Theories and Practices of Development

Katie Willis

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781317195276
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Law Theory & Practice
• Index: Law

The newly updated third edition provides a clear and user-friendly introduction to the complex debates around how development has been understood and achieved. It has been fully updated and expanded to reflect global political and economic shifts, as well as new approaches to development.

The book deals with the evolution of development ideas and policies, focusing on economic, political, social, environmental and spatial dimensions. It highlights how development cannot be considered as a neutral concept, but is entwined with inequalities in power at local as well as national and global scales. A new chapter on politics and development presents debates around development and democracy, civil society organizations and human rights. Sections on diversity and development have been expanded, and the book considers the future of development in the era of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The use of boxed examples, tables and illustrations helps students understand complex theoretical ideas and also demonstrates how development theories are put into practice in the real world. Each chapter ends with a summary section, discussion topics, suggestions for further reading and website resources.

This key text provides a clear and thorough explanation of key development theories and practices. The third edition will remain an invaluable resource for undergraduate students in geography, politics and development studies.

chapter 1

Meanings of development

• Definitions of development
• Measuring development
• Colonialism
• Globalization and development
• Development actors
• Postcolonialism, Postmodernism, Post-development

In September 2015, United Nations (UN) members adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (see Box 1.1), replacing the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which had framed international development policies since 2000. While the SDGs cover a much wider range of environmental, social, political and economic issues than the MDGs, the very fact of having a set list of goals suggests that defining ‘development’ is easy and that what is important is the end point that a society gets to, not how those goals are achieved.

In this book, we will be considering theories about development and how these theories inform policy formulation and practices to achieve development goals. However, before we embark on this journey, we need to consider what ‘development’ means. Despite the seemingly ‘common sense’ nature of the SDG ‘development targets’, this chapter will highlight the contested nature of the term ‘development’. In particular, we will look at how ‘development’ has been defined, who has defined ‘development’ and at what scale ‘development’ has been examined. This will highlight how development definitions, theories and policies reflect power relations and that despite claims or appearances of objectivity, ideas about development are never neutral.

Box 1.1 Sustainable development goals

There are 17 goals, but for each goal there are a number of targets (169 in total) which must be met by 2030 and indicators that will be used to measure success against those targets. The 17 goals are:

• 1End poverty in all its forms everywhere
• 2End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
• 3Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
• 4Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning
• 5Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
• 6Ensure access to water and sanitation for all
• 7Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
• 8Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all
• 9Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
• 10Reduce inequality within and among countries
• 11Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
• 12Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
• 13Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
• 14Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources
• 15Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss
• 16Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies
• 17Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

The targets are much more specific and include:

• SDG 1.1: By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere currently measured as living on less than US$1.25 per day.
• SDG 3.3: By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases
• SDG 8.1: Sustain per capita economic growth in accordance with national circumstances and, in particular, at least 7% gross domestic product growth per annum in the least developed countries

Source: adapted from United Nations (2020a)

Modernity

For many people, ideas of development are linked to concepts of modernity. ‘Modernity’ in its broadest sense means the condition of being modern, new or up-to-date, so ‘the idea of “modernity” situates people in time’ (Ogborn 2014: 480). Because of social, economic, political and cultural dynamism, what is ‘modern’ will change over time and also spatially. What is ‘modern’ in one place may be ‘old-fashioned’ elsewhere.

However, more specifically, ‘modernity’ has been used as a term to describe particular forms of economy and society based on the experiences of Western Europe and more recently, the USA. In economic terms, ‘modernity’ encompasses industrialization, urbanization and the increased use of technology within all sectors of the economy. This application of technology and scientific principles is also reflected within social and cultural spheres. What has been termed the ‘Enlightenment’ period in Western Europe in the late 17th and 18th centuries involved the growing importance of rational and scientific approaches to understanding the world and progress (Sheppard et al. 2009: 54–6). This was contrasted with previous understandings that were often rooted in religious explanations (Power 2003: 72–6). Approaches to medicine, the legal and political systems and economic development were all affected by this shift in perspective.

The spatial and temporal context of these ideas about modernity is important in this understanding of what ‘modern’ was, but as we shall see throughout the book, these ideas were taken out of their context and spread throughout the world (Brooks 2017). For some, this diffusion of modernity is interpreted as ‘development’ and ‘progress’, while for others it is associated with the eradication of cultural practices, the destruction of natural environments and a decline in the quality of life. All these themes, and others, will be considered in the following chapters.

Development as an economic process

People defining development as ‘modernity’, look at development largely in economic terms. This conception of development underpins much of the work of international organizations such as the World Bank, and also many national governments in both the Global North and Global South. The World Bank, for example, uses Gross National Income per capita (GNI p.c.) to divide the countries of the world into development categories. Low-income countries are defined as those with a GNI p.c. figure in 2018 of US$1,025 or less, lower middle-income countries have US$1,026–3,995, upper middle-income countries US$3,996–12,375 and high income countries are those with GNI p.c. over US$...