Development by Gustavo Esteva

Economic development can be defined generally as involving an improvement in economic welfare, measured using a variety of indices, such as the Human Development Index (HDI). A developing country is described as a nation with a lower standard of living, underdeveloped industrial base, and a low HDI relative to other countries. There are several factors which may have the effect of limiting economic development in such countries. Factors such as these include: primary product dependency, the savings gap and political instability.

“Development is about improving the quality of people’s lives, expanding their ability to shape their own futures”

It is most commonly used in society when a growth for the better happens, whether it is integrating society, economic, or personal developments. Though what one does not take into consideration is that a “problem” is something that has—developed from the norms. Development is a term that is both mutually good and bad, and in order for an individual to use the word “development" correctly it needs to be used neutrally.

When a child is born, they can be born into circumstances in which they cannot control. They can be born into wealth, or into poverty. Some may be born into privileged home, others into a restricted or a “broken” home. People come from many different homes with many different stories, but they don’t let their origins define the rest of their life. One’s course of their life isn't determined by their background.

It is crazy to think about how far the world has come in its developments, especially those taking place for over the past century. In areas such as the government, education, and specifically technology, a number of American people would likely agree that they are astonished by the radical changes taking place in every aspect of our world. What we must ask ourselves though, is are we satisfied with the improvements made? In other words, at what point must development reach in order to provide contentment to those affected by it? If asked this question, the typical response of a person would include where they stand on the subject and where they picture its modifications bringing it to. The real problem here, however, is that it does not

Development provides a picture of the many differing ways people have of being in the world and, in particular, the demands the world places on development and the capacity of adults to meet

Like the old saying goes, “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”, and if you believe in this saying you are going to understand my stance in this paper. My whole opinion of development can be summed up in these next few words. The extent of one’s development depends on the experiences they live, described by the cultural umbrella under which they are covered by. What determines how well a person develops is hard to explain because development means different things for different people, and the way or quality of life for everyone is not the same. There are uniquely diverse cultures in this world; each may have many different philosophies that govern their way of life. It is wrong to look at development through a single lens, like most scholars in the Western world do, not taking into consideration that the word “normal” has different meanings for everyone. As we can see in the movie, “Beasts of the Southern Wild” introduces us to the world of a six-year-old black girl name Hushpuppy that challenges the perception of what a normal development should be, for most. Hushpuppy resides with her father, Wink, in a rural part of Louisiana known to its inhabitants as “the Bathtub”.

In this week’s reading of Thomas Pagge’s “Priorities of Global Justice”, I found it very interesting when he describes some of the systemic and external influences that keep people in poverty despite their best efforts to climb the social ladder. For example, when Pagge explains how a farm boy may lack the proper motivation to achieve greater things in life due to issues of malnutrition and poor education in his childhood, it explains how poverty becomes an endless cycle that is practically impossible for people stuck in it to get out of (717).

When thinking of a developing nation, several advancements for the benefit of society come to mind, however the negative effects, which can often

David Roodman’s argument that a pragmatic approach to development is the most agreeable proposition has merit, but it is extremely cumbersome. Even if a leader is corrupt, the type of development that Easterly argues for originates with the people; it is essentially “bottom-up” change. A corrupt leader would have very little power to stop or curb such change, and efforts to do so would likely incite the public against him. For these reasons, among others, pragmatism should not be the default approach to developmental

The differences between standards of living in developed and developing nations have been made more evident by the rapid pace of technological innovation. Many world leaders consider the poor circumstances of developing nations to be tragedies that should be solved. Some altruistic organizations such as the World Bank have attempted to improve the conditions in developing nations through deliberate development, in which they would enable an all-encompassing plan aimed at efficiently reducing material suffering. However, in The Tyranny of Experts, Easterly argues that development approaches are flawed because they often emphasize material goods at the detriment of individual rights. Instead, he argues for giving developing nations the freedom to improve themselves by supporting democracy and personal rights. In explaining this idea, he comments on four aspects of the two differing methodologies: blank slate versus learning from history, nations versus individuals, conscious direction versus spontaneous solutions, and authoritarian rule versus free development.

Economic development can be defined generally as involving an improvement in economic welfare, measured using a variety of indices, such as the Human Development Index (HDI). A developing country is described as a nation with a lower standard of living, underdeveloped industrial base, and a low HDI relative to other countries. There are several factors which may have the effect of limiting economic development in such countries. Factors such as these include: primary product dependency, the savings gap and political instability.

The concept of ‘sustainable development’ is one that has faced heated debates for decades now. A seemingly harmless concept, it raises a lot of questions as to what it really entails and how exactly it can be achieved. But with more than 1.3 billion people living in abject poverty (less than $1.25 a day), and with a reported 22,000 children dying every day as a result of poverty (UNICEF), the debate for Sustainable Development becomes interesting as it questions the extremity of economic growth policies, in the war against poverty. Many note economic growth and development as the only tool for poverty alleviation. Roemer and Gugerty, for example, report that GDP growth of 10% per year is associated with income growth of 10% for the poorest 40% of the population. However, others question the extent to which economic growth should be put above other socio-economic factors. Lele points out that the focus on economic growth has led to important ecological and social sustainability, taking the backseat. He argues that due to strong emphasis on economic growth, not enough attention is paid to social equity, and economic stability within the development discourse.

Amartya Sen defines economic development in terms of personal freedom, freedom to choose from a range of options. While economic growth may lead to an increase in the purchasing power of people, if the country has a repressed economy, there is lack of choice and hence personal freedom in restricted. Hence once again growth has taken place without any development. While economic growth may result in an improvement in the standard of living of a relatively small proportion of the population whilst the majority of the population remains poor. It is how the economic growth is distributed amongst the population that determines the level of development.

Development is defined as “the process of change operating over time- the process by which countries and societies advance and become richer’’. The modern 20th century defines development as” the process of change which allows all the basic needs of a region to be met, thereby achieving greater social justice and quality of life and encouraging people to fulfill their potential’’. Todaro defines development as “the process of improving the quality of all human lives through raising people’s living standards, their incomes, consumption levels of food, medical services, education, raising people’s self-esteem through the establishment of social, political and economic systems and institutions that promote dignity and respect and increasing people’s