Key Terminologies in Development Studies

Glossary of Key Concepts

Absolute Poverty

  • Definition: A condition of extreme deprivation in which individuals lack the basic necessities required for survival.

  • Basic Necessities: Includes adequate food, clean water, shelter, and healthcare.

  • Measurement: Typically measured using a fixed income threshold reflecting an inability to meet minimum physical needs.

Asylum Seeker

  • Definition: An individual who has fled their home country seeking international protection in another country.

  • Legal Status: Their claim for refugee status has not yet been legally recognized or processed.

Atlantic Trade Triangle

  • Time Period: 16th–19th centuries.

  • Description: A transatlantic system of trade connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
      - Exports from Europe: Manufactured goods.
      - Supplies from Africa: Enslaved labor.
      - Raw Materials from the Americas: Such as sugar, cotton, and tobacco.

  • Economic Impact: Driven by mercantilism and contributed to European wealth accumulation.

Authoritarian Regime

  • Definition: A form of government characterized by concentration of political power.

  • Features:
      - Limited political freedoms.
      - Restricted civil liberties.
      - Little to no public participation in decision-making.

Bilateral Aid

  • Definition: A form of foreign assistance provided directly from one country to another.

  • Influences: Often shaped by political, economic, or strategic interests, rather than via multilateral organizations.

Brain Drain

  • Definition: The large-scale emigration of highly educated or skilled individuals from one country (typically developing) to another (usually developed).

  • Consequences: Results in the loss of human capital and negatively affects the country of origin’s development.

Capability Approach

  • Framework: Emphasizes expanding individuals’ freedoms and abilities to achieve the kinds of lives they value.

  • Focus: Shifts the emphasis from mere economic growth or income levels to individual capabilities and well-being.

Clientelism

  • Definition: A political system characterized by the exchange of goods, services, or favors in return for political support.

  • Implications: Often reinforces inequality and undermines democratic institutions.

Colonialism

  • Definition: The practice of domination and control by one nation over another territory and its people.

  • Characteristics: Often involving resource extraction, settlement, and political control, justified via economic, political, and cultural motives.

Colony of Exploitation

  • Definition: A colony established primarily for the extraction of natural resources and labor.

  • Characteristics: Colonizers do not settle permanently but exploit the local population and economy.

Colony of Settlement

  • Definition: A colony where settlers from the colonizing country move permanently to the territory.

  • Consequences: Often displaces Indigenous populations, establishing new social, political, and economic systems.

Core

  • Context: Refers to the core-periphery model in economics.

  • Description: Core countries are industrialized, wealthy nations that dominate global trade, control advanced technologies, and extract profits from the global economic system.

Cultural Genocide

  • Definition: A process aimed at destroying the cultural, linguistic, and social foundations of a group.

  • Methods: Includes forced assimilation, suppression of traditions, and removal of children from their communities (such as through residential schools).

Declining Terms of Trade

  • Definition: A situation in which the value of a country’s exported primary commodities decreases relative to the value of imported manufactured goods over time.

  • Implications: Leads to worsening economic conditions for developing countries.

Decolonization

  • Definition: The historical process, particularly after World War II, through which colonies gained independence from European imperial powers.

  • Associated Movements: Often involves political struggles and nationalist movements.

Democratic Regime

  • Definition: A system of government where power is derived from the people.

  • Characteristics:
      - Governed through free and fair elections.
      - Protections for civil liberties and political participation.
      - Adherence to the rule of law.

Dependency Theory

  • Definition: A theory explaining global inequality as rooted in exploitation by wealthier countries within a capitalist world system.

  • Assertion: Argues that the underdevelopment of poorer countries is a direct result of their relationships with wealthier nations, structured around core and periphery relations.

Development Aid

  • Definition: Long-term financial, technical, or material assistance aimed at supporting economic growth, infrastructure, and social development in less developed countries.

Dish with One Spoon Covenant

  • Definition: An Indigenous agreement among nations in the Great Lakes region.

  • Principles: Emphasizes sharing land and resources peacefully and sustainably, focusing on mutual respect and collective responsibility.