Concept of Development, Economic Vs Social Development, Human Development

Concept of Development

• Development generally means “improvement in country’s economic and social conditions”. More specifically, it refers to improvements in managing an area’s natural and human resources to create wealth and improve people’s lives.

• Dudley Seers suggests that development should aim to create conditions that lead to a realisation of human potentials. While value judgements on what constitutes development may vary, this should be a universally acceptable goal.

• Development is considered indispensable for the progress and prosperity of any country. Without development, there can be no progress and growth.

• Historically, some Western economists argued that the development experiences of developed countries were relevant and could be followed by backward countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, which lacked capital and technical know-how.

• However, Latin American economists offered a different perspective, with the dependency thesis arguing that underdevelopment in Latin American countries has been caused by the development of capitalism in the West and their integration into the world capitalist system. They posit a dualism where developed capitalist countries became the 'centre' of development, and underdeveloped countries became the 'periphery'.

• Andre Gunder Frank and Theotonio dos Santos argue that capitalist development is not possible in the periphery, and what occurs is the "development of underdevelopment".

• Other Latin American economists, like O. Sunkel and Celso Furtado, believe capitalist development in the periphery is possible if hurdles like market constrictions are cleared. Fernando Henrique Cardoso accepts the possibility but suggests it will be subservient to the capitalism of the centre.

• The concept of dualism is implicit in these approaches, referring to the growing divergences between rich and poor nations and rich and poor people at various levels, both internationally and within underdeveloped countries.

• Some scholars viewed development as a process through stages. Adam Smith proposed stages of hunting, pastoral, agricultural, and manufacturing. Karl Marx outlined primitive society, ancient slave stage, feudalism, capitalism, and socialism.

• W.W. Rostow conceived economic development as a process with five stages: Traditional Society, Pre-conditioning phase, the 'Take-off' Stage, Stage of 'Drive to Maturity', and the Age of High Mass Consumption. The 'Take-off' stage is characterised by an increase in the rate of investment and real output per capita, driven by an emerging entrepreneurial and elite class and leading sectors. However, Rostow's model has been criticised for its Western bias and oversimplification.

• The concept of "uneven development" suggests that development is inherently uneven in space and time, and this unevenness is central to the development process itself.

• The dominant concept of development has often been equated with economic development.

• However, a focus on people suggests there could be many different roads to development and self-reliance, leading to slogans like "human centred development" and "the development of people" which call for a more inclusive and sensitive approach.

• Development should not lead to social dislocation, violence, and war, and must meet the needs of the present without compromising future generations' ability to meet their own needs, which is the essence of sustainable development.

• Modernization was a policy initiative during the Cold War, aiming for societal transformation by embracing Western technology, political structures, values, and mass communication. Daniel Lerner’s theory of modernization posited a model of societal change through adopting Western manufacturing, governance, values, and communication.

Economic Vs Social Development

• Economic development is often seen as indispensable for progress and prosperity. It is frequently associated with rising incomes or expanding output. The focus is on creating wealth. Rostow's stages of economic growth are an example of a theory focusing on economic progression.

• Social development is about improving the well-being of every individual in society so they can reach their full potential. The success of society is linked to the well-being of all citizens.

• Social development means investing in people and requires the removal of barriers so all citizens can pursue their aspirations with confidence and dignity. It aims to help people move towards self-sufficiency.

• The human development approach treats the well-being of people as the end goal, and looks at economic growth as a means to human development. Economic growth is considered a necessary but not sufficient condition for human development.

• Social and Human Development necessarily requires a unified approach, integrating the economic and social components in plans, policies, and programmes for people’s betterment.

• The challenge is to simultaneously integrate cross-sectoral and regional developmental needs and ensure participative development.

• The human development paradigm prioritises "social development" with the goals of expanding education and health opportunities. It also recognises the importance of "economic growth that generates resources for human development in its many dimensions".

Human Development

• Human development aims to enrich people’s lives by widening their choices. Through investing in education, health, safety, and so on, it attempts to build human capability, which is what people are actually able to do and to be.

• It is defined as a process of enlarging people’s choices, enhancement of freedoms, and the fulfillment of human rights. The most critical choices are to live a long and healthy life, to be educated, and to have access to resources for a decent standard of living. It also includes choices regarding economic well-being, attainment of knowledge, health, a clean environment, political freedom, and the simple pleasures of life.

• The key constituents of Human Development are: equity, efficiency and productivity, participation and empowerment, and fulfillment of human rights.

• The four pillars of human development are equality, sustainability, productivity, and empowerment.

• The human development approach emphasises that while economic growth is essential, its quality and distribution determine how much it enriches people’s lives sustainably.

• It is profoundly inspired by Amartya Sen’s ‘capability approach’, which advocates removing obstacles in people’s lives and increasing their freedom to achieve functionings they value. Functionings are valuable activities and states that constitute well-being, while capability refers to the substantive freedoms a person enjoys to lead a life they have reason to value.

• Sustainability in human development ensures that access to opportunities is maintained for both present and future generations, requiring resource use without environmental degradation.

• Education is central to human growth, empowerment, and acquiring valuable capabilities. It is considered a key to Human Development as it opens minds and horizons.

• Health is a critically significant constituent of human capabilities and has intrinsic value, as well as being instrumental to economic growth and education.

• Gender development is an important component of Human Development.

• The measurement of Human Development became more systematic with the Human Development Reports (HDRs) starting in 1990.

• The Human Development Index (HDI) measures the average achievements of a country in three basic dimensions: a long and healthy life (life expectancy), knowledge (literacy rate and gross enrolment ratio), and a decent standard of living (GNP per capita). India’s HDI increased from 0.439 in 1990 to 0.612 in 2009.

• Other Human Development Indices include the Gender-related Development Index (GDI), which accounts for inequality between men and women, the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), and the Human Poverty Index (HPI), which reflects the distribution of progress and measures deprivations.

• The human development paradigm has policy perspectives that include prioritising social development (education and health), economic growth for resource generation, political and social reforms for democratic governance and human rights, equity for all with attention to the poor and marginalised, and global institutional reforms for a conducive economic environment for poor countries.