GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT

What is development

Sociologists suggest that development means the improvement or progress for people who desperately need positive change in their lives

What are the main sociological aims of development

• reduce poverty

• Increase levels of wealth

• Reducing the gap between the richest and poorest members of society

• Creating equal status for men and women

• Creating justice, freedom of speech and political participation for everyone

• Ensuring everyone is safe from conflict and terrorism

• Ensuring all children have good standards of education

• Ensuring everyone fulfills their basic needs of food, water and shelter

Classifications of countries

• majority and minority world

• The bottom billion

• MEDCs, LEDCs, LLEDCs

• West

• North and South

• Emerging

• Undeveloped

• Developed

• Developing

• First and third world

The bottom billion - Collier 2007

• collier identifies and explains the four traps that prevent the homelands of the worlds billion poorest people from growing and receiving the benefits of globalization

• 1. Civil war

• 2. Discovery and export of natural resources in otherwise unstable economies

• 3. Being landlocked and unable to participate in the global economy without high cost

• 4. In effective governance

3 strands of development

1. Economic : generally involves economic growth accompanied by rising living standards

2. Social : focuses on the everyday experiences and opportunities that people have and their general happiness and well being

3. The elimination of poverty : combines economic and social development

Liberal democracy

Form of government that combines regular free elections with legal frameworks that protect individual rights

Authoritarian regime

Form of government characterized by the rejection of political plurality and the use of strong central power

Military government

Form of government where the armed forces hold supreme political authority

Absolute monarchy

Form of government that is where the monarchy holds supreme unchecked political authority

One party state

Form of government where a si gel political party has the exclusive right to form the government with a lack of independent judgement

Theocracy

Firm of government where religious leaders rule in the name of god or a higher power

How far does governance influence a country’s level of development? (Point summary)

• Norway uses its wealth from oil to create a wealth fund that can be invested back into public services

• Afghanistan shows that economic and international issues that can be created from years of institutional collapse and conflict

• China is an example of a highly stable government promoting beneficial business operations and higher economic outputs

Criticism of modernization theory?

Can he too simple and it isn’t fair to assume all countries should follow the same path

Aims of development

Reduce poverty, increase levels of wealth, reduce the gap between the richest and poorest, ensuring everyone can fulfill basic needs and ensure children have good standards of education

Classifications of countries

• underdeveloped

• Developed

• First and third world

• Minority and majority world

• The bottom billion

• MEDCs, LEDCs, LLEDCs

• West

• North and south

The bottom billion (Collier 2007)

Collier identifies and explains the 4 traps that prevent the homelands of the worlds billion poorest people from growing and receiving the benefits of globalization.

1. Civil war

2. Discovery and export of natural resources

3. Being landlocked and unable to participate in the global economy

4. Ineffective governance

3 strands of development

1. Economic → generally involves economic growth accompanied by rising living standards

2. Social → focused on the everyday experiences and opportunities that people have and their general happiness and well-being

3. Elimination of poverty → combined economic and social

What does GDP and GNI measure?

• GDP → the total value of goods and services produced within a country

• GNI → the total income earned by a country’s residents

Advantage of GDP

Indicates the strength of a country’s infrastructure and spending

Disadvantage of GDP

Dosent show us how the money is produced and is limited to what it can show us

Advantage of GNI

Shows how much money could be spent on different parts of the country

Disadvantage of GNI

Dosent show wealth inequality

Human Development Index

Gives us social and economic factors giving us a better more rounded view, but it does limit conclusions on inequality, like Scandinavian countries with a high HDI whereas Afghanistan and central Africa would have lower HDI

Gross National Happiness Index

A single number index developed from 33 indicators of how happy people are, the domains represent each of the components of well-being of the Bhutanese people, domains include psychological wellbeing and good governance

Composite approach

A theory with different factors like the human development index

Three variables that make the HDI a composite

1. Life expectancy

2. Literacy rate

3. Income per capita

The good country index

Measures each country’s contribution to things like culture, planet, equality and health, it compares data from the UN human development index and combines it with data that measure each country’s contribution to science and technology

Multidimensional poverty index

Used by the UN to measure poverty considering health, education, and living standards

Advantage of human development index

Multiple dimensions, looks at many different factors

Disadvantage of the husk development index

Can hide inequalities

advantage of gross national happiness index

Subjective wellbeing, takes many things into consideration rather than a single factor

Disadvantage of gross national happiness index

Can be difficult to measure or compare due to different factors or the norms in certain countries

Advantage of the good country index

Wider contribution to global wellbeing

Disadvantage to the good country index

More difficult to interpret