, knowledge, learning, and skills of the labor force. Knowledge capital is not like the physical factors of production - land, labor and capital.It is based on skills that employees share with each other in order to improve efficiencies, rather than on physical items. Skills and access to knowledge provides a better work efficiency to the labor engaged in the process f production. 1.2.5Circle of Economic Growth There is a well decided circle of economic growth. It is initiated from the point of rising consumer demand. When the consumers have higher demand, the supply sides need a strengthening by increasing the output. To increase the output, investment of capital in all its forms, physical, human, and knowledge capital becomes a need. When the quality and amount of investment increases, there is a phenomenal rise in productivity. This leads to an increase in the wages received by the people engaged in production. This increases their purchasing power and the demand side is strengthened which boosts the subsequent stages of economic process and ultimately result in economic growth by increased per capita income and GDP. The circle of economic growth can be indicated through the figure below. Increased wage Rising Increased Higher investment consumer out put demand Increase Increased Higher in the wage results in productivity wage the increasing received purchasing power Strengthens demand and fuels economic growth 1.2.6The Phases of Economic Growth Economic growth normally has two important phases. They are the rising phase called economic expansion and a declining phase called economic recession. Economic expansion is the most desirable phase of economic growth, when the economy grows sustainably. At some point, confidence in economic growth dissipates. When economic growth becomes economic contraction, it's known as a recession. An economic depression is a recession. It is also called a down turn in the economy. Rostow’s Stages of Economic Growth W.W. Rostow, the American economic historian described the transformation of countries from underdevelopment to development in terms of stages of growth. He is of the view that all countries must pass through the following stages. 1) The traditional society; 2) The transitional society; 3) The take- off stage; 4) The mature stage and; 5) The age of high mass consumption The traditional societies are custom-bound and tradition-oriented. These hinder progress and generate economic backwardness. The poor countries of today are good examples of traditional society. In short, the factors which are essential for economic growth like development of new knowledge, changing practices of production, skill are missing in such societies. In the transitional society, the conditions for take-off stage are established. During this stage, the force of customs and traditions get reduced; economic motivation rises and there are perceptible improvements in physical and social infrastructure. Once an economy attains the take–off stage, it experiences sustaining growth. The take-off stage refers to a situation where an economy transforms itself from a predominantly agricultural to a predominantly industrial society. For an economy to attain the take-off stage, it is required to make heavy investment from its resources for industrial production and development of allied services. The take-off stage was made possible in some countries by leading sectors like railways and defence. After the take- off stage, when the economy attains self sustaining growth, it enters the mature stage. During this stage, the government has to make some basic decisions. As there will be abundant resources and goods, it has to decide whether it has to use them for strengthening the nation into a strong and powerful state militarily or to use the resources for improving the welfare of the people. The final stage is the age of high mass consumption. During this period, people will consume all kinds of goods especially durable goods like cars on a mass scale. Rostow’s stages of economic growth are only broadly true. All nations have not gone through the order in which he has described the stages. 1.2.7Economic growth and development Economic growth and economic development have received a lot of attention in the 20thcentury. In an economy there must be balanced economic growth of all sectors – agriculture, manufacturing industry and the service sector. Only then, economic growth will benefit all sectors of the population. Economic welfare is based on proper distribution among the population. The distribution takes place in the form of rent, wages, interest and profits. In the past, economic growth and economic development were used more or less with the same meaning. For example, the rate of growth of income per capita or per capita GNP was an index of economic development. The wellbeing of population depends on the rate of growth of ‘real’ per capita GNP. Real per capita GNP refers to the monetary growth of GNP per capita minus the rate of inflation. The common notion says if there is decline in poverty, unemployment, and inequality, there is economic development in the country. Otherwise, even if per capita income doubles, it cannot be termed as economic development. So when there is development, there must be improvement in the quality of life. That means people must have higher incomes, better education, better health care and nutrition, less poverty and more equality of opportunity. So according to Michael P. Todaro and Stephen C. Smith, “Development must be conceived of as a multidimensional process involving major changes in social structures, popular attitudes and national institutions, as well as the acceleration of economic growth, the reduction of inequality, and the eradication of poverty”. The economic development of a country or society is usually associated with (amongst other things) rising incomes and related increases in consumption, savings, and investment. Of course, there is far more to economic development than income growth; for if income distribution is highly skewed, growth may not be accompanied by much progress towards the goals that are usually associated with economic development. Economists usually measure economic growth in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) or related indicators, such as gross national product (GNP) or gross national income (GNI) which is derived from the GDP calculation. GDP is calculated from a country's national accounts which report annual data on incomes, expenditure and investment for each sector of the economy. Using these data it is possible to estimate the total income earned in the country in any given year (GDP) or the total income earned by a country's citizens (GNP or GNI). 1.2.8Barriers to economic growth Economic growth depends on the quality and availability of these factors. If any of the factors of production suffers from a lack of quality or availability, then economic growth will not be possible to take place. These factors include:  Dearth of infrastructure:  Insufficient or contaminated land  Substandard labour supply  Poor technical infrastructure, such as roads and communications  Poor social infrastructure, such as schools or hospitals  Poor industrial infrastructure, such as factories and machinery These are basically the infrastructural support needed for economic growth. In the absence of such infrastructural facilities, economic growth in unimaginable. Along with the infrastructural barrier, a wide range of other barriers which halt economic growth can be pointed as below.  Poverty cycle:  low incomes  low savings  low investment  low incomes Poverty cycle reduces the capacity of the country to make flow of capital for production and thus the process of production is retarded and economic growth is stunted.  Institutional and political factors:  ineffective taxation structure  lack of property rights  political instability  corruption  unequal distribution of income  formal and informal markets  lack of infrastructure Institutional and political factors play a crucial role in stagnating economic growth. When the institutional arrangements are not proper, there is inequality of income among the people, the country fails to generate adequate revenue needed to fuel the production process. Political instability leads to a shift of focus from economic growth to maintain stability and the system of governance withdraws its efforts from accelerating economic growth. Corruption is a great negation to growth as money gets siphoned to individual hands for personal consumption and is not used for mass consumption. Sick markets cannot stir economic growth. Because the demand subsides in a sick market and no longer the market plays its driving role to promote economic growth. Infrastructures like transports, communications, educational institutions and hospitals when are ill developed, economic growth is seriously hampered.  International trade barriers:  overdependence on primary products  consequences of adverse terms of trade  consequences of a narrow range of exports  protectionism in international trade International trade barriers negate economic growth. Over dependence on primary products do not allow an economy to grow. Adverse terms of trade and limitations on exports cast its unfavourable consequences upon production. For such conditions, market expansion is blocked. Capital generation becomes difficult which is needed for production. Protectionism in international trade restricts consumer’s choice and freedom and disallows the products of certain countries to get marketed outside. This negatively affects production and economic growth.  International financial barriers:  indebtedness  non-convertible currencies  capital flight International financial barriers like debt traps, capital flight and drain make investment limited for a country. This adversely affects economic growth.  Social and cultural factors acting as barriers:  religion  culture  tradition  gender issues Socio cultural factors too arrest economic growth. Religious segregation, taboos, cultural prescriptions and limitations, traditions and gender based discriminations mar the human capital development and dissociate a major chunk of the population from getting integrated in the labour force and emerging as quality labour force. This becomes degrading for economic growth. However, today nations are taking measures to overcome such barriers to make economic growth a reality. The structural adjustment policies, liberalization process and globalization have significantly reduced the international trade and financial barriers. Inclusive policies have tried to put an end to the socio cultural barriers to economic growth. Revamping of the economy through economic planning, policies and programmes have addressed many issues arising out of poverty cycle. Development of a strong political will, administrative reforms, and public policies and the ideology of good governance are also tuned to make economic growth an achievable agenda. 1.3 Human Development The last decade of the twentieth century witnessed the development of a new approach to development known as the “Human Development” approach. The approach got widespread popularity with the efforts of the United Nations to make it an avowed purpose for all nation states. By this time, the planners, policy makers and the intellectuals realized that development of a society becomes a myth without the proper development of its human beings who are the ultimate stakeholders of the benefits of development. This thinking led to the development of the concept of “Human Development” which has become the most vital index of and an instrument for development today. 1.3.1Human Development: The Concept According to this concept of human development, “Income is merely one option that people would like to have. But it is not the sum total of their lives. Development must, therefore, be more than just the expansion of income and wealth. Its focus must be people.” Human dimension of development presupposes that development should be measured in terms of the richness of human life. It presupposes that people are the real wealth of the nations. So development should be designed and directed to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy and creative lives. Human development is defined as the process of enlarging people’s freedoms and opportunities and improving their well-being. Human development is about the real freedom ordinary people have to decide who to be, what to do, and how to live. To be more definitive human development can be said to be a paradigm that speaks about creating an environment in which people can develop their full potential and lead productive, creative lives in accord with their needs and interests. The human development concept was developed by the Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq. There was thinking on this human development concept at the World Bank in the 1970s. But it took the concrete shape as an approach when Dr. Haq argued that existing measures of human progress failed to improve people’s lives. In particular, he believed that the commonly used measure of Gross Domestic Product failed to adequately measure well-being. He noted that the existing model of development had the lacunae of not trickling down to the lower rung of the social ladder. So, it was becoming pro rich and anti poor. Working with Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and others in 1990 Dr. Haq published the first Human Development Report, which was commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme. The concept of human development was then expanded upon by Martha Nussbaum, Sabina Alkire, Ingrid Robeyns, and others who had development concerns. 1.3.2Human Development in the United Nation’s Agenda The UNDP, in its Human Development Report has voiced its concern against the jobless, ruthless, voiceless, rootless and fortuneless growth in the late 1990s. The conventional development process resulted in jobless growth, since the economy grew but did not expand the opportunities for employment for large sections of the population. For the developing countries, jobless growth has meant long hours of work, but very low incomes. Under jobless growth, hundreds of millions of people are into low productivity work in agriculture and in other informal sectors which does not become paying for them. The traditional developmental process was ruthless by the fact that the fruits of economic growth have mostly benefited the rich; while millions of people stagnate in poverty. Ruthless growth causes people’s cultural identity to wither. At places the dominant majority culture amplifies at the cost of marginalisation of the minority cultures. The minority culture gradually withers away. The development process in practice resulted in a voiceless growth as in many places it has not ensured the process of democratic participation of the people in decision-making processes. The voiceless growth process also provides women a marginal role in economic development. Again, fast economic growth is also achieved in some countries at the cost of destruction of forests, polluting rivers, destroying bio-diversity and depleting natural resources. Development did not reflect the voices of all sections of the society and all sectors of the planet. The established development practices yielded a futureless growth in the sense the present generation squanders resources needed by the future generation. At times the futureless growth benefits the industrialised countries at the cost of increased pressure on the poor people of the developing countries. As against this backdrop, the UNDP says development that perpetuates today’s inequalities is neither sustainable nor worth sustaining. The UNDP concluded that expansion of real income and economic growth are not necessarily characteristics of successful development as countries with high GDP and per capita income at times have very low achievements in the quality of life. So the UNDP launched its efforts to make development pro people. For this, it shifted the development paradigm for growth centric to people centric development and insisted upon human development. United Nations Development Programme has been defining human development as "the process of enlarging people's choices. The choices can be enlarged by allowing them to "lead a long and healthy life, to be educated, to enjoy a decent standard of living", as well as “enjoying political freedom, other guaranteed human rights and various ingredients of self-respect." In principle, these choices can be infinite and change over time. But at all levels of development, the three essential ones that can indicate human development are: (a) To lead a long and healthy life, (b) To acquire knowledge and (c) To have access to resources needed for a decent standard of living. When human development insists upon expanding the choices people, its focus hovers around the following propositions.  To allow human beings to lead lives that they value  To improve the human condition so that people have the chance to lead full lives.  To avoid the concentration of the goods and services that underprivileged people need  To allow people to take their own decisions.  To enable human beings to participate in the life of the community. The human development approach assumes that without these, many choices are simply not available, and many opportunities in life remain inaccessible. This prevents people from leading a descent life. However, human development does not end there. Additional choices, ranging from political, economic and social freedom to opportunities for being creative and productive and enjoying personal self-respect and guaranteed human rights are also inseparable parts of human development. Thus, human development is a well-being concept within a field of international development. It involves studies of the human condition with its core being the capability approach. The inequality adjusted Human Development Index is used as a way of measuring actual progress in human development by the United Nations. It is an alternative approach to a single focus on economic growth, and focuses more on social justice, as a way of understanding progress. Fundamental to enlarging these choices is building human capabilities —the range of things that people can do or be in life. Capabilities are "the substantive freedoms [a person] enjoys to lead the kind of life [they have] reason to value." Thus, the UNDP depicts two sides of human development. They are:  The formation of human capabilities – such as improved health, knowledge and access to resources; and  The people making use of these capabilities for productive purposes – being active in cultural, social and political affairs. 1.3.3Human development Approach vs. the Conventional Development Approach The Human Development Approach to development is different from the conventional approaches development. According to this approach, the conventional focus of the development approach on economic growth is an indicator of development, but it cannot be the sole and whole symbol of development. The human development approach subsumes within it human capital formation, human resources development, human welfare or the basic human needs approaches. Economic growth, that is, the increase in production (GDP) is necessary but not sufficient for human development. The theories of human capital formation and human resources development consider the human being as a means and not as an end. They are concerned with the supply side. The human welfare approach visualises people only as passive recipients of benefits of development and not as its participants. The basic needs approach aims to satisfy the basic minimum needs, i.e., food, shelter, clothing, etc., of the deprived sections of the population rather than on the issue of human choices. The human development approach puts equal emphasis on the production and distribution of resources, expansion and use of human capabilities, scope of choice, livelihood security, participatory process, and social, economic and political freedom. All these indeed emphases a paradigm shift in the social development strategy of the State. The Human Development approach emphasizes on three dimensions. They are: social, economic and efficiency dimensions. These can be shown in the following diagram. Dimensions of Human Development Economic Progress Social progress achieved achieved through Efficiency noted through greater access though to  Reduction of inequality  Greater  Knowledge  Higher per availability  Nutrition and capita Income and  Health services  Better use of resources 1.3.4. Indicators of human development There are six basic indicators of human development. They are: equity, sustainability, productivity, empowerment, cooperation and security.  Equity is the idea of fairness for every person, between men and women. Every individual has the right to an education and health care.  Sustainability is the view that we all have the right to earn a living that can sustain our lives and have access to a more even distribution of goods.  Productivity states the full participation of people in the process of income generation. This also means that the government needs more efficient social programs for its people.  Empowerment is the freedom of the people to influence development and decisions that affect their lives.  Cooperation stipulates participation and belongingness to the communities and groups as a means of mutual enrichment. Security offers people development opportunities freely and safely with confidence that they will not disappear suddenly in the future. 1.3.5. Economic development and human development There is a close nexus between economic development and human development. Economic development can stimulate human development and human development is a necessary pre condition for economic development. Unless and until, the economy of a society is well developed, the environment for human development does not become conducive. When there is growth, increase in per capita income, people gets better purchasing power and the standard of living increases. Their affordability capacity increases and they are in a position to spend for their education, nutrition, health etc. This improves their quality of life and well being. They are able to lead a long life, have access to information and knowledge and have the required resources to lead a descent life. All these promote human development. Thus, economic development is a prerequisite for human development. On the other hand, human development stimulates economic development. Economic development always presupposes growth which is dependent on human productivity. Knowledge, health and access to opportunities like education, health, nutrition, and information generate skill, capacity and expertise in the human beings and make them not only productive, but also add quality to their work. This promotes economic development. Production increases, market develops, market expands and get diversified. This increases the GDP of a nation. The better is the human development of a society, the faster and richer is the economic development of a nation. 1.3.6. Barriers to human development: There are several forces that constrain human development. The prominent among them are: An inegalitarian environment that promotes sectoral interest restricts human development. When the interest of a group is protected and promoted at the cost of the majority, the development of the majority is challenged. Their freedom, choice is sacrificed and their development does not get focus. For example in the traditional caste society of India, the privileges were cornered by the higher castes and the vast majority of lower caste people were debarred from accessing the benefits rendered by the society. This prevented the human development. When the societal resources, economic opportunities are monopolized by a segment of the society, human development becomes retarded. Political disempowerment restricts the participation of the citizens in a healthy manner and this affects the process of human development. Poor quality of life and unequal distribution of power and resources negate human development in a society. Lack of cooperation among the people, rising conflict restrict human development. Because the enabling environment cannot be created when human safety is affected due to conflict and tensions created thereof. Under such situation human development becomes a myth. For examples in the conflict areas human development becomes impossible. So, all these barriers are to be fought against to make human development possible. 1.4 Social development Spectacular developments initiated in the early fifties through the economic development approach failed to materialize the dream of human well being. Economic growth could not ensure social progress. It was realized that economic development fuelled the market forces to favour the rich and deprive the poor. This increased the gap between the rich and the poor. Economic growth induced prosperity for a few, but resulted in poverty, massive deprivation and social backwardness. This compelled nations to face a contradiction between economic prosperity on the one hand and social progress on the other which finally culminated in imbalanced development. The failure of the grand economic theories of growth to ensure balanced development of the society led development thinkers to think for alternative models of development. Economists like Gunnar Myrdal argued for a redefinition of development taking the social factors into account. To him economic prosperity has no meaning unless and until it is able to eradicate social miseries. Similarly, The World Bank and the UNDP also insisted for the inclusion of social issues in economic planning to make it more pro people and development effective in character. The alternative model of development was expected to be holistic and multidimensional to touch and impact every fringe of the society and to ensure balanced development. Thus, social development emerged as an alternative approach to development to ensure a healthy and balanced development. It was expected to be multidimensional, multifaceted effecting and benefiting every aspect of society. Thus, economic policies started getting tuned to meet the broader social objectives. This added a new dimension to the development discourse. 1.4.1. Social development: Meaning Social development is a process that results in the transformation of social structures to improve the capacity of a society in order to fulfill its objectives. It refers to a paradigmatic change within the social and economic structure. Social development attempts to explain the qualitative changes in the structure and framework of society, that help the society to better realize its aims and objectives. When development takes place in progressive way featuring in greater levels of efficiency, quality, productivity, complexity, comprehension, creativity, mastery, enjoyment and accomplishment and brings qualitative changes in human existence, it can be termed as social development. The UN document claimed a social development aims at bringing about a more equitable distribution of income and wealth for promoting social justice, alleviating poverty, maximizing productivity, employment and expanding and improving facilities for education, health nutrition, housing and social welfare for the disadvantaged individuals, groups and communities. These become the very indicators of social development. Thus it can be noted that society centric development can be designated as social development. This implies that development processes need to benefit people, enrich their way of interaction in groups and societies, and make the norms that facilitate such interaction conducive. Social development thus implies the change in social institutions. Progress toward an inclusive society with the process of normative and institutional changes and changes in the interactional pattern among individuals can be depicted as a good example of social development. To quote James Midgley “ Planned change designated to promote the well being of the population as a whole in conjunction with a dynamic process of economic development can be termed as social development.” Emibayer and Mische opine social development aims at enabling the individuals, efficacy building in them, generating a sense of self determination among them and ensuring opportunities to them to satisfy their basic needs to improve their quality of life. In his essay “The idea of Social Development”, Herbert Blumer argues social development is a new concept which is closely associated with the cultural values of the community. According to Gore, social development as a term means economic growth with social justice, eradication of poverty and minimization of economic inequalities, emphasis on human resources development and development of social services which are inclusive of welfare services but extended to cover health, education, housing, rehabilitation etc. Paiva viewed social development as a process of enhancing the capacity of individuals to work for their own, as well as for the welfare of their society. Salima Omer defined social development as a process concerned with achieving an integrated, balanced and unified social and economic development of society that gives expression to the value of human dignity, equality and social justice. Social Development can thus be concluded to be the promotion of a sustainable society that is worthy of human dignity by empowering marginalised groups, women and men, to undertake their own development, to improve their social and economic position and to acquire their rightful place in society. 1.4.2. Features of Social Development The International Agencies visualize social development as a progressive process of change resulting in steady improvement in social conditions. The chief features of social development include:  Promotion of social progress and betterment of human conditions of living by according human beings a life with dignity, equality, respect, mutual responsibility and cooperation.  People centric development where economic development is a means to achieve human development by fulfilling the basic needs of the individuals.  Making economic policies and social policies mutually supplementary to each other to maximize development.  Ensuring social and distributive justice and to achieve maximum sustainable human development.  Achieving equity and equality for all by ensuring access, opportunity and quality of life to all.  Creating an enabling environment for all individuals by enriching and enhancing their capabilities.  Empowering the people to make the right choice for themselves. Also to allow them to enjoy their rights, have access to resources.  Providing autonomy to all. To cite some examples, equitable distribution of societal resources like property, prestige, greater and better access to institutions like education, health, food security, greater enjoyment of freedom and dignity by the people, changes in the stratification system and greater opportunity for social mobility are the examples of social development experienced by a society. All these require facilitating structural changes to bring welfare for all. 1.2.3Social Development in the United Nation’s Agenda The World Summit for Social Development was held in March 1995 in Copenhagen with the heads of 117 countries. Here, the Governments reached a new consensus on the need to put people at the centre of development. The Social Summit was the largest gathering ever of world leaders. It pledged to make the conquest of poverty, the goal of full employment and the fostering of social integration overriding objectives of development. Among the ground-breaking agreements made by the world's leaders in the Declaration are ten commitments to:  Eradicate absolute poverty by a target date to be set by each country;  Support full employment as a basic policy goal;  Promote social integration based on the enhancement and protection of all human rights;  Achieve equality and equity between women and men;  Accelerate the development of Africa and the least developed countries;  Ensure that structural adjustment programmes include social development goals;  Increase resources allocated to social development;  Create "an economic, political, social, cultural and legal environment that will enable people to achieve social development'';  Attain universal and equitable access to education and primary health care; and  Strengthen cooperation for social development through the UN. The United Nations General Assembly convened a special session in Geneva in June-July 2000 to assess the achievements made at at the end of the last century, where the world leaders distilled the key goals and targets in the Millennium Declaration (September 2000). The Declaration reaffirms universal values of human rights, equality, mutual respect and shared responsibility for the conditions of all peoples and seeks to redress globalization’s hugely unequal benefits and governments’ commit themselves to fulfilling their obligations by 2015. In the 2000 Summit world leaders committed to fight together against poverty and hunger, gender inequality, environmental degradation, and HIV/AIDS, while improving access to education, health care and clean water, all by 2015. These wide-ranging commitments are encompassed in the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 1.4.4 Social Development in India The concept of social development is not new to India. Long back it had emerged in the thinking and practices adopted by the freedom fighters and social reformers. Mahatma Gandhi had set before the nation the objective of “Wiping every tear from every eye.”This reflected the ideas to put people’s progress at the center of every effort to ensure equal opportunity and justice. Jawaharlal Nehru in his celebrated speech “Tryst with Destiny” delivered in the midnight of 14th August, 1947 said “The service of India means ending poverty and ignorance, disease and inequality of opportunity.” All these were the forerunners of the ideas of social development. Right from the initial years of planning, social development was given weightage in India’s development agenda. But in practice, growth centered development dominated over people centric development in the country. But, towards the end of 1960s and beginning of 1970s, there was a shift in the thrust of development planning and practice. Social sector development, basic needs approach and participatory planning came to be the dominant focus of development to make it pro people in character. During this period, universalization of educational opportunities, health facilities, nutrition etc. dominated the development agenda. However, a sea change was marked in the social development thinking and practice in India with the introduction of the concepts of like “Expansion of choice and freedom among people” by Prof. Amartya Sen. Today social development plans in India include:  Expansion of education and health facilities  Ensuring food security  Ending child labour and ensuring child rights  Ending untouchability and bringing social equality  Fight against gender discrimination  Protection and promotion of minorities  Mainstreaming the excluded through inclusive development  Poverty alleviation  Population control through family planning  Increasing the nutritional standards among the people  Ecological protection and sustainable development However, a reality check indicates that India’s social development is quite slow and retarded. It has suffered a setback with the introduction of economic reforms as part of the process of liberalization and globalization. There has been a sharp deterioration in the conditions of the poorest and marginalised, particularly the Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes, other economically backward communities, and women and children. India ranks 102nd in the Human Development Index which clearly indicate the low social development taking place in the country. The basic human needs dimension comprise parameters of nutrition and basic medical care, water and sanitation, shelter and personal safety. The foundations of wellbeing includes parameters of access to basic knowledge, information and communications, health and wellness and ecosystem sustainability, while opportunity dimension includes personal rights, freedom and choice, tolerance and inclusion and access to education. 1.4.5 Factors facilitating Social Development Social development is a process. Different factors can contribute significantly towards it. These factors are:  Education and awareness building  A strong political will:  An ideology of equality among the people  Initiatives among the people to avail opportunities  Change in cultural values When there is a spread of education, there will be a greater awareness among the people. This will enhance their participation in the process of development. They will take initiatives to fight against poverty, inequality and to assert the human rights for all citizens which will trigger the process of social development. A committed government will make reduction of poverty, unemployment, inequality and social exclusion the priority areas of its development agenda and will gear efforts to achieve them in full length. When these social maladies will be removed by the will and effort of a government, social development will become a reality. Transformations in the attitude of the people and their practices along with a change in the cultural values and traditions will bring changes in the social institutions and promote social development. 1.4.6. Factors Hindering Social Development There are certain factors which retard social development. Prominent among them are:  Illiteracy and ignorance  Lack of political commitment  Social cleavages like caste, class, gender, and ethnicity based differentiations and social exclusions etc.  Apathy of the people  Social taboos, cultural conservatism The removal of these barriers can promote social development in a country. 1.5. Sustainable Development Sustainable development is a major approach that has dominated the development discourse in contemporary periods. This approach makes an attempt to combine growing concerns about a range of environmental issues with socio-economic issues. According to this paradigm, development cannot be simply growth and economy centric. But it has to bring a blend between growth, human development and environment. So it has to take into consideration environmental concerns to make development more yielding, lasting and effective. 1.5.1Meaning and definition Sustainable development has thus, the potential to address fundamental challenges for humanity, now and into the future. It tries to bring a synergy between humanity and environment. The approach insists environment is not external to humanity, but an integral part of it. So, development concerns should take into consideration environment issues. Thus as an approach of development it is environment centric in character. Sustainable Development implies economic growth together with the protection of environmental quality, each reinforcing the other. Sustainable Development, thus, is maintaining a balance between the human need to improve lifestyles and feeling of well-being on one hand, and preserving natural resources and ecosystems, on which we and future generations depend. The concept of sustainable development is the result of the growing awareness of the global links between mounting environmental problems, socio-economic issues to do with poverty and inequality and concerns about a healthy future for humanity. It strongly links environmental and socio- economic issues. This process of bringing together environmental and socio- economic questions was most famously expressed in the Brundtland Report’s definition of sustainable development as meeting ‘the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs’. This defines needs from a human standpoint; as Lee has argued, ‘sustain-able development is an unashamedly anthropocentric concept’. According to the The World Consevation Union, 1991, sustainable development may also be defined as “improving the quality of life while living within the carrying capacity of ecosystems”. Thus, Sustainable development does not focus solely on environmental issues. More broadly, it encompasses the three general policy areas namely economy, environment and society. The Swiss ‘Monitoring of Sustainable Development Project’ in 2001, proposed the following definition: ‘Sustainable development means ensuring dignified living conditions with regard to human rights by creating and maintaining the widest possible range of options for freely defining life plans. The principle of fairness among and between present and future generations should be taken into account in the use of environmental, economic and social resources. According to Robert Prescott Allen, who has founded and chaired several influential IUCN-The World Conservation Union projects and has 18 years experience evaluating and advising development strategies on four continents, sustainability is just another way of saying “the good life” as a combination of (a) a high level of human well-being, and (b) the high level of ecosystem well- being that supports it. 1.5.2Origin of the Concept The first important use of the term was in 1980 in the World Conservation Strategy. The idea of sustainable development was very much imbedded long ago in Malthus theory of population growth in late 1700s. But the term started gaining coinage in early 1970s following a range of key publications drawing attention to man’s over exploitation of environment. The theme was in the name of development, man was becoming blind to environment. Few literary publications gave a boost to the world’s thinking on sustainable development. The key among them are: Rachel Carson’s the Silent Spring (1962), Paul Erich’s “How to be Survivor: A Plan to Save Spaceship Earth (1971), Club of Rome’s publication “ The Limits to growth”(1972), Barbara Ward and Rene Dubos’s Only One Earth(1972). Faced with the over-exploitation of natural resources that accompanied economic and demographic growth, the think tank known as the Club of Rome, created in 1968, advocated zero growth. In 1971, this private international association sounded an urgent alarm by publishing ‘The Limits to Growth’. Broadly speaking, it presents current economic development as being incompatible with the long-term protection of the planet. 1.5.3. World Conventions on Sustainable Development The theoretical framework for sustainable development evolved between 1972 and 1992 through a series of international conferences and initiatives. The UN Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm in 1972, was the first major international gathering to discuss sustainability at the global scale. The conference created considerable momentum, and a series of recommendations led to the establishment of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) as well as the creation of numerous national environmental protection agencies at the national level. The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972 gave birth to the first true notion of sustainable development, which was called ‘eco development’ in those days. In this conference personalities like Maurice Strong, Professor René Dubos, Barbara Ward and Ignacy Sachs cautioned about the integration of ecological concerns in economic planning. This resulted in the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The recommendations from Stockholm were further elaborated in the 1980 World Conservation Strategy—a collaboration between the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and UNEP—which aimed to advance sustainable development by identifying priority conservation issues and key policy options. In 1980, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) published its world conservation strategy. This document is one of the original sources of the expression ‘sustainable development’. In 1983, the UN convened the WCED, chaired by Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. Comprised of representatives from both developed and developing countries, the Commission was created to address growing concern over the “accelerating deterioration of the human environment and natural resources and the consequences of that deterioration for economic and social development.” Four years later, the group produced the landmark publication Our Common Future (or the Brundtland report) that provided a stark diagnosis of the state of the environment. The term ‘sustainable development’ remained virtually unnoticed until its revival in the Gro Harlem Brundtland report 'Our Common Future', published in 1987. The report popularized the most commonly used definition of sustainable development: “Development that meets the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Since then, the concept of sustainable development has been accepted all over the world. A desirable human condition: a society that people want to sustain because it meets their needs. An enduring ecosystem condition: an ecosystem that maintains its capacity to support human life and others. A balance between present and future generations; and within the present generation. The Brundtland report provided the momentum for the landmark 1992 Rio Summit that laid the foundations for the global institutionalization of sustainable development. Marking the twentieth anniversary of the Stockholm Conference, the Earth Summit adopted the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and Agenda 21, a global plan of action for sustainable development. Three seminal instruments of environmental governance were established at the Rio Summit: the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the non-legally binding Statement of Forest Principles. Following a recommendation in Agenda 21, the UN General Assembly officially created the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) later that year. Since that time a number of important international conferences on sustainable development have been held—including the 1997 Earth Summit+5 in New York and the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg. The negotiations at the WSSD in 2002 demonstrated a major shift in the perception of sustainable development—away from environmental issues toward social and economic development. This shift was driven by the needs of the developing countries and strongly influenced by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007, chapter 12.1.1) pointed out the iteractive relationship between climate change and sustainable development, and that the two can be mutually reinforcing. 1.5.4. Objectives of sustainable Development Sustainable Development refers to the challenges of reducing global inequity and poverty, and promoting well-being, while reducing threats to the earth’s systems from industrial production and consumption. Effective environmental care and management in relation to climate stability, other species and natural resources are the chief objectives of sustainable development. Three main objectives of sustainable development are:  It should be socially desirable: It means development should fulfill people’s cultural, material and spiritual needs in equitable ways.  It should be economically viable: It implies the costs of development should not exceed the output.  It should be ecologically sustainable: It connotes maintaining long term viability for supporting the eco system. 1.5.5. Requirements of sustainable Development Sustainable development implies the fulfillment of several conditions. These conditions are: preserving the overall balance, respect for the environment, and preventing the exhaustion of natural resources. Reduced production of waste and the rationalization of production and energy consumption must also be implemented. Sustainable development is presented as a more or less clean break from other modes of development, which have led and are still leading to worrying social and ecological damage. In order to be sustainable, development must combine three main elements: fairness, protection of the environment, and economic efficiency. A sustainable development project must be based on a better-developed mode of consultation between the community and the members it comprises. The success of such a policy also depends on consumers accepting certain constraints and citizens observing certain requirements with regard to transparency and participation. The concept of sustainable development is based on a set of requirements.  It must allow the basic needs of present and future generations to be fulfilled with regard to demographic constraints, such as: access to water, education, health, employment, and the fight against hunger or malnutrition.  Another requirement of this type of development is to improve quality of life, which involves easier access to medical care, social services, culture, and therefore also social well-being.  In addition, respect for rights and freedoms and the promotion of new forms of renewable energy such as wind, solar, and geothermal power, are important requirements of sustainable development.  Sustainable development is required to allow the planet’s resources and condition to be protected for future generations and natural assets to be shared.  The concept of sustainable development also involves narrowing the gaps between rich and poor countries, insofar as these gaps, if maintained or accentuated, could be the cause of violent conflict, which by its very nature leads to regression rather than development. 1.5.6. Dimensions of Sustainable Development The second half of the 1980s witnessed the development of three dimensions of sustainable development with the publication of the Brundtland Report (1987). The report enshrined them as the strategies to be adopted by local, national and global strategies for development. The Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, 1992 established them as the three pillars of sustainable development. This is one of the most well-known models created using the three dimensions -Economy, Environment and Society. The diagram shows three interlocking circles with the triangle of environmental (conservation), economic (growth), and social (equity) dimensions. Sustainable Development is modelled on these three pillars. This model is called ‘three pillars’ or ‘three circles model’. It is based considering the society, but does not explicitly take into account ‘human quality of life’. Dimensions of Environme Social Sustainability ntal inclusion balance Economic growth However, the UNESCO raised its voice that these are not the three key issues that paralyse the world today. It claimed that it is culture which to a great extent also determine and detect what people do. Local cultures which are a rich source of knowledge and creativity are in a process of extinction. It too is facing a challenge. So, it has to be included as a dimension of sustainable development. Accordingly, in November,2010 culture was included as the fourth dimension of sustainable development in World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders in the Third World Congress of UCLG, held in Mexico City. Today there are four dimensions to sustainable development. They are: society, environment, culture and economy – which are intertwined. Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen gives the following dimensions for social sustainability:  Equity - The community is to provide equitable opportunities and outcomes for all its members, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable members of the community.  Diversity - The community is to promotes and encourage diversity.  Interconnected/Social cohesions - The community is to provide processes, systems and structures that promote connectedness within and outside the community at the formal, informal and institutional level.  Quality of life - The community is to ensure that basic needs are met and is to foster a good quality of life for all members at the individual, group and community level (e.g. health, housing, education, employment, safety)  Democracy and governance - The community is to provide democratic processes and open and accountable governance structures.  Maturity - The individuals are to accept the responsibility of consistent growth and improvement through broader social attributes (e.g. communication styles, behavioural patterns, indirect education and philosophical explorations) Economic sustainability includes:  Growth- It refers to an increase conventional gross national product (GNP).  Efficiency- It is reflected more efficient production and consumption of (mainly marketed) goods and services.  Stability- It refers to the stability of prices and employment. Environmental sustainability gives coverage to:  The capacity to preserve over time the three basic functions of the environment: the resource supply function, the waste receiver function and that of direct usefulness of the environment. In other words, environmental sustainability means the capacity to increase and bring up the value of the environment and its peculiarities, while assuring the protection and the renewal of natural resources.  Environmental sustainability involves making decisions and taking actions that are in the interests of protecting the natural world, with particular emphasis on preserving the capability of the environment to support human life.  Environmental sustainability is the ability to maintain the qualities that are valued in the physical environment. It demands the maintenance of human life, the capabilities that the natural environment has to maintain the living conditions for people and other species (e.g. clean water and air, a suitable climate), the aspects of the environment that produce renewable resources such as water, timber, fish, solar energy, the functioning of society, despite non-renewable resource depletion, the quality of life for all people, the liveability and beauty of the environment. Cultural sustainability refers to the process of developing, renewing and maintaining human cultures that create positive, enduring relationships with other peoples and the natural world'. Amartya Sen explains, “Cultural matters are integral parts of the lives we lead. If development can be seen as enhancement of our living standards, then efforts geared to development can hardly ignore the world of culture”. Today, development means freedom, widening the choices, putting human beings -children, men and women-at the centre of the future. 1.5.7. Key Issues in Sustainable Development The foregoing review of sustainable development concept, dimensions, reveal the key issues that arise repeatedly in debates about sustainability. These are:  Intergenerational Equity: The most important concept in sustainable development is that each generation should have an equitable opportunity to meet its own needs. This is called inter generational equity – the principle that each generation should have a comparable ability or opportunity to make a living and to meet their needs.  Types of Capital and Assets: Sustainable development programs often encompass a broad range of different types of capital and assets. Capital and assets are any store of value that can provide income, benefits, goods, services, or other things of value. They are typically categorized into three types:  Manufactured and Financial Capital: The most familiar type of capital is made by people and includes all financial assets and physical capital. It includes buildings, highways stock and bond investments, the Permanent Fund, and any other form of financial or physical asset that we as humans have created or manufactured.  Human and Social Capital: People and communities also have stores of value that can be passed from one generation to the next. People embody human capital in the form of knowledge, education, skills, training and other valuable abilities. Communities and societies are stores of social capital in the form of traditions, customs, identity, organizations, laws, and institutions that are passed on to future generations as well.  Natural capital: It includes all aspects of the natural environment that provide income, services, resources, or benefits. Natural capital includes raw resources such as oil, timber, and fish. It includes life support services such as climate regulation, nutrient cycling, waste treatment, soil formation and other ecological processes that keep us alive. Natural capital also encompasses hunting, subsistence, and outdoor recreation resources as well as aesthetic and cultural benefits derived from nature. Concept of well being: Sustainable development concept expands the traditional understanding of well-being to include the social and environmental well-being of people. Sustainable development programs typically define progress and well-being in broad terms that include measures of the health of the environment, communities, and the people living there. They argue that people need access to a healthy natural environment to meet their need for life support services and to ensure their physical health and well-being. They emphasize the need to sustain natural assets to preserve life support services and the need to conserve natural resources that future generations will depend on for life. They also emphasize the social well-being of communities, cultures, and individuals. To help ensure social well-being, current and future generations should have access to the wealth offered by communities, institutions, and traditions. Besides accumulating financial wealth, creating jobs, and building physical infrastructure, we also need to ensure that the social institutions and human capital that sustain our communities are also passed on to future generations. 1.5.8. Challenges to Sustainable Development Sustainable development encounters many challenges today. The prominent among them are:  The world's population is growing rapidly and most of this growth is taking place in cities. Cities are particularly vulnerable to environmental challenges due to their high population density.  Population growth, poverty and degradation of natural resources often fuel one another and pose a challenge to sustainable development.  Increased demand and competition for scarce resources such as energy, water and food are putting upward pressure on resources and threatening sustainable development.  Climate change and its potential impact also challenge sustainable development.  Successive development and economic planning programmes have neither been thoroughly planned nor wholeheartedly implemented. Consequently, large segments of society remain economically deprived and socially marginalised. This has appeared as the greatest challenge to the notion of sustainable development.  Globalization, removal of trade barriers, rapid and blind industrialization are negations to the concept of sustainable development.  Growing consumerism is making people blind and they fail to foresee the needs of the future generation. Their present break less consumption leads to resource depletion and challenges sustainable development.  Techno driven culture undermines the significance of culture and disregards environment safety. This has posed a great challenge to sustainable development. References 1. Dutta Amitav Krishna(2014) Pathways to Economic Development, Oxford University Press. 2. Giddens Anthony(1996) "Global Problems and Ecological Crisis” in Introduction to Sociology. IInd Edition New York: W.W.Norton & Company. 3. Gore, C. (2000) ‘The rise and fall of the Washington consensus as a paradigm for developing countries’, World Development, 28 (5) 4. Harrison, D. (1989) The Sociology of Modernization and Development New Delhi: Sage. 5. Haq, Mahbub UI. (1991) Reflection of Human Development. New Delhi, OUP 6. Marjit, Sugata, Rajeev, Meenakshi edt.(2014)Emerging Issues in Economic Development: A Theoretical Perspective, Oxford University Press 7. Nagla, B.K. Social Development 8. Thomas, A. (2000) ‘Development as practice in a liberal capitalist world’, Journal of International Development, 12 (6) 9. UNDP Sustainable Development. New York. Oup. 10. Todaro, Michael P. & Smith, Stephen C., Economic Development, Eighth Edition, Pub. Addison Wesley 2003. Review Exercise Essay Type Questions 1. Define development and delineate its characteristics. 2. What do you mean by economic growth? Explain the key drivers of and barriers to economic growth in a society. 3. Write a short essay on Human Development. 4. Explain social development as a paradigm of development. 5. Assess the need and significance of sustainable develop

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