BSOG 173

RETHINKING DEVELOPMENT

School of Social Sciences

Indira Gandhi National Open University
EXPERT COMMITTEE
Prof. V. Xaxa Prof. Debal Singha Roy Prof. Jagpal Singh
TISS, Guwahati Sociology, IGNOU SOSS, IGNOU
Prof. J.K. Pundir Prof. T. Kapur Prof. Rabindra Kumar
CSS University, Meerut Sociology, IGNOU Sociology, IGNOU
Dr. Archana Singh
Dr. Srinivas Rao Prof. N. Mathur
Sociology, IGNOU
JNU, New Delhi Sociology, IGNOU
Dr. B. Kiranmayi
Prof. Madhu Nagla Prof. S.B. Upadhyay Sociology, IGNOU
MDU, Rohtak SOSS, IGNOU
Dr. R. Vashum
Sociology, IGNOU
COURSE COORDINATOR AND EDITOR
Prof. Rabindra Kumar
Discipline of Sociology
SOSS, IGNOU, New Delhi

COURSE PREPARATION TEAM

Block 1 Unpacking Development
Unit 1 Prof. B.B. Mallick, Department of Sociology BBAU Lucknow
Unit 2 Dr.Vinod Arya, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Punjab Central
University, Bhatinda
Unit 3 Dr.Vinod Arya, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Punjab Central
University, Bhatinda
Block 2 Theorising Development
Unit 4 Prof. Manisha Tripathy Pandey, HOD, Deptt. of Sociology, Jamia Milia Islamia,
New Delhi
Unit 5 Prof. Manisha Tripathy Pandey, HOD, Deptt. of Sociology, Jamia Milia Islamia,
New Delhi
Unit 6 Kanika Kakkar, Assistant Professor, Janki Devi College, Delhi University
Unit 7 Dr. Charu Sahawny, Independent Researcher
Unit 8 Prof. B.B. Mallick Department of Sociology BBAU Lucknow
Unit 9 Geetanjali Atri, Research Scholar, CSSS, JNU, New Delhi
Block 3 Developmental Regimes in India
Unit 10 Prof. Rabindra Kumar, Discipline of Sociology, SOSS, IGNOU, New Delhi
Unit 11 Kanika Kakkar, Assistant Professor, Janki Devi College, Delhi University
Block 4 Issues in Development Praxis
Unit 12 Dr. Omprakash Manjhi, Independent Researcher, Delhi
Unit 13 Dr. Uzma Azhar, Independent Researcher, Delhi
Unit 14 Dr. Uzma Azhar, Independent Researcher, Delhi

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COURSE INTRODUCTION
The course Rethinking Development examines the ideas of development from a
sociological perspective. It introduces students to different approaches to
understanding development and traces the trajectory of Indian experience with
development from an interdisciplinary perspectives. The course is divided into
four themes which we call blocks. Each block addresses a certain aspects of
development.

Block 1 Unpacking Development deals with understanding development, factors

and instruments of development and categorization of world in terms of
development. In the unit 1 we discussed notions related to Development, meaning
and definition of Development, and the dimensions of Development. In this unit2,
we have discussed factors of development like economic factors, political factors,
socio structural factors, religious factors, technological factors and also discuss
the instruments of development like GNP, Per capita income, poverty, Basic
need approach and human development index. In the unit 3, we discussed the
categorization of countries in terms of developed, developing and underdeveloped.
We also discussed the development debate.

Block 2 Theorizing Development deals with various theories of development.

In the unit4 , we discussed modernization, industrialization and urbanization as
the process of development. In the unit5 Perspectives on Development, we
discussed the various perspectives of development i.e. modernization theory,
Marxist and Neo-Marxist approaches of development and underdevelopment,
neoliberal perspectives, alternative development, human development and anti
development. In the unit 6,we discussed the World Systems Theory. The world
systems theory was developed by an American sociologist and economic historian,
Immanuel Wallerstein (1930-2019) in the start of 1970s as a macro sociological
perspective that sought to explain the dynamics of the “capitalist world economy”
as a “total social system” (Martinez-Vela 2001). Wallerstein’s works The Rise
and Future Demise of the World Capitalist System: Concepts for Comparative
Analysis published and The Modern World System I: Capitalist Agriculture and
the Origins of the European World-Economy in the Sixteenth Century published
both in 1974 provide the most comprehensive articulation of the world-systems
theory. The section 6.2 focuses on the origins of the world systems theory as an
approach critical to modernization paradigm of development. The section 6.4
provides a description of the origin of the world capitalist economy. It traces that
through history there were certain countries of the world that emerged dominant
because of their superior economic position and these dominated and exploited
other countries. In section 6.5 some of the criticisms to the world-system theory
are examined. It is seen that, despite, the criticisms on various grounds, the theory
is extremely enriching and illuminating analysis of the rise and expansion of
capitalism.

In the unit7, we discussed the perspective on human development. We explored

the development ethics and how value judgments held by policy makers influence
development policy making, implication and outcomes of development policy.
We understood that in the past, economic development was measured in terms of
economic growth while human development is seen in terms of betterment of
quality of life of human beings. The human development approach puts people
first and works towards enhancing their capability. However, the human
development approach does not exclude sustained economic growth. The
theoretiical base human development approach has been the capability approach
to development. In this unit8, we understood the environment and its related
aspects, what the environment is and what constitutes this. Then we discussed
why and what for the environment is changing in due course of human action
and interaction. Next section we discussed development and environment
discourse and then we discussed the perspective. Women have always been visible
or invisible contributors in the socio-economic as well as political development
of the society; still, development policies, legislations and strategies have always
ignored women as direct beneficiaries. The fact that has invited feminist attention
is the critique from across the various spectrums of the movement. The feminists,
on the other hand, have suggested various alternative models of development in
order to bring women to the heart of development policies. Beginning from 1970s,
feminists have worked on the intersection of women and development and owing
to their efforts; the interaction between the two variables has seen brighter side.
However, still a lot needs to be done in order to extend the benefit of development
policies to women across the world equitably; irrespective of their socio-
geographical locations.

Block 4 deals with the Development Regimes in India. The unit 10 deals with
Capitalism, Socialism and Mixed Economy. We describe the current views on
social development, including a discussion on the ‘three worlds of development’
and some recent approaches to social development. Finally, we look at the ‘mixed’
path of development, including that of India.

In this unit11, we have elaborated on Amartya Sen’s theorisation of Development

as Freedom. Development as Freedom is an agent-oriented view, focusing on
individual capability and entitlements. The freedom centred approach provides
a qualitative understanding to development. It allows viewing development
beyond the purview of economics, as a social variable. The Freedom has been
illustrated in multiple forms both as outcomes and means to development manifest
in terms of substantive capabilities and instrumental values.

In the Block4 on Issues in Development Praxis, we discussed Development,

Migration and Displacement in unit 12. In the unit 13, we looked at the issues of
Livelihood and Sustainability. The debate on development is incomplete without
discussing the basic issues of livelihood and sustainability. It also discussed the
various related aspects and how they are relevant as issues in the development
praxis.

In the unit 14, we started with the discussion on the process of inclusive
development and the relevance the grassroots initiatives have in the process of
development. We looked at different aspects of grassroots innovations and their
relationship with institutions of the state. Then, we learnt about the various
grassroots initiative programs’ like, NAZDEEK, SEWA, SAHAYOG and
MNREGA, MSME schemes, in detail being run by various groups/ organizations
and by the government for various marginalized categories and groups of people.
 CONTENTS
Page No.

Block 1 Unpacking Development 7

Unit 1 Understanding Development 9
Unit 2 Factors and Instruments of Development 21
Unit 3 Developed, Developing and Underdeveloped 34

Block 2 Theorising Development 49

Unit 4 Modernisation, Urbanisation and Industrialisation 51
Unit 5 Perspectives on Development 61
Unit 6 World System Theory 76
Unit 7 Human and Social Perspective 94
Unit 8 Environmental Perspective 104
Unit 9 Feminist Perspective 117

Block 3 Developmental Regimes in India 135

Unit 10 Capitalism, Socialism and Mixed Economy 137
Unit 11 Development as Freedom 152

Block 4 Issues in Development Praxis 165

Unit 12 Development, Migration and Displacement 167
Unit 13 Livelihood and Sustainability 181
Unit 14 Grassroots Initiatives 194
 BLOCK 1
UNPACKING DEVELOPMENT
Unpacking Development

8
 Understanding Development
UNIT 1 UNDERSTANDING
DEVELOPMENT*
Structure
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Notions Related to Development
1.2.1 Evolution and Progress
1.2.2 Growth, Change and Modernisation
1.3 Development: Conceptual Framework
1.3.1 Meaning of development
1.3.2 Definition of Development
1.4 Dimensions of Development
1.4.1 Economic development
1.4.2 Social development
1.4.3 Human development
1.4.4 Sustainable development
1.4.5 Territorial development
1.4.6 Inclusive development
1.5 Let Us Sum Up
1.6 Further Readings
1.7 Key Words
1.8 Specimen Answers of Check your progress

1.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit, you will be able to understand:
Differentiate between Evolution, Progress and Growth, Change and
Modernisation.
Meaning and Definition of Development.
Describe the dimensions of Development

1.1 INTRODUCTION
In this unit section1.2 we first discuss notions related to Development In the
section 1.3 we discuss meaning and definition of Development and the section
1.4 we discuss the dimensions of Development

Understanding development involves lots of ambiguities vis-à-vis complexities

and further guided by prominent liberal practicing ideologies. The process of
development is complex, multidimensional and brings uneven and unequal results
to different sections and communities in the society. Therefore, understanding
development and its processes require an understanding of the pedagogy and
ideology related to growth, development and prosperity involving the socio-
political and cultural matrix. In another way to acquire understanding of
*Prof. B.B.Mallick, Department of Sociology BBAU Lucknow
9
Unpacking Development development requires the indicators used by various national and international
sources, agencies and bodies to measure the phenomena of development. Such
indicators may be otherwise regarded as development indicators. Nevertheless,
development is a normative, as almost synonym of improvement, progress,
modernisation, change and growth. Development is concerned with attainment
of better life and therefore development analysis has to include the quality of life
of people and the way they live in. Quality of life includes the life longevity,
expectancy, living standard with civic amenities, household assets, nutritious
food etc. All these attributes encompass the notion of development vis-à-vis
nuances of developmental ideology, theory and praxis. In the contemporary
discourse and dialogue, development is understood as freedom, capability and
democracy. “Democracy and development are inter-linked in fundamental ways…
They are connected because democracy is a fundamental human right, the
advancement which is itself an important measure of development. They are
linked because people’s participation in the decision making processes which
affect their lives is the basic tenet of development” (United Nations 1994, para
120). Now let us discuss related notions of development.

1.2 NOTIONS RELATED TO DEVELOPMENT

As we proceed to understand the notion of “development”, we encounter several
related notion e.g. evolution, progress, growth, transformation and so on.
Therefore, it is necessary that we should have an understanding of all these notions
or concepts at the very outset even though there is tendency to use them
interchangeably.

1.2.1 Evolution and Progress

The notion of evolution is derived from the Latin word evolvere. It means ‘to
develop’ or to unfold. The concept of evolution is specifically applied to mean
the internal growth of a living organism the plants, animals etc. Moreover, internal
growth has also seen through varios stages of gradual transition. Hebert Spencer
propagated that all through the ages there had been social evolution from simple
to complex.

The notion of progress on the one hand, is used to mean to step forward. The
fundamental meaning of progress is the forward march or advancement towards
a desirable ends. There may be as many types of progress as there are desirable
ends. I t is value loaded concept The grand ideas of Morgan, Comte, Spencer,
Marx, Durkhiem, Weber and many others have examined the journey of human
society through various stages of development and progress. Now let us
differentiate between growth, change and development.

1.2.2 Growth, Change and Modernisation

In this section we shall discuss the different connotation of development as in

general perceived in the post world war second period. We shall also discuss the
impact of these notion of development in society very briefly.

Development as multiple connotations: There are several connotations about

development, such as growth, development as change or transformation and
development as modernization.
10
a) Growth: In economic terms ,development as growth refers to Understanding Development

i) An increased capacity to produce consumption goods, and a concomitant

increase in consumption patterns;

ii) An increase ability to fulfil basic human needs of food,clothing

shelter,healthcare and education;

iii) In terms of expansion of possibilities, an increase in individual choices,

capabilities and functioning.

b) Change and transformation: Any kind of alteration in the society is known

as a change. Change is value neutral concept whereas development is a
value-laden concept. The notion of development is, in other words, the
process of desired change. Development as change and transformation refers
to the economic, social, political and cultural processes of change in human
societies.

c) Modernization: Often modernization being seen as a means to development.

In the economic realm it refers to the processes of industrialisation,
urbanisation and technological transformation of agriculture. In the political
realm, it requires a rationalisation of authority in general and a rationalising
bureaucracy in particular. In the social realm it is marked by the weakening
of ascriptive ties and the primacy of personal achievement in
advancement,and in the cultural realm it is the growth of science and
secularization, along with an expansion of the literate population that makes
for what has been referred to as “disenchantment” of the world (Marlin
1990).

As development was predominantly defined in terms of increase in productivity,

economic prosperity and an expansion of the market economy. Underdevelopment
had been constructed as the phenomena of poverty, low productivity and
backwardness. There was optimism that economic growth was the fastest road
to development. From the 1950s onwards, therefore, there has been an obsessive
focus on industrialisation and growth of gross national product (GNP).It has
been assumed that the national consequences of a rapid in there will bring positive
changes in existing social conditions. However, there were several adverse
consequences duo to this development. It also causes anxiety, alienation,
fragmentation, cynicism demobilization. We need development to address the
powerlessness that people feel due to illiteracy, unemployment, lack of productive
assets and lack of knowledge.

From the above discussion we can say that the balance sheet of development
may not be very optimistic, yet it still carries the only possibility of ameliorating
long standing human problems of poverty and backwardness.

1.3 DEVELOPMENT: CONCEPTUAL

FRAMEWORK
Development, conceived along as the economic growth, is an all-inclusive
phenomenon. Its quantitative consequences are qualitative and explanatory to
the large extent. For example, if we limit ourselves to solely the economy of
development, it may further add to justify that the same implies more than 11
Unpacking Development economic growth and leading to several social consequences having a lot of
socio-cultural and political ramifications. However, economic development refers
to growth accompanied by qualitative change in the structure of production and
employment, generally referred to as structural change (Kuznets, 1966). In other
words, developing economy contributes and increases in the share of the dynamic
industrial sector, national output, employment and decreases the share of
agriculture. This explains that economic growth could take place without any
economic development. Development likewise has come a long way in the past
few decades. If we analyse the development in narrow sense we can say that
initially development is about using the state to spearhead the process of
modernising the economy, society and raising its income by providing
employment. Hence, development, in short, ostensibly means to improve the
quality of life of poor people of the world so that wealth, health, longevity and
education of these people may commensurate with those living in better off
conditions across countries. Therefore, development is more than a mere economic
change and it is not purely an economic phenomenon; rather an inclusive vis-a-
vis multi-dimensional process involving rationalisation, reorganisation and
reorientation of the entire economic and social system towards ensuring a just,
egalitarian and democratic set up.

Further to acknowledge development is a normative concept, Dudley Seers

(1972:22), the founding father of development studies, takes the position that
development nevertheless has a coherent object; i.e., “the realisation of the
potential of human personality”. He accordingly challenged the prevalent notion
of his time that development is merely commensurate with economic growth.
Therefore, he argued for a broader explanatory framework and stresses the
importance of three interdependent indicators: poverty, unemployment and
inequality.

Lesotho Ferguson (1990) demonstrates the ahistorical and depoliticising nature

of development discourse and practice. His work is an emblematic of post-
development and post-colonial theorists. He argues that certain characteristic of
“Western” ways of talking about and representing the non-West should be
understood as ideological projections rather than as a scientific knowledge about
people and places elsewhere. Hence in the views and contributions of these
theorists, the ways of conceiving and representing development that are closely
bound to Northern development agencies. It reveals more about the self-affirming
ideologies of the North than insights into the peoples of the rest of the world. In
this connection, post-development scholars of recent decades especially take the
position that development has less to do with human improvement and more to
do with human control and domination. In contrast, Esteva (1991) takes a narrower
view of the temporality of development. He is portraying it as a project directed
by the United States in an effort to consolidate its emergent hegemony at the end
of the Second World War. Where does this leave us? Ferguson’s (1994) injunction
that we address two key questions: “What is to be done?” and “By whom? In this
manners and categories, various schools of thought ought to contest the very
coherent meaning and widespread desirability of development.

1.3.1 Meaning of development

The dictionary meaning of the word “development” connotes such ideas as
‘unfolding’, ‘growth’ ‘the fuller working out of the details of anything’, and
12
bringing out the potential that is latent in something and need to be developed. Understanding Development
These connotations and ideas are relevant to understand the concept of
development. Further, development as a public policy over the last half-century
and more, grounded in industrialisation and industrialised (core) countries and
in the “periphery” of the erstwhile colonies that come to be described as the
“less developed countries” (LDCs) of the “Third World”. (The idea of the “Third
World” held connotations of the French tiers état, or “third estate,” referring to
the mass of people, and implied the idea of “the people” on a world scale—those
who oppressed by colonial rule).

Development is undoubtedly a very big, vast and generic terminology. It is a

fusion of material as well as non-material things and loaded with everything
simultaneously. Regardless of partial, prejudicial and problematics, development
process is always cyclical, linear and perpetual. Though as of date precise or
concise meaning of development is yet to be drawn or understood across societies
unanimously; no society is found escape from paradigms of development. Instead
of classification or categorisation of a society to ascertain development syndrome
therein, everybody is ostensibly hyped to believe development is equivalent to
uncommon output. Accordingly, from a micro suit perspective, fruits of
development is only reaped and realised when it adequately encompasses
everything. From the above discussion it is evident that though development
initially started solely as economic development but the scholars attributed
different and multidimensional analyses to broaden the development. Therefore,
development has to be grounded in the societal milieu and not in isolation.
Therefore, development needs to be defined and described as social development.
In this context ‘social’ means how development brings changes in the life of the
people, its organisation, functions; and its impact on different communities and
also the indicators to measure it and etc. In this manner, development means to
unfold itself, to grow fuller and matured. Hence development indicates continuous
progressive improvement in quality of life of the people, their living condition,
material possession and many other overt and covert factors.

1.3.2 Definition of Development

Gunnar Myrdal very comprehensively deliberated the concept of development.
To him ‘by development I mean the movement upward of the entire social system,
and I believe this is the only logically tenable definition. This social system
encloses, besides the so-called economic factors, all noneconomic factors,
including all sorts of consumption by various groups of people; consumption
provided collectively; educational and health facilities and levels; the distribution
of power in society; and more generally economic, social, and political
stratification; broadly speaking, institutions and attitudes—to which we must
add as an exogenous set of factors induced policy measures applied in order to
change one or several of these endogenous factors.’(Myrdal 1974:729-30).

Perroux focuses both attitudinal and mental changes which to him is the
prerequisites of development and enhancement of production. Further, he writes
development as “the combination of mental and social changes among the
population which decide to increase its real and global products, cumulatively
and in sustainable manner” (1978:65).

Todaro refers to development as a multi-dimensional process involving the

reorganisation and reorientation of the entire economic and social systems. He 13
Unpacking Development argues that development is a physical reality and a state of mind in which society
has, through some combinations of social, economic and political process secured
the way of obtaining better life. That is (i) raising peoples’ standard of living i.e.
incomes and consumption, levels of food, medical services, education through
relevant growth processes; (ii) Creating conditions conducive to the growth of
peoples’ self-esteem through the establishment of social, political and economic
systems and institutions which promote human dignity and respect; and (iii)
increasing peoples’ freedom to choose by enlarging the range of their choice
variables, e.g. varieties of goods and services (1981:56).

Rogers writes “development is a long participatory process of social change in

the society whose objective is the material and social progress for the majority
of population through a better understanding of their environment” (1990:30).

As deliberated by Szirmai that there are two distinctive ways to understand

development: (i) Development as a state or condition which is static and (ii)
Development as a process or course of change which is dynamic. The long-term
approach to development is more detached. One tries to comprehend why, in the
long term, such great difference in development occurred in the different parts of
the world (Szirmai, 1993).

According to Amartya Sen(1999) ‘Development is about the expansion of

citizen’s capabilities and fulfilling their entitlements as a citizen and
individual. Further, it requires increasing citizen’s access and opportunities to
the things they have reason to value’. His view is based on capabilities
enhancement by advocating freedom: economic opportunities, political freedoms,
social facilities, transparency, guarantees and protective security. These, he argues,
need to be interconnected. Social facilities involve institutions such as the state
and the market. Societal arrangements should be investigated ‘in terms of their
contribution to enhancing and guaranteeing the substantive freedoms of
individuals, seen as active agents of change rather than as passive recipients of
dispensed benefits’ (Sen 1999:xii). Social facilities should aim to provide
opportunities that increase the well-being of the population. He contends that
all human beings are equally entitled to enjoy a life that they value. If pursuing
freedom-for-all is about expanding citizens’ capabilities, the focus should not be
exclusively on making up for what people lack (Reid-Henry 2012). ‘Development
consists of the removal of various types of un-freedoms that leave people with
little choice and little opportunity of exercising their reasoned agency’ (Sen 1999:
xii). Further he argues the major factors that limit freedom as ‘poverty as well as
tyranny, poor economic opportunities as well as systematic social deprivation,
neglect of public facilities as well as intolerance or over activity of repressive
states” (Sen 1999:1). He argues for the removal of these major factors. Sen’s
work has a huge influence on the establishment of a new paradigm in the early
2000s. Development was “redefined in terms that include human rights as a
constitutive part: all worthwhile processes of social change are simultaneously
rights-based and economically grounded, and should be conceived of in those
terms” (Uvin 2010:168). Sen’s capability approach challenges the world-view
of elites. He manages to convince sceptical economists that social choice and
public discussion is both possible and necessary. He contends that choices about
growth strategies should be democratic (Evans 2012). “Sen has focused on the
well-being of those at the bottom of society, not the efficiency of those at the
top” (Longworth 1999). He influences the ideas and decisions made by other
14
development actors. The Millennium Development Goals are guided by Sen’s Understanding Development
ideas.

Thomas (2000) explains three ways the word ‘development’ is used. Firstly,
development as a vision means how desirable it is for the society and to take
society to the desirable direction. Secondly, development is a historical process
upholds social change over the period of time. This is inevitable and its processes
are continuous. For example, both capitalism and communism are unavoidable
results of progress which are the by product of the historical process of
development. Thirdly, development as action focuses on deliberate efforts to
bring change make it better.

Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of United Nations, while defining development

draws the disparity in the life of the people in developed and developing countries.
He vehemently spoke about freedom and the rights of the poor in his report
named In Larger Freedom (2005). To him ‘a world of interdependence cannot
be safe or just unless people everywhere are freed from want and fear and are
able to live in dignity. Today, as never before, the rights of the poor are as
fundamental as those of the rich, and a broad understanding of them is as important
parameter to the security of the developed world as it is to that of the developing
world’ (Annan 2005).

Paul Streeten while discussing the Human Development Index, writes that ‘the
approach that sees nutrition, education and health as ends in themselves… will
argue for projects… that enhance these ends, even when conventionally measured
rates of return on these investments turn out to be zero’ and this approach ‘leads
inevitably to the call for freedom by the people’ (Streeten 2009:234-36).

These above definitions are product of their time, culture-space and boundary.
These provide a holistic understanding what development is all about by focusing
different aspects of the buzz word called development. Now let us discuss the
dimensions of development.
Check your progress
1) Differentiate between change and development.
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2) Economic growth is a sufficient and a necessary condition to stimulate

development of all sections of society. Tick the correct box

Yes No

15
Unpacking Development
1.4 DIMENSIONS OF DEVELOPMENT
Development in general terms means a new stage of changing situation which
can be categorised and elaborated in different themes, framework and
perspectives. These perspectives and thematic narrations centred on a focus and
idealistic context, which may or not fit into a single frame of reference to
development of a group or nation or community. A few and important dimensions
are discussed below:

1.4.1 Economic development

Traditionally, economic development is a kind and form of development which
is mostly centred on economic activities and growth principles. The rise in per-
capita income, GDP, GNP is the indicator of economic development and growth.
This takes the economic system in a rising speed and condition. Indeed, growth
defined in this way can be seen more as the result of an economic development
process; for example the transformation of the structure of an economic system.
Economic development cannot be explained by economic factor only, and the
concept of development includes more than mere changes in economic indicator,
however economic perspective is one of the predominant perspectives of
development.

1.4.2 Social development

Development is not an isolated phenomenon. It has to be there in society and for
betterment of people in the society; therefore, development per se is social and
sociological. But development which is otherwise consider as ‘unfolding or to
grow or getting matured’ referring to an instrument of action, an act or process
for progressive improvements in the living conditions and quality of life of the
people. According to Bilance, 1997 ‘social development is the promotion of a
sustainable society that is worthy of human dignity by empowering marginalised
groups, women and men, to undertake their own development, to improve their
social and economic position and to acquire their rightful place in society…..” -
If we analyse development in sociological sense we find that development
sociology has been by and large the critical successor to 19th century theories of
development. It owes its origin to deviation from late 19th century. Development
can be understood as the problematic transition from agrarian to an industrial
social set up. There is a close relationship between growth and equity such as
‘Economic growth and social development impinge on each other, i.e. broadly
effective social progress is not possible without a socially oriented economic
and finance policy’. The important goal dominant tendency has been to relegate
question of social development is poverty alleviation. The low standard of living
of the mass of the population in developing countries is singled out as the key
issue in development.

1.4.3 Human development

According to the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) human
development is a process of analysing people’s choices. In principle, these choices
can be infinite and change over time. But at all levels of development, the three
essential ones are there for people (a) to lead a long and healthy life, b)to acquire
knowledge and c) to have access to resources needed for a decent standard of
16
living. Human development does not end here. Additional choices, ranging from Understanding Development
political, economic and social freedom to opportunities for being creative and
productive and enjoying personal self respect and guaranteed human rights are
also inseparable parts of human development.

UNDP depicts two sides of human development: a) the formation of human

capabilities such as improved health, knowledge and access to resources and b)
the people making use of these capabilities for productive purposes being active
in cultural, social and political affairs.

According to India Human Development Report, 1999 “Human development is

a process of enlarging peoples’ choices. The most critical choices that people
should have include a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and income,
assets and employment for a decent standard of living… (But) human development
concerns more than the formation of human capabilities such as improved health
or knowledge. It also concerns the use of these capabilities”. The relevant theme
for the human development approach is to examine the relationship between
human capital that is people-centred development, where the focus is put on the
improvement of various dimensions affecting the well-being of individuals and
their relationships with the society (health, education, entitlements, capabilities,
empowerment etc.) The above-mentioned emphasis on the links between human
capital and growth constituted a step towards a multi-dimensional concept of
development, where knowledge is not only fundamental to economic growth but
an end per se, as it generates empowerment, self-reliance and a general
improvement in community and social relationships. Nowadays the concept of
development encompasses a set of elements comprised in more than one of the
above-mentioned qualifications.

1.4.4 Sustainable development

Sustainable development which considers the long term perspectives of the socio-
economic system, to ensure that improvements occurring in the short term will
not be detrimental to the future status or development potential of the system,
i.e. development will be “sustainable” on environmental, social, financial and
other grounds. The concept of “sustainable development” was first introduced
by Brundtland (1987:12), who defines development as ‘sustainable’ if it ‘meets
the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet their own needs’. Sustainable development implies minimising the use
of exhaustible resources, or at least, ensuring that revenues obtained from them
are used to create a constant flow of income across generations, and making an
appropriate use of renewable resources. This applies to energy (oil and oil products
in particular) but also to fish stock, wildlife, forests, water, land and air. The
concept of sustainability has also been extended beyond environmental concerns,
to include social sustainability, i.e. long term acceptance and ownership of
development changes by the citizens, their organisations and associations (civil
society), and financial and economic sustainability.

1.4.5 Territorial development

This dimension of development refers to a territorial system, intended as a set of
interrelationships between rural and urban areas, in a space characterised by the
existence of poles of attraction for human activities (production and consumption
of goods and services, but also culture and social life), and connected by 17
Unpacking Development information systems and transport infrastructures. Territorial development of a
specific region (space) can be achieved by exploiting the specific socio-
economic, environmental and institutional potential of the area, and its
relationships with external subjects.

1.4.6 Inclusive development

This new term called inclusive development concept is now added to the lexicon
of developmental studies in the very recent past of the society. It is precisely
because of ‘slow progress in living standards and widening inequality’ because
of which the World Economic Forum System Initiative on Shaping the Future of
Economic Progress last year (2017) introduced a new economic policy framework
which is otherwise termed as inclusive development. The focus is to have more
inclusive and sustainable model of growth and development to promote high
living standards for all. The framework identifies 15 areas of structural economic
policy and institutional strength that have the potential to contribute
simultaneously to higher growth rate and wider social participation network in
the process and benefits to intensify growth. As per the 2018 rank 29 countries
are in ‘advanced economies’ and 74 countries in ‘emerging economies’. Among
the emerging countries India’s rank is 62 and in trends of development —-
‘receding, slowly receding, stable, slowly advancing, and advancing’—; India
is yet categorised as advancing economies. The Inclusive Development Index
(IDI) is an annual assessment of 103 countries’ economic performance that
measures how countries perform on eleven dimensions of economic progress in
addition to GDP. It has 3 pillars; growth and development; inclusion and;
intergenerational equity – sustainable stewardship of natural and financial
resources. The key characteristic of inclusive development is (i) Inclusive
development implies social, ecological and relational inclusiveness, (ii) Inclusive
development has its roots in different disciplinary approaches, (iii) Inclusive
development is used to counter exclusive capitalist approach, (iv) Inclusiveness
refers to how access to and allocation of basic resources is systematically
organised, and (v) development refers to ecological and equitable well-being of
people.

1.5 LET US SUM UP

The concept of development is by no means unproblematic. Development has
been described as a process of change from the traditional way of living of rural
communities to progressive ways of living to modern society. Development means
people are assisted to develop themselves on the basis of their capacities and
resources. Development is more concerned with the investment in human beings
especially in the areas of education, health, social welfare etc. Social development
aims at the total development of people, which requires decentralisation of power
and decision making so that process of planning at the grass root level is made
possible. This means active people’s participation in making political and
economic decision involving their welfare. Hence development in Amartya Sen,
(1995) words ‘social development is equality of social opportunities’. It means
there is important role interplay between economic and non-economic factors to
create adequate social space and also generate social opportunity for our
understanding of the dynamics of social development.

18
 Understanding Development
1.6 KEY WORDS
Gross National Product (GNP) : It is the total flow of goods and
services produced by the economy
over a specified time period, usually
one year. To this net income flows
from abroad is added and outflow is
subtracted.

Value-laden : Attributing a value, as good or evil,

desirable or undesirable, to
something.

Value-neutral : Interpreting objectively, without

taking sides.

1.7 FURTHER READINGS

Esteva, Gustavo. 1991, “Development” pp. 1-23 in Wolfgang Sachs (ed), The
Development Dictionary. London: Zed Books

Sen, A. 1999, Development As Freedom, Oxford: Oxford University Press

Sachs,Wolfgang (edt),1992. The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge

and power.London: Zed Books.pp1-21

1.8 SPECIMEN ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR

PROGRESS
1) Change is a value-neutral concept while development is a value-laden
concept. All cases of change do not indicate development. Only planned-
desired changes can be termed development
2) No

REFERENCES
Annan, K. 2005, “In Larger Freedom”: Decision Time at the UN. Foreign Affairs.
Available at: http://www.unis.unvienna.org/pdf/freedom_annan.pdf.
Accessed 26th March 2017

Brundtland, 1987, Our Common Future, World Commission on Environment

and Development (WCED) Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Chakravarty, Sukhamay, 1987, Development Planning: The Indian Experience,

Oxford University Press, New Delhi, p. 2-5.

Esteva, Gustavo. 1991, “Development” pp. 1-23 in Wolfgang Sachs (ed), The
Development Dictionary. London: Zed Books.

Evans, P. 2002, Collective Capabilities, Culture, and Amartya Sen’s Development

as Freedom, Studies in Comparative International Development, 37:2. pp 54-60.
19
Unpacking Development Ferguson, James. 1994, “Epilogue.” Pp. 279-288 in The Anti-Politics Machine:
Development, Depoliticization, and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho, Minneapolis,
MN: University of Minnesota Press

Longworth, R. 1999, Amartya Sen. Nobel Prize winning economist, The Chicago  
Tribune.[Online] 28th March 1999, Available at: http://articles. chicagotribune.
com/1999-328/news/9903280117_1_inequality-economy-amartya-sen.
Accessed: 27th March 2017

Myrdal, Gunnar. 1974. “What is Development?” Journal of Economic Issues

8(4):729-736.

Reid-Henry, S. 2012, Amartya Sen: economist, philosopher, human development

doyen, The Guardian [Online] 22nd November 2012. Available at: http://
www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/nov/22/amartya-sen   human-
development-doyen. Accessed 26th March 2017

Seers, Dudley. 1972. “What are we trying to Measure?” Journal of Development

Studies 8(3):21-36.
Sen, A. 1999, Development As Freedom, Oxford: Oxford University Press

20
 Understanding Development
UNIT 2 FACTORS AND INSTRUMENTS OF
DEVELOPMENT*
Structure
2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Factors of Development
2.2.1 Economic Factors
2.2.2 Political Factors
2.2.3 Socio-structural Factors
2.2.4 Cultural Factors
2.2.5 Physical and Geographical Factors
2.2.6 Religious Factors
2.2.7 Educational Factors
2.2.8 Administrative Factors
2.2.9 Technological Factors
2.3 Instruments of Development
2.3.1 Gross National Product (GNP)
2.3.2 Per Capita Income
2.3.3 Less Income Inequalities
2.3.4 Poverty
2.3.5 Development Planning
2.3.6 Human Development Index
2.3.7 Sustainable Development
2.3.8 Basic Needs Approach
2.4 Let Us Sum Up
2.5 Key Words
2.6 Further Readings
2.7 Specimen Answer of Check your progress.

2.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit, you will be able to
Understand the meaning of factors and instruments.
Describe the various factors related to the process of development.
Discuss the various instrument related to the process of development.

2.1 INTRODUCTION
Previous unit we studied understanding of Development. Now in this unit we
will discuss the factors and instruments of development.
Social development is the option as a process of enlarging people’s choice to do
enjoy freedom and equivalence among them. Among these wide ranges of choices,
the most crucial part is to live a long and healthy life, being education and having
*Dr.Vinod Arya ,Assistant Professor,Department of Sociology,Punjab Central University,
Bhatinda 21
Unpacking Development access to the resources needed for the decent living standards. Along with these,
the choice such as political freedom, guaranteed human rights and a dignified
life. Development has a critical role to empower people for achieving these goals.
Social development therefore concerns more than the human capability-building,
such as improved health and skilled knowledge. It also concerns to use these
abilities. (See unit 1) Now let us discuss the factors of development.

2.2 FACTORS OF DEVELOPMENT

Before analysing the key factors involved in the context of development let us
understand first that what do you mean by factors? According to the Merriam
Webster Dictionary a factor means one that actively contributes to the production
of a result. Therefore, our concern will be to mark up into the factors which
actively contribute to the process of development. Now broadly speaking we
may divide all the factors related to the development of a society into major
domains like economic factors, political factors, socio-cultural factors (including
social-structure related factors), cultural-history related factors, physical and
geographical factors, religious factors, administrative factors, and technological
factors. Let us discuss in details as follow:

2.2.1 Economic Factors

Spengler (1957) has categorised economic factors related to development into
three main categories. In the first group he placed the main physical agents which
are involved in the production process like labour force, wealth or capital which
can be reproduced, land and natural resources which are considered as
provisionally non-reproducible wealth and applied technology. In the second
group the mechanism and the circumstances are kept. Utilisation of particular
kinds of mechanism and the circumstances lead to quantum of production and
then through the use of different agencies the finished goods and services are
catered. This category emphasise on the division of labour, price system, extent
of market, inter-sector balance and aggregate demand, etc. The third category
conceptualised by Spengler includes the major economic decision-makers and
the environment of economic decisions.

The other factors which have influential capacity in this category are the quantum
of physical and human resources and their effective utilisation and management.
Here capital investment for utilisation of physical and human resources becomes
very crucial. The technological and management level expertise along with
support of capital investment are very much needed. If the developing countries
take the help of other countries or multinational companies, there are increased
chance that the political autonomy will be influenced by these foreign countries
and agencies. If we compare the per capita income and the opportunities to
increase it of the under-developed, developing and developed countries, we may
also find the psychological disadvantage which the citizens of under-developed
and developing countries face, when they compare it with the other citizens of
the developed countries. One more interesting point is the extreme weather
conditions present in the most of the under-developed and developing countries.
These conditions also play vital role in the working capacity, crop and cattle
productivity, transportation cost and consequently on the productivity. In the
same vein Kuznets (1979) argues that per capita product is primarily dependent
on the improvement of quality of inputs and not only on quantity of inputs.
22
The vicious circle of poverty has been described as one of the other significant Factors and Instruments of
Development
factor which influences the development of different countries and specifically
the developing and under-developed countries. Nurkse (1973) highlighted the
contradictory status in under-developed countries regarding capital investment
and saving. On the one hand the availability and supply of capital for these
countries is governed by the ability and willingness to save, while on the other
hand the demand for capital is governed by the pre-requisite of investment. In
such circumstances, if the capital is scarce, it also affects the use of labour intensive
technology and thus the production level remains low. Although there are
criticisms of Nurkse’s theory which argue that humans have tremendous
capacities, which includes also the ability to break the vicious circle of poverty.

2.2.2 Political Factors

For our convenience we may classify the political factors into three groups viz.
regional, national and international. Now here we may clearly understand the
inter-wined nature of these three levels in the final outcome of any development
policy. These outcomes in the form of policies are further interacted at the levels
of national and regional levels. According to Tsantis (1969) the major political
factors which influence the development process include the duration of
independence, the westernisation and political modernisation, the ideological
orientation followed by a particular state, government stability, and the stability
of political party system. The other important political factors also consists of
character of bureaucracy, participation level of military, the vertical and horizontal
power distribution, the balance and freedom of legislature, executive and judicial
systems, freedom of civil society organisations, interest and peer groups
contributions. The receptive and integrative nature of political structure is also
significant for the above mentioned factors in the final outcomes of the
development process.

Moreover, the efforts of any government in building infrastructure, need-based

appropriate investments and control over corruption and agencies involved in
the whole process also matters a lot. The efficiency of any government to deal
with the exclusion and discrimination in the society and the ability to deliver
justice and inclusion of the marginalised into the development process also is of
prime importance.

Politics is seen as a major factor at each point of the development process, from
influencing systems of exclusion and discrimination to increasing consciousness
and appreciation of them as concerns of (in)justice, and deciding which policies
are introduced by how and how they are enforced (Hickey, Sen, & Bukenya,
2016). Adrian Leftwich (2004) described politics as all processes of conflict, co-
operation, and negotiation in determining how to own, use, create, and allocate
resources, although we also find the struggle over ideas (as well as resources).

In development process politics deal with accumulation and growth, including

through the exploitation of natural resources. It also emphasise social and civil
right protection and promotion through public services, social justice and the
rule of law. Along with that the planning sectors have to work for the recognition
of difference and inequality. There are certain number of people who rarely self-
identify or organize themselves as poor, which makes it difficult to understand
common organisation through a poverty lens.
23
Unpacking Development 2.2.3 Socio-structural Factors
If we look at any development process, we will find that it occurs within particular
society. Although the size of the society may vary, but the nature of its organisation
(social-structure) and functioning for sure influences the development process.
It is to be noted here that, within the development debates the consideration of
social indicators has long history (Boelhouwer 2010, Noll 2011). The focus on
non-economic aspects strengthened to a great extent after the publishing of the
report on the measurements of economic performance and social progress (Stiglitz,
Sen and Fitoussi 2009).

For example Granovetter (2005) argues that there are three major influences of
social structure on the economic outcomes; which in turn is one of the important
aspect of development process. These factors include three influences social
networks, reward and punishment based upon social networks, and trust. The
flow of any information and the quality of it in development process is heavily
based on the social networks. These structure of social networks further influence
the reward and punishment imbibed in the development process itself. The third
important aspect highlighted by Granovetter is trust factor. Due to this factor the
others involved in the process have a confidence that ‘right’ things will be done.

The Brundtland Report (1987) has not only revealed the importance of sustainable
development but it also argues for global societal developments. The report also
mentions the need for consideration of trans-society developments and its
consequences on different societies. In simple terms, we need to also consider
that the development of one society may not come on the cost of loss of another
society.

In an interesting example of Netherlands, a composite form of ‘social capital’

framework has been used to understand the role of these factors in the development
process. Utilising the concept of social capital index of Putnam (2000), they
have categorised social, organisational and political dimensions of trust,
participation and integration. In Indian context, one has to also understand that
how the changes brought up by the colonial governments have impacted the
traditional social structure of the society (Versluys, 1957). These combined with
the provisions enshrined in the constitution of India, which has made everyone
equal in the realm of law and has enable one and all (at least legally) for developing
self capabilities and then to contribute to the overall development process.

A majority of erstwhile communities, which faced suppression, marginalisation

and exploitation for centuries have benefitted from the changes brought out in
the socio-structural functioning along with constitutional measures to participate
with equal rights and in their capacities in the development of Indian society at
large (Kumar, 2007). The Indian social structure, which has the history and culture
of feudal society also influence the development process. In this context it has
been reflected by the social scientists that the feudal or even semi-feudal nature
of the society co-existing with capitalist mode of production hampers the over-
all development process. This also results into restrictions for market development.
On the contrary, due to globalisation effects a new tendency has been recognised
in the urban elites of the under-developed countries, where they try to imitate the
cultural pattern of elites of developed countries. Thus, it results into increased
rate of consumption pattern, and also to less accumulation of capital. This further,
24
adversely affects the development process of under-developed countries Factors and Instruments of
Development
(Duesenberry, 1949).

2.2.4 Cultural Factors

Culture is the collection of attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviours expressed
by a group of people, and transmitted from one generation to another (Matsumoto,
1997). Although it could different in different regions, but the degree of
discrimination on account of any cultural or historical factor hold back any country
to the poorer section. With social development process, the priority is for people’s
upliftment but in attempt to be mainstreamed numerous groups have suppressed
due to their cultural and historical aspect in Indian society. Culture is obviously
significant. People are governed by desires, ideologies and beliefs, and they need
to be guided by ideals even after economic achievement. Differences between
nations are due to education and culture, particularly at the level of development.

With sociological aspect the traditional and modern culture results into cultural
lag and fissures. Sometimes, traditional culture may create hindrances to the
development. A weak and non-universal system of social rights does not result
into the equal opportunities and capabilities for many sections of the society.
Such groups remain marginalised on the one hand and the development process
remains at lack with the loss of possible capabilities of the members of these
sections. For example, in Indian patriarchal society women have been kept low
in the social hierarchy. In this situation, women have remained victim of the
system emerging out of the traditional culture.

Not only this, the Indian society at large has lost the possible productivity of
women in this manner. Some superstitious and prejudiced nourishment of deep-
rooted cultural practices can come in the way of dissemination of education.
This unequal and exploitative situation further results into hampering of
developmental concerns, such as family planning, education for all, health and
hygiene. Apart from this, the subaltern and marginalised societies including the
Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, which
constitute the majority of the population of the country have remained deprived
to engage in the development process. Such, circumstances have led to the
monopolisation of the traditional and modern resources and institutions by the
particular social groups of the society and has negatively impacted development
for all (Kumar, 2014).

2.2.5 Physical and Geographical Factors

Geographical location of any country and the nature of environmental conditions
are also amongst the most significant factors in development. By influencing
transportation costs, productivity of the land, difficulties in accessibility to
different geographical terrains, disease burdens etc are the key factors in this
category (Gallup, 1999). Population concentration in certain preferred
geographical areas, connectivity with sea-shores and rivers also influence the
national and international trade.

It’s really not a coincidence that the poorest countries are in the tropics, where
it’s dry, where the soil is less nutritious, water is scarcer, and diseases often
multiply. Europe and North America, on the other hand, benefit from vast tracts
of very fertile land, a moderate climate and healthy rainfall. So much energy
25
Unpacking Development goes into the basic business of survival in climatic conditions, either hot or cold,
and then the leftover energy for development.

2.2.6 Religious Factors

Religion may be understood as a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to
with ardour and faith. The role of religion in the development of any particular
society as the same has been highlighted by Max Weber in his study The Protestant
Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. In the case of India, while the country has
seen changes in economic growth and development but religion has not lost its
central position in the society. It still determines the social hierarchy in Indian
society. Apart from theological differences there are lifestyle, political and
historical factors accompanied with different religions. These have resulted in
social solidarity on the one hand but also these have produced differentiation
and disparities among followers. The teachings of these different religions of
Indian have also influenced the selection of occupation and other related economic
activities by their adherents.

2.2.7 Educational Factors

Education is one of the core factors of development in every sense. Without
substantial investment in human capital no country can achieve sustainable
economic development. Education and awareness enrich the perception that
people have of themselves and the world. This increases the quality of their lives
and offers people and society broad social benefits. Education is an instrument
of social change and an important input in the process of development itself.
Specifically, the role of education in human resource development requires much
focus. Education increases efficiency and innovation for citizens and encourages
entrepreneurship and technical development. It also plays a very important part
in ensuring economic and social growth and increasing the distribution of wealth.

Education and social change are a two-way process. While education is

responsible for preserving, transmitting and disseminating the culture as a whole,
social change is the instrument and precondition for educational thoughts. It sets
the social development process in motion and gives them direction and purpose.
Education prepares people for social changes and determines the nature of the
social transformations that should be brought about. It is the most important tool
for bringing social change. Quality education for all, at all levels is one of the
pre-requisite for desired social change and development.

2.2.8 Administrative Factors

The majority of the nations which gain independence out of the colonial rules
have not been able to abolish the colonial culture in terms of administration. As
a result many a times the administrative and bureaucratic functioning continues
to practice exploitative, un-ethical values and proves to be inefficient. The
problems of red-tapism and corruption imbibed in the administrative set-up lead
towards detrimental results for development process. The continued failures of
public sector units have provided opportunities for private sector to creep in to
their primary fields of operations. The nexus between political leaders and the
administrative mechanism lead us towards lapses in policy formations,
implementation and achievement of the desired goals.
26
2.2.9 Technological Factors Factors and Instruments of
Development

With the increasing importance of information and technology in the globalised

world, the under-developed and developing countries are forced to be dependent
on the advanced technologies and information of the developed countries. Such
compulsive conditions also results into the buying of second-hand machinery
and technology which is now discarded or is not so advance for the developed
countries. In such circumstances, the developing countries are not able to pose
competition in the global market and hence not able to bring desired results.
Therefore, the developing and under-developed countries turn towards labour-
intensive functioning, and also face the lack of capital investment.

Check your Progress 1

Answer the following questions briefly.
i) What do you mean by a factor?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

ii) If the developing countries take the help of other countries or multinational
companies, there are increased chances that the political autonomy will
be..................by the foreign countries and agencies.

iii) Who argued that per capita product is primarily dependent on the
improvement of quality of inputs and not only on quantity of inputs.
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

iv) The major political factors which influence the development process include
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

v) The.........Commission Report which was published in 1987 has not revealed

the importance of sustainable development.

vi) Geographical location of any country and the nature of environmental

conditions are also amongst the most...............factors in development
27
Unpacking Development
2.3 INSTRUMENTS OF DEVELOPMENT
According to Little Oxford English Dictionary, instrument means a tool or piece
of equipment used for delicate or scientific work or a measuring device (Hawker,
2015:360). Thus, our focus here will be on the ways and measures through which
the development process is measured. The efforts in the direction of measurement
of development level of different countries have generally been economy oriented
at least initially. Therefore, the criteria like Gross National Product (GNP), Gross
Domestic Product (GDP), Net National Product (NNP), Per Capita Income etc.
were used as instruments to determine the status and requirements with reference
to development. But gradually these instruments were questioned, as they only
help us to understand the development partially. Therefore, new concepts were
introduced like modifications of GNP, use of social indicators and associated
systems of social accounts, devising of composite indices of development etc.
(Hicks & Streeten, 1979). Let us discuss major instruments of development.

2.3.1 Gross National Product (GNP)

One of the most debatable yet frequently used instruments to measure
development has been GNP. It has been used at international level for comparing
the levels of development of different countries. This concept helped to assess
national accounting by integrating using a weightage mechanism based on market
prices or factor costs, industrial and agricultural production, investment,
consumption and government services (Hicks & Streeten, 1979).

2.3.2 Per Capita Income

It has been one of the important instruments to estimate the development level of
any particular country. The initial aspirations with the economic growth in terms
of achieving more and more did not resulted as planned. The policy makers of
the developing countries were convinced that increase in economic growth will
gradually help in eradicating poverty, income inequalities and unemployment.
However, later this position was challenged and questioned. Assessments were
made regarding the blind race for economic growth which started to show ill
impacts on social justice and environmental conditions.

2.3.3 Less Income Inequalities

Another important instrument for measuring development is the level of income
inequalities in any country in general and in developing and under-developed
countries in particular. Many reports published by the World Bank and other
international agencies like Oxfam have time and again highlighted the sharp
distinction in the income inequalities of majority of developed countries
population and their minor share in the national income. On the other hand, the
minority of the rich people have the majority of share in the national income of
most of the developing countries with few exceptions. So, the criteria remain as
less inequalities of income among different social groups.

2.3.4 Poverty
The extent of poverty level in any country has been also one of the classical
criteria for assessing the development process in any particular society. For
28
developing countries, lower Gross National Product with sharp income Factors and Instruments of
Development
inequalities has been very significant in spreading the poverty specifically in
Asia, Africa and Latin America. Due to wide-spread poverty levels in the
developing countries, there are greater challenges to bring minimum standard of
living with regard to nutrition, access to basic amenities, health and education
etc.

2.3.5 Development Planning

Apart from the other instruments mentioned above, one of the primary instrument
with respect to development is development planning. The planning of
development can be interpreted variedly, depending on the context and time
specific to a particular society. In the Indian context, this work has been done
with the provision of Planning Commission of India. Under the commission’s
visionary planning, India followed Five Year Plans. Recently the planning
commission has been reorganised as NITI Aayog. The Prime Minister of India
remains the official chairman of this body, and works along with Deputy Chairman
and other experts belonging to different domains.

2.3.6 Basic Needs Approach

Another important instrument while assessing development has been basic needs
approach. This approach further requires a set of indicators for measuring the
fulfilment of basic needs in a particular country. Hicks & Streeten (1979) have
recognised life expectancy at birth in health, primary school enrolment in
education, calorie supply per head in nutrition, infant mortality with regard to
access to potable power in water supply, infant mortality with regard to sanitation,
and housing as components for determining the access to basic needs by the
people of any country.

2.3.7 Sustainable Development

One more instrument utilised to put development in a more time testing context
was the idea of sustainable development. The idea was propounded by the
Bruntland Commission Report published as ‘Our Common Future’ in 1987. It
questioned the efforts made in the field of development with regard to futuristic
perspective. The report defined sustainable development as to meet the needs of
the present but without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs (Report of the World Commission on Environment and
Development, 1987).

2.3.8 Human Development Index

The gradual journey in the domain of development has slowly shifted from
economic consideration to individual and societal level considerations. Such shifts
were the results of questions like – development for whom? Achieving
development at what cost? Based upon such arguments, Human Development
Index (HDI) was designed by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
in 1990, published in the Human Development Report. The basic principles
utilised in the construction of Human Development Index consists of enlarging
the choices of people. These choices include desire to live long, to acquire
knowledge, to have a comfortable standard of living, to be employed gainfully,
to have access to clean air and the freedom to live respectable community life.
29
Unpacking Development Moreover, the index also included limited number of economic variables like
life expectancy, adult literacy rate and Gross National Product (GNP) adjusted
for Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) for making it more comprehensive. In addition
to above, benchmarks were designed to measure the progress made in the
development realm by a particular country. Last but not the least a synthesis of
economic and social instruments was visualised and implemented through this
index for pragmatic measuring of development of various societies.
Check your Progress 2
Answer the following questions briefly.
i) What do you mean by an instrument?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

ii) What does GNP stand for?

.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

iii) What is the full form of GDP?

.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

iv) Define sustainable development.

.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
30
v) Human Development Index (HDI) was designed by ................................... Factors and Instruments of
Development
in 1990.
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

2.4 LET US SUM UP

Developing has been one of the innate aspirations of human society throughout
history. The journey for this objective of development has gone through various
dimensions. It has taken the formal considerations starting in comparison to the
informal consideration and planning. It has transcended the national boundaries
and is a global concern now. The shift has also been recorded in terms of economy
centred to individual centric approach. The societal level considerations have
also been of primary importance. According to Pajestka (1973), the socio-
economic progress cannot be correctly explained and understood by theories
which do not take into account the actual experience relating to the factors
determining the processes. These factors can be recognized only by relying on
the objective and systematic knowledge of socio-economic structures and their
functioning. In this unit we have discussed factors of development like economic
factors, political factors, socio structural factors, religious factors, technological
factors and also discuss the instruments of development like GNP, Per capita
income, poverty Basic need approach and human development index.

2.5 KEY WORDS

Gross National Product (GNP) :Gross National Product (GNP) is Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) plus net factor income from abroad.
Per Capita Income: Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures
the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.)
in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area’s total income by its total
population.
Sustainable Development: Brundtland Report defines sustainable development
as the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Human Development Index: The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic
composite index of life expectancy, education (Literacy Rate, Gross Enrollment
Ratio at different levels and Net Attendance Ratio), and per capita income
indicators, which are used to rank countries into different development level
categories.

2.6 FURTHER READINGS

Cohn, Samuel and Gregory Hooks, 2016, ‘Introduction: A Manifesto for the
Sociology of Development’ in Gregory Hooks (ed.) The Sociology of
Development Handbook, University of California Press, California.
31
Unpacking Development
2.7 SPECIMEN ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR
PROGRESS
Check your Progress 1
i) A factor means one that actively contributes to the production of a result.
ii) Influenced.
iii) Simon Kuznets.
iv) The duration of independence, the westernisation and political
modernisation, the ideological orientation followed by a particular state,
government stability, and the stability of political party system.
v) Brundtland
vi) Significant
Check your Progress 2
i) An instrument means a tool or piece of equipment used for delicate or
scientific work or a measuring device.
ii) Gross National Product.
iii) Gross Domestic Product.
iv) Sustainable development means to meet the needs of the present but without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
v) United Nations Development Programme

REFERENCES
Boelhouwer, Jeroen, 2010, Wellbeing in the Netherlands: The SCP Life Situation
Index Since 1974, The Hague: The Netherlands Institute for Social Research.
Cohn, Samuel and Gregory Hooks, 2016, ‘Introduction: A Manifesto for the
Sociology of Development’ in Gregory Hooks (ed.) The Sociology of
Development Handbook, University of California Press, California.
Duesenberry, J.S., 1949, Income, Saving and the Theory of Consumer Behaviour,
Harvard University Press, Cambridge.
Engineer, Asghar Ali, 1984, Understanding Communalism: Report on a Seminar,
Economic and Political Weekly, May 5, 1984, Vol. 19, No. 18, pp. 752-756.
Gallup, John Luke (et. al), 1999, Geography and Economic Development,
International Regional Science Review, Vol. 22, Issue 2, pp. 179-232.
Granovetter, Mark, 2005, The Impact of Social Structure on Economic Outcomes,
Journal of Economic Perspectives, Volume 19, Number 1, Winter 2005, pp. 33-
50.
Hawker, Sara, 2015 (First Indian Edition 23rd Impression), Little Oxford English
Dictionary, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
Hicks, Norman And Paul Streeten, 1979, Indicators of Development: The Search
for a Basic Needs Yardstick, World Development, Vol. 7, pp. 567-580, Pergamon
Press Ltd., Printed in Great Britain.
32
Kumar, Vivek,2014, Caste and Democracy in India:A Perspective from Factors and Instruments of
Development
Below,Gyan Publishing House,New Delhi
Kuznets, Simon, 1979, Modern Economic Growth: Rate, Structure and Spread,
Oxford & IBH Publishing Company, New Delhi.
Marshall, Katherine, 2001, Development and Religion: A Different Lens on
Development Debates, Peabody Journal of Education , 2001, Vol. 76, No. 3/4,
Global Issues in Education (2001), pp. 339-375.
Noll, Heinz-Herbert, 2011, The Stiglitz Sen Fitoussi Report: Old Wine in New
Skins? Views From a Social Indicators Perspective, Social Indicators Research,
Vol. 102, No. 1, pp. 111-116.
Nurkse, Ragnar, 1973, Problems of Formation in Underdeveloped Countries,
Oxford University Press, Delhi.
Pajestka, J., 1973, The Socio-Economic Factors of Progress, Acta Oeconomica,
Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 3-20.
Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, United
Nations.
Spengler, Joseph J., 1957, Economic Factors in Economic Development, The
American Economic Review, Vol. 47, No. 2, Papers and Proceedings of the Sixty-
eighth Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association (May, 1957), pp.
42-56.
Stiglitz J.E., A. Sen and J.-P. Fitoussi (2009). Report by the Commission on the
Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, Accessed from
http://www.insee.fr/fr/publications-et-services/dossiers_web/stiglitz/
doccommission/RAPPORT_anglais.pdf. on 20.06.2020.
Tsantis, Andreas C., 1969, Political Factors in Economic Development,
Comparative Politics, Oct., 1969, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Oct., 1969), pp. 63-78.
William, Crain, 2014 (Sixth Edition), Theories of Development: Concepts and
Applications, Pearson Education Limited, Edinburgh Gate, Harlow, U.K.

33
Unpacking Development
UNIT 3 DEVELOPED, DEVELOPING AND
UNDERDEVELOPED*
Structure
3.0 Objectives
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Understanding the Categorization Related to Development
3.3 Developed, Developing and Underdevelopment
3.3.1 Developed Countries
3.3.2 Developing Countries
3.3.3 Underdeveloped Countries
3.4 The Development Debate
3.5 Let Us Sum Up
3.6 Key Words
3.7 Further Readings
3.8 Specimen Answers to Check Your Progress

3.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit, you should be able to:

Describe the criteria for categorisation of developed, developing and

underdeveloped nations.

Discuss meaning and definition of developed, developing and

underdeveloped economies.

Analyse the political-economy based relationships between countries

andlimits of economic development possibilities of poorer areas.
Discuss the different dimensions of development debate.

3.1 INTRODUCTION
Previous unit we discussed the instruments and factors of development. In this
unit we will discuss the categorisation of countries in terms of developed,
developing and underdeveloped. We will also discuss the development debate.

The term ‘development’ is difficult to define as the definition is dependent on

the context in which it is being used. Although it is used frequently in day to day
conversations and political discussions; where there are some assumed notion
attached to it by the user of the term. The first clarification to be made here is
that, the term ‘development’ may refer to many domains of knowledge like
personality, maturity, education, organism, cognitive, moral, learning, psychology,
life, language, adulthood etc (see Crain, 2014). The term also refers to a number
of characterisation such as demographic change, economic growth, increased
use of resources, modernisation, higher level of technology and political freedom.

*Dr.Vinod Arya, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Punjab Central University,

34 Bhatinda
Thus, we may infer from the above discussion that the understanding of the Developed, Developing and
Underdeveloped
concept of ‘development’ can be started from the individual level but gradually
it encompasses the other social beings who live in the community and society.
The attempts of understanding of the concept of development do not stops here
and further enters into the boundaries of social relations, social-functioning, and
also the social-structures. In-turn the social structures are further influenced and
intertwined with economic, cultural, educational, religious and political
ideologies, functioning’s and their structures also (Cohn & Hooks, 2016: 3).

Now before moving to the developed, developing and underdeveloped

classification and the related issues let us first define the term ‘development’.
Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus mentions it as the stage of growth or
advancement (Elliott, 2001). But such literal meaning again places as in between
confusion. The confusion which emerges here is regarding the synonymous terms
used to clarify the term development. For example change, growth, wealth, and
progress among others.( see unit 1). Let us make distinctions in short between
these words .

We may begin with the term change which literally signifies making or becoming
different (Elliott, 2001: 113). However, we may observe from the meaning that
the change may result in any direction. ‘Growth’ means to increase in size,
height, amount etc. (Elliott, 2001: 331). Wealth means being rich or to have in
abundance of affluence, assets, capital, money etc. (Elliott, 2001: 877). On the
other hand ‘progress’ means to move forward or onward (Elliott, 2001: 594).
One comprehensive sociological definition of development is also provided by
Gunnar Myrdal (1974). He defines development in terms of the upward movement
of the entire social system.

Activity 1
Try to ask different people in your surrounding regarding the meaning which
they understand by the terms change, growth, wealth and progress. Note
down the references and then compare them with the dictionary meaning
and definitions of these concepts.

3.2 UNDERSTANDING THE CATEGORISATIONS

RELATED TO DEVELOPMENT
After differentiating the synonymous terms let us discuss the categorisation of
development. Development studies as an area of research have their origins in
the aftermath of World War II with the reconstruction of war-ravaged countries
and its attendant economic development. The origin of development as an ideology
can be traced to the era of industrialisation in the nineteenth century. Political
and social thinkers such as Max Weber, Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim offered
different perspectives on the common observation that society was changing
from ‘traditional’ forms marked by authority and beliefs stemming from
superstition, fatalism or emotions, to ‘modern’ forms dominated by the application
of reason and rationality alongside an emphasis on efficiency and the ability to
explain the world scientifically (Durkheim 1964; Marx 1964; Marx & Engels
1848; Weber 1958, 1978, see Aron 2008 & 2009). The legacy of these key thinkers
is widely acknowledged as the origin of development theory, taking the form of
modernisation theory.
35
Unpacking Development Further, if we look into the history of this concept, we will find that the recovery
of various countries after World War II and the decolonising process led as the
foundations for development as policy. The conceptualisation strengthened further
with the focus on the addressing of major social problems of poverty,
unemployment and social exclusion (United Nations, 1995, Report of the World
Summit for Social Development).

Webster (1990) argued that for understanding the development related problems
we need to examine the place of poor countries globally in terms of their social
and economic relationships with each other. Secondly, it is of prime consideration
to also study particular features of particular societies in terms of the affect which
development will make on it. One also needs to analyse interactional outcomes
of the cultural and economic processes with regard to social development. The
historical pasts and the political decisions of various governments in terms of
plans and their execution for social development also require investigation for
estimating the influence of international agencies and international relations (ibid).

A Map showing the First, Second and Third World divisions (Webster, 1990: 5)

Using the above mentioned features, geographers and developers have also
produced different categories and maps to show the levels of world’s development.
One such categorisation (although contested) but was formulated by Alfred Sauvy
in his 1952 article ‘Three worlds, one planet’ (Solarz, 2012). The conceptualisation
of a three order world is based on the traditional social structure of French society
here nobility was the first order; clergy was the second and rest others were
counted in third order. He portrayed the capitalist countries as first world,
communist countries as the second and the rest other countries as the third world.

This categorisation helps us to partially understand the developed market-

economy countries as first world, countries which are industrialised or are in the
process of industrialisation and are centrally directed as second world and the
least developed and poor countries as the third world (Wolf-Phillips, 1987). The
World Bank made differentiations between the low and middle income developing
countries (World Development Report, 1978). North America, Western Europe,
Japan Australia and New Zealand fall under the First World category. The Second
World- consisting of the state-controlled Communist countries such as the former
USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republic- a federal sovereign state in northern
Eurasia existed from 1922 to 1991). The Third World –contains all the other less
developed countries.

36
A review of literature of different development reports enables us by providing Developed, Developing and
Underdeveloped
different statistical evidences in the context of levels of development. Generally
they refer to such characteristics as population growth, life expectancy, health,
education, urbanisation, income distribution, industrialisation and energy
consumption. It is noted that the gap between wealthy and poor is great. The
majority of people in third world countries are very poor. These countries have a
colonial past as well. The widespread poverty goes hand in hand with misuse of
critical resources –for example - much labour is idle for much of the time, while
when in use labour productivity is very low. It can also be noticed that some
countries have achieved sustained growth that allows them to develop while
many others cannot. This gap between them has been at the core of economics
since the days of the founding fathers of the discipline (i.e., Smith, Ricardo,
Malthus, Marx), who’s concern was the study of the determinants of the wealth
of nations (Misra & Puri, 2006).
Check your Progress 1
Answer the following questions in two to three sentences each.
i) After which major historical milestones the foundations for development
policy were laid down?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

ii) Whether one should analyse the interactional outcomes of the cultural and
economic processes with regard to social development?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

iii) Who conceptualised the ‘Three worlds, one planet’ idea?

.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
37
Unpacking Development iv) Which international organisation made differentiations between the low and
middle income developing countries in the 1970’s?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

3.3 DEVELOPED, DEVELOPING AND

UNDERDEVELOPED
According to Kuznet (1968) the distinction between developed and under-
developed (or developing) countries was announced by United Nations in its
National Accounts Statistics Yearbook of 1965. While excluding the communist
countries the list included North America (i.e. the United States and Canada),
Europe, Oceania (i.e. largely Australia and New Zealand), Japan, and South Africa
in the developed countries group. Asia excluding Japan, Africa excluding South
Africa and Latin America were kept in the developing countries group. Kuznet
(ibid) also argues to include U.S.S.R. and some countries of Eastern Europe in
the developed group list. However, the issue of categorisation is not very easy as
there are complexities involved in the reasons for developed state of few countries
by using political advantages in the form of resource utilisations and monopolies
over trade and commerce.

On the other hand, the issue becomes debatable as the dichotomous division of
countries into developing and developed also invites the policy level issues like
transferring of resources from developed to developing countries (Pearson et al,
1969). In such an uncertain backdrop many organisations of international level
have used membership of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) as the criteria for determining developed country. But
such method seems faulty when we reach the result of 15 to 20 percent of the
countries as developed and remaining 80 to 85 percent countries as developing
(Nielsen, 2011). One of the questions which arise here is that which term shall
be used for categorisation of which country? Bhagwati (1971) argues that the
choice of word depends on the sensitivity of the analyst and the author. If we will
look into the methodology of World Bank using World Bank Atlas Method for
classification of different countries for the year 2020; we may find that the
countries having a GNI per capita between $1,026 and $3,995 are termed as
low-income economies. Countries with a GNI per capita between $3,996 and
$12,375 are kept in lower middle-income group. And the countries having a GNI
per capita of $12,376 or more are called as upper middle-income economies
(World Bank, Data Help Desk).

However, in this context, the United Nations clarifies that there are no established
criteria for determining the status of developed or developing countries. Such
criteria only reflect convenient measures adopted for portraying the statistics.
So we may not base our decisions to identify a particular country in relation to
its ranking on the scale of development track based upon such convenient ideas.
38
It also stands as false criteria because of the fact that economic development Developed, Developing and
Underdeveloped
does not necessarily bring equality in any particular country. If the fruits of the
economic growth are not distributed properly, then the rich segment of the society
will become richer and the poor becomes poorer (United Nations, 2019, Annexure
I of Statistical Yearbook 62nd issue).
Check your Progress 2
Answer the following questions briefly.
i) The distinction between developed and under-developed (or developing)
countries was announced by United Nations in its ...................................
Yearbook of 1965?

ii) The dichotomous division of countries into developing and developed

became debatable as it invited the policy level issues like ........................
from developed to developing countries.

iii) What does the abbreviation OECD stands for?

.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

iv) The United Nations clarifies that there are no established criteria for
determining the status of developed or developing countries. Such criteria
only reflect ............measures adopted for portraying the statistics.

3.3.1 Developed Countries

The above discussion helps us at least to pool-up few criteria like developed
economy with comparatively advance level of technology and infrastructure with
the addition of the comparisons of living standards of the citizens of the particular
countries, their gross domestic product (GDP), their gross national product (GNP)
and their per capita income. It may broadly be used as the scale for determining
the developed countries. Developed countries stand as synonymous to
industrialised countries which have advanced economies. It is also categorised
by having advance technological infrastructure and diverse industrial and service
sectors. Due to this, citizens of developed countries typically enjoy a quality
lifestyle and having better access to health and education services. The developed
countries and the ways they achieved economic progress are thus prescribed as
footprints for the underdeveloped countries. In a very different manner the former
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has defined a developed country
as follows: “A developed country is one that allows all its citizens to enjoy a free
and healthy life in a safe environment” (UNIS, 2000 as referred by Song et al.,
2013).

The societal characteristics of developed countries also show a close association

between the cultural heritage they possess, the patterns of belief and social life,
the preferences for materialistic life, the scientific temperament etc. lead the
39
Unpacking Development way to modernisation and economic growth in these countries. The attempts to
embrace modernity also gave the results as development and growth
accompanying the industrial sector enlargement. Samuel P. Huntington (1996:68)
described modernisation as “industrialisation, urbanisation, increasing level of
literacy, education, wealth and social mobility, and more complex and diversified
occupational structures”. Westernization, on the other hand, is seen as the
“conversion to the ways of western civilization”. It is regarded as the social
process in which non-western peoples are assimilated into the western culture or
“assimilated into European culture”. Hence, Westernization and Europeanization
becomes interchangeable in this context.

However, modernisation theory has been also criticized and almost abandoned
by many social scientists (Amin, 1973; Giddens, 1991, Scott, 1995). The theory
was being criticised from a neo-modernist or Marxist viewpoint. It was opined
that modernisation theory seems very Western-centric and it has nothing to do
with non-Western world. The countries of Western Europe and the North Atlantic,
evidently, evolved through the process as outlined by Rostow. In order to become
modern, Rostow presented a definitive account of how countries pass through
five stages of development i.e. traditional society, preconditions for take-off,
take-off, and drive to maturity and age of mass high consumption (Rostow, 1960:
4-16).

Hence, there is no denying of the fact that ‘modernization process first occurred
in the west through the twin processes of industrialization and commercialization’
(Emerson, 1960:43). It was the industrial revolution that warmed the whole
movement of change from a traditional agricultural society to modern
industrialized and commercialized society. Vishnevsky (2006:9) stated that
“modernization forms a great axis around which history’s main events have turned
since the end of the 18th century, the time of the industrial revolution in England
and the Great French Revolution, and gradually spread to ever more new countries
and regions, especially in the 20th century”. Based on this historical background
and influenced by evolutionary theory, modernisation is considered a linear
process from traditional society or an underdeveloped country move towards a
more advanced modern society. Thus, from an economic centred view of
development, traditional society is often judged to be rural, backward, non-
scientific, emotional or undeveloped, while modern society by contrast is urban,
industrial, rational, and scientific and developed. Thus, development is set up as
reflecting these dichotomies.

3.3.2 Developing Countries

The developing countries constitute the majority of the population and area of
the world. According to an estimate the developing countries cover around seventy
five percent of the total land area and approximately eighty five percent of the
total population of the world (Alvaredo & Gasparini, 2015). To determine the
status of a country as ‘developing’ the criteria of gross domestic product (GDP)
per capita is used. This means that all the goods and services produced by a
country in a year when analysed as U.S. dollars. According to the World Trade
Organisation (WTO), two third of its member countries fall in the category of
developing countries. This is a diverse group of countries who have different
aspirations and problems to deal with. However, they are very significant in
numbers and thus become very important for the global economy (WTO,
40
Developing Countries). There are special provisions made for these countries Developed, Developing and
Underdeveloped
under the organisation through the Committee on Trade and Development.
Provisions of special rights and lenient rules are framed for developing countries
so that they may develop comprehensively using these favours. Not only this,
the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and General Agreement on
Trade in Services (GATS) also provisioned for some preferential treatment and
non-expectations of similar offers by the developed countries while making trade-
negotiations with the developing countries.

Developing countries are also provided legal assistance, extra time for fulfilling
the commitments, increased opportunities for market access, safeguard of their
interests, and help in various sectors of development. From the definition as
provided by Kofi Annan (UNIS, 2000 as referred by Song et al., 2013) we nay
argue that development shall also be measured along with human factors. The
developing countries thus try to achieve industrialisation with respect to the
population and also try to raise the standard of living with the above mentioned
provisions.

When we look into the detailed criteria for developing countries we may find
that statistical measures like per capita income, per capita gross domestic
product , life expectancy, the rate of literacy, freedom index etc. are used. One
such scaling we may see in the Human Development Index (HDI) by the United
Nations. Further, United Nations has also envisioned Millennium Declaration
for the countries of the world as reference points in terms of development. These
targets are very helpful in determining the policy and functioning of the developing
countries (United Nations Millennium Declaration, 2000). The United Nations
goals for sustainable development are also new addition to such targets (United
Nations, Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development).

World Bank looks upon the developing countries in an assessing way and states
that these countries have relatively low levels of taxations, they rely heavily on
regressive revenue instruments, and have a low coverage and benefit levels of
transfer programs (World Bank, 2006). Therefore, it can be argued that developing
countries suffer from substantial infrastructure limitations that raise questions
about whether or not the high rate of growth projected will actually be realized.
Hence, developing countries are very different in terms of economic development
and institutional capacity.

3.3.3 Underdeveloped Countries

Siyum (2018) provides a very unique three divisional segment to describe the
differences between different types of countries in the world. He says that some
countries are there whose citizens spend lots of money for keeping the weights
low, second type of countries whose citizens eat to live and the third type of
countries whose citizens do not know from where the subsequent meals will
come from. Somehow, the last category is somehow related to the underdeveloped
countries where survival of people creates lots of question before ruling elites.
Here, it becomes pertinent to relate the idea of colonialism and neo-colonialism.
While during colonialism few countries acquired total or partial control on the
colonised country’s polity and exploited them economically (Oxford Dictionary
of Sociology, 2006). In this context, the neo-colonialist perspective emphasizes
that the era of colonialism is not entirely abolished, since many states that appear
to be independent are still economically and politically controlled from outside, 41
Unpacking Development most often through economic means, in order to ensure continued dominance of
former colonies.

According to Andre Gunder Frank, the former colonial nations were

underdeveloped because of their dependence on Western industrialised nations
in the areas of foreign trade and investment. These relationships stunted their
development (Frank, 1960). The reasons these places are poor and under-
developed are because of the structure of exploitation, capitalism and world trade.
Modernisation tends to forget the historic experience of the Third World. To
study the relations between the developed and developing countries, Dependency
theory was developed in the late 1950s under the guidance of the then Director
of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America, Raul Prebisch.
Being as the most suitable and appropriate one to understand the relationships,
the dependency theory predicated on the notion that resources flow from a
“periphery” of poor and underdeveloped states to a “core” of the wealthy states
enriching the latter at the expense of the former. Prebisch along with others found
that poor countries do not necessarily get benefitted by the advancement of the
industrialisation. On the contrary, the economic advancement of the richer
countries frequently leads to economic struggles and problems for the poor
countries.

The debate between Prebisch (liberal reformer), Andre Gunder Frank (Marxists)
and Wallerstein (world systems theorist) provides us many insights with respect
to the under-developed countries. First of all we may take help from Sunkel
(1969) who argued that the economic development of a state is very much
dependent on the external political, economic and cultural influences and hence
on the development policies also. Defining the dependency theory Santos (1971)
highlighted the historical roots of the relationships of different countries and
argued that functioning of world economy favours some countries and in turn
which is detrimental to the others. It pose limitations for the subordinate economies
to develop.

Activity 2
Using appropriate references make a comparative table of first ten countries
based on the criteria of per capita income and Human Development Index.
Try to locate the place of India in the list.

3.4 THE DEVELOPMENT DEBATE

Immanuel Wallerstein’s World System theory talks about the divided world on
the basis of economic development. The very levels of differentiations in the
forms of governments as both developed and underdeveloped countries have
been labelled as core and periphery respectively. The growth of inequality revealed
by dependency theory and world system theory.It has generated scepticism and
further critiques of viewing development as linear progress. Since the 1990s, the
so-called post-development debate emerged (Escobar 1995, Rahnema & Bawtree
1997). In the debates generated by the concept of post-development, several
aspects of the notion of economy-centred development have been critiqued as
follows. First, the strongest critique concerns the idea that economic growth
equates with progress. In some cases, the sole pursuit of economic growth will
bring about more problems which in turn does harm to progress. Global and
regional inequality, mentioned above, is one example. A second example is the
42
failure of poverty reduction which was a central aspect to show the consequences Developed, Developing and
Underdeveloped
of unequal economic system. Under this economic-centred development
paradigm, it is taken for granted that poverty eradication can be naturally achieved
with economic growth. However, with conditions of inequality, poverty is not
reduced but becomes worse within an unequal economic system (Desai 1991, p.
351-352). Another important problem is that the sole pursuit of economic growth
is often based on the high cost of natural resources and this in turn causes serious
environmental problems.

Secondly, the economy-centred development paradigm has been criticised on

the basis that development has become a discourse that creates the power
relationships between developed and underdeveloped countries or social groups
(Escobar 1995; Ferguson 1990). Third, the top-down approach adopted in the
economic-centred development process is criticised for overlooking the localities
and the subjectivity of local people. Fourth, the presumption that traditional society
is backward and underdeveloped often causes damage to traditional culture and
local relationships. Indeed, because of these problems, many scholars argue that
development may cause underdevelopment and even de-development in some
poor countries or regions (Meurs & Ranasinghe 2003; Roy 1999). These critiques
have extended the understanding of development. The term development now
extends to far wider horizons such as social-cultural aspects rather than merely
economic development. Moreover, many scholars suggest a bottom-up approach
such as a participatory development approach by involving local participation
and local knowledge during the development planning and decision making
(Grillo 1997; Hobart 1993). Thus, the understanding of development is no longer
limited to economic growth, but rather, it is extended to expanding people’s
choices and capabilities (Sen 1989).
Check Your Progress 3
Answer the following questions briefly.
i) Who propounded the World System theory?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

ii) The economy-centred development paradigm has been criticised on the basis
that development has become a discourse that creates the power relationships
between ...................................countries or social groups.

iii) Who argued for extending the concept of development in terms of expanding
people’s choices and capabilities?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................... 43
Unpacking Development iv) Many scholars argue that development may cause.......................and even
de-development in some poor countries or regio.

3.5 LET US SUM UP

In this unit we explored the categorisation of countries in terms of developed,
developing and underdeveloped. This categorisation helps us to partially
understand the developed market-economy countries as first world, countries
which are industrialised or are in the process of industrialisation and are centrally
directed as second world and the least developed and poor countries as the third
world. Immanuel Wallerstein’s World System theory talks about the divided world
on the basis of economic development. The very levels of differentiations in the
forms of governments as both developed and underdeveloped countries have
been labelled as core and periphery respectively. Thus, the understanding of
development is no longer limited to economic growth, but rather, it is extended
to expanding people’s choices and capabilities.

3.6 KEY WORDS

Development : The upward movement of the entire
social system.
Three worlds, one planet (concept) : The conceptualisation of a three order
world is based on the traditional social
structure of French society here
nobility was the first order; clergy was
the second and rest others were counted
in third order.
Poverty : This has been defined in many ways-
mainly by a perty line falling below
which a person is called poor.
According to the World Bank people
living on a earning of less than
US$1.90 per day are classified in the
group of extreme poverty and people
living on an income less than $3.10 in
the moderate poverty group.
Westernization : The social process in which non-
western peoples are assimilated into
the western culture pattern.
Modernisation : Modernisation as “industrialisation,
urbanisation, increasing level of
literacy, education, wealth and social
mobility, and more complex and
diversified occupational structures”.
Sustainable Development : Sustainable development as the
development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet
44 their own needs.
 Developed, Developing and
3.7 FURTHER READINGS Underdeveloped

Wolfgang, Sachs(edt) 1992. The Development Dictionary: A Guide to

Knowledgeand Power,London:London Zed Books pp1-21.

Bernstein, Henry.1973.Underdevelopment and development Harondsworth.

Penguin,1973

3.8 SPECIMEN ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR

PROGRESS
Check Your Progress 1
i) After World War II and the decolonising process and the focus on the
addressing of major social problems of poverty, unemployment and social
exclusion.

ii) Yes, one should analyse the interactional outcomes of the cultural and
economic processes with regard to social development.
iii) Alfred Sauvy in 1952.
iv) The World Bank in its annual report titled World Development Report of
1978.
Check Your Progress 2
i) National Accounts Statistics.
ii) transferring of resources.
iii) Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development.
iv) Convenient.
Check Your Progress 3
i) Immanuel Wallerstein.
ii) developed and underdeveloped.
iii) Amartya Sen.
iv) Underdevelopment

REFERENCES
Alvaredo, Facundo and Leonardo Gasparini, 2015, Recent Trends in Inequality
and Poverty in Developing Countries, in Anthony B. Atkinson, François
Bourguignon (eds.) Handbook of Income Distribution, Vol. 2A (First Edition),
North Holland, Amsterdam.

Aron, Raymond, 2008 (Sixth Print), Main Currents in Sociological Thought:

Montesquieu, Comte, Marx, deTocqueville, Sociologists & the Revolution of
1848, Vol. 1, Transaction Publishers, USA and UK.

Aron, Raymond, 2009 (Third Print), Main Currents in Sociological Thought:

Durkheim, Pareto, Weber, Vol. 2, Transaction Publishers, USA and UK.
45
Unpacking Development Carneiro, P. and J.J. Heckman. 2003, ‘Human Capital Policy’, IZA Discussion
Papers 821, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).

Cohn, Samuel and Gregory Hooks, 2016, ‘Introduction: A Manifesto for the
Sociology of Development’ in Gregory Hooks (ed.) The Sociology of
Development Handbook, University of California Press, California.

Crain, William, 2014 (Sixth Edition), Theories of Development: Concepts and

Applications, Pearson Education Limited, Edinburgh Gate, Harlow, U.K.

Desai, M., 1991, Methodological Problems in Quantitative Marxism, in P.Dunne

(ed.) Quantitative Marxism, Polity Press, Cambridge, U.K.

Elliott, Julia et. al., 2001, Oxford Dictionary & Thesaurus, Oxford University
Press, New Delhi.

Emerson, Rupert, 1960, From Empire to Nation, Harvard University Press,

Harvard.

Escobar, Arturo, 1995, Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking

of the Third World, Princeton University Press, Princeton.

Evan, Graham and Jeffrey Newnham (eds.), 1998, Penguin Dictionary of

International Relations, Penguin Books, London.

Ferguson, James, 1994 (First Published in1990), The Anti-politics Machine:

Development, Depoliticization, and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho, University
of Minnesota Press, London

Ferraro, Vincent, 2008, “Dependency Theory: An Introduction,” in Giorgio

Secondi (ed.) The Development Economics Reader, Routledge, London.

Frank, Andre Gunder, 1972, “The Development of Underdevelopment,” in James

D. Cockcroft, Andre Gunder Frank, and Dale Johnson, eds., Dependence and
Underdevelopment, Anchor Books, New York.

Grillo, R. D., 1997, Discourses of Development: The View from Anthropology,

in R.D. Grillo & R.L. Stirrat (eds.), Discourses and Development: Anthropological
Perspectives, Berg Publishers, Oxford.

Hobart, Mark, 1993, An Anthropological Critique of Development: The Growth

of Ignorance, Routledge, London.

Huntington, Samuel P., 1968, Political Order in Changing Societies, Yale

University Press, Yale.

Meurs, Mieke and Rasika Ranasinghe, 2003, De-Development in Post-Socialism:

Conceptual and Measurement Issues, Politics & Society, Vol. 31 No. 1, March
2003, pp. 31-53.

Misra, S.K. & V.K. Puri, 2006 (12th Edition), Economics of Development and
Planning: Theory and Practices, Himalaya Publishing House, Mumbai.

Myrdal, Gunnar, 1974, What Is Development?, Journal of Economic Issues, Vol.

8, No. 4 (Dec., 1974), pp. 729-736.
46
Nielsen, Lynge, 2011, IMF Working Paper 11/31, ‘Classifications of Countries Developed, Developing and
Underdeveloped
Based on Their Level of Development: How it is Done and How it Could be
Done’, Strategy, Policy, and Review Department, International Monetary Fund.

Oxford Dictionary of Sociology, 2006 (First Edition Third Impression), Oxford

University Press, New Delhi.

Pearson, Lester B, et al, 1969, Partners in Development: Report of the Commission

on International Development, Praeger Publishers, New York.

Rahnema, Majid and Victoria Bawtree (eds.), 1997, The Post-Development

Reader, Zed Books, London.

Rostow, Walt Whitman, 1960, The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-

Communist Manifesto, University of California Press, California.

Roy, Sara, 1999, De-development Revisited: Palestinian Economy and Society

Since Oslo, Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 28, No. 3 (Spring, 1999), pp. 64-
82.

Santos, Theotonio Dos, 1971, “The Structure of Dependence”, in K.T. Fann and
Donald C. Hodges (eds.) Readings in U.S. Imperialism, Porter Sargent, Boston.

Sen, Amartya, 1989, Development as Capability Expansion, Journal of

Development Planning 19: 41–58, reprinted in Sakiko Fukuda-Parr and A.K.
Shiva Kumar (eds.) 2003, Readings in Human Development, Oxford University
Press, pp. 3-16.

Sharma, K.L., 1978, A Multi-Variable Model for the Analysis of Entrepreneurship

in Manufacturing Organisation, Sociological Bulletin, Vol.27, No.1.

Siyum, Negussie, 2018, Why Africa Remains Underdeveloped Despite its

Potential? Which Theory can Help Africa to Develop?, Open Access Biostatistics
& Bioinformatics, Vol. 1, Issue 2.

Solarz, Marcin Wojciech, 2012, ‘Third World’: The 60th Anniversary of a Concept
that Changed History, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 33, No. 9, pp 1561–1573.

Song, J.B., et al., 2013, Development And Application of Risk Management

System For Consumer Products In Compliance With Global Harmonization,
Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part B: Critical Reviews, 16:1,
1-16.

Sunkel, Osvaldo, 1969, “National Development Policy and External Dependence

in Latin America,” The Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 6, No. 1.

United Nations Millennium Declaration, 2000, accessed from https://undocs.org/

A/RES/55/2 on 26.03.2020.

United Nations, 1995, Report of the World Summit for Social Development,
Copenhagen, accessed from https://undocs.org/A/CONF.166/9 on 25.03.3030.

United Nations, 2019, Annexure I of Statistical Yearbook 62nd issue (2019

edition), Statistics Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
United Nations.
47
Unpacking Development United Nations, Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development, accessed from https://undocs.org/A/RES/70/1 on 26.03.2020.

Vishnevsky, A.G., 2006, Demographic Modernisation in Russia: 1900-2000, OGI,

Moscow.

Webster, Andrew, 1990 (Second Edition), Introduction to the Sociology of

Development, Palgrave, New York.

Wolf-Phillips, Leslie, 1987, Why ‘Third World’?: Origin, Definition and Usage,
Third World Quarterly, Vol. 9, No. 4 (Oct., 1987), pp. 1311-1327.

World Bank, 2006, World Development Report: Equity and Development, World
Bank and Oxford University Press, Washington, D.C.

World Bank, Data Help Desk, accessed from https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/

knowledgebase/articles/906519 on 26.03.2020.

World Bank, World Development Report, 1978, The World Bank, Washington
D.C.

World Trade Organisation, Developing Countries, accessed from https://

www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/dev1_e.htm on 26.03.2020.

48
 Developed, Developing and
Underdeveloped

BLOCK 2
THEORISING DEVELOPMENT

49
Theorising Development

50
 Modernisation, Urbanisation
UNIT 4 MODERNIZATION, and Industrialisation

INDUSTRIALIZATION AND
URBANIZATION*
Structure
4.0 Objectives
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Modernization
4.3 Industrialization
4.3.1 Post-Industrial Society
4.4 Urbanization
4.5 Let Us Sum Up
4.6 Key Words
4.7 Further Readings
4.8 Specimen Answers to Check Your Progress

4.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit you will be able to
Describe the process of modernization
How the industrialization paved the way of modernization?
Discuss the process of urbanization.

4.1 INTRODUCTION
In this unit we will discuss modernization, industrialization and urbanization as
the process of development.

Modernization, Industrialization and Urbanization are three important processes

of social change by which the process of development can be explained. In fact,
industrialization and urbanization can be viewed as sub-processes of the process
of Modernization resulting primarily from technological advancement.

Modern societies emerged in Europe in the eighteenth century with the discourses
of enlightenment. In the nineteenth century, modernity (a form of social life
characterizing modern societies) got identified with industrialism (industrial way
of social life) and the sweeping social, economic and cultural changes associated
with it. The Industrial Revolution, resulting from scientific developments,
transformed the world from an agricultural to a largely industrial system. The
setting up of factories led to the migration of large numbers of people engaged in
agricultural work to seek employment in the urban areas, in the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries. Gradually modernity, resulting from modernization, became
a global phenomenon. Now let us discuss modernization.

* Prof.Manisha Tripathy Pandey, HOD, Deptt. of Sociology, Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi
51
Theorising Development
4.2 MODERNIZATION
Modernization is a multi-dimensional process of social change which transforms
the social, cultural, economic and political organization of a society. It declares
the passing of tradition. Enlightenment was the first pursuit of modernity. The
main philosophes of Enlightenment, such as reason, empiricism, science, progress,
freedom, universalism etc., are what the process of modernization encompasses.
Industrialization in Britain and the political revolutions in England, France and
the US gave new values of capitalism, citizenship, democracy and development.
All of these led to the progressive evolution or process of modernization.

James O’ Connell (1976) defines modernization as a process through which a

traditional or a pre-technological society passes, as it is transformed into a society
characterized by machine technology, rational and secular attitudes and highly
differentiated social structures. It meant the adoption of ‘Western’ political and
economic institutions. For Daniel Lerner (1958), modernization is “the process
of social change whereby less developed societies acquire characteristics common
to more developed societies; the process is activated by international, or
intersocietal, communication”. Modernization is the process of social change in
which development is the economic component. It implies a social process which
produces an environment in which there is a rising output per head. Lerner gives
certain characteristics of modern societies which modernization was ideally seen
as resulting in:
A degree of self-sustaining growth in the economy
Public participation in politics, i.e. electoral democracy
A culture of secular and rational norms
An increase in mobility in the society i.e. freedom of physical, social and
psychic movement
Emergence of a personality type, i.e. a “mobile personality” characterized
by rationality, empathy and other-directedness (orientation of a person who
depends on constant approval of others for confirmation of his self-image).
Employment of certain kinds of means to achieve modernization.
Huntington (1976) in his essay “The Change to Change: Modernization,
Development and Politics” said that modernization, and by implication
development, was a revolutionary process transforming rural agrarian cultures
into urban industrial cultures. Alvin Toffler (1980) described the move from the
“First Wave” (agricultural society) to the “Second Wave” (industrial age society)
as modernization. He also talks of transition in developed countries from an
“Second Wave” to the “Third Wave” (post-industrial) society.

As a systemic process, modernization is the product of different forces and

processes: economic (the global capitalist economy), political (the rise of the
secular state and polity), the social (formation of classes and an advanced sexual
and social division of labour), and the cultural (the transition from a religious to
a secular culture).In brief following are the characteristics of modernization (see
Box 4.1)

52
 Box 4.1 Modernisation, Urbanisation
and Industrialisation
Characteristics of Modernization
It is based on capitalist mode of production, characterized by wage labour
and market economy.
Emphasizes a high degree of structural differentiation and specialization.
Growth of democratic political system based on political representation of
various ideological groups and adult franchise.
Growth of bureaucratic institutions and large-scale organizations.
Rise of individualism and freedom.
Emphasizes the idea of social progress and social emancipation.
It was with the backdrop of Industrial Revolution and industrialization the classical
pioneers of Sociology gave their theories of social change. Their works indicate
that they were concerned with the process of modernization. Marx, in his analysis
of modes of production, talked of commodity production in capitalism, which
led to oppression, exploitation and alienation. He opined that the ultimate progress
lies in the attainment of socialism. Durkheim considered that division of labour
and differentiation would lead to the development of society.More the
differentiation, more functional dependence leading to organic solidarity and
greater level of modernity. For Max Weber, emergence of industrial society would
lead to the rise of bureaucratic-rational society and societal progress would come
through rationality. Modernity abandons transcendental world and gives
dominance to science and rational calculation of social action. Simmel
investigated modernity in two sites: city and money economy. Modernity is
experienced in city life and with diffusion of money. His modernization process
includes the process of creating value, where money provides the basis of
development of market, modern economy and ultimately capitalist (modern)
society.

Development is the key word which helps to analyze modernity. There are many
contemporary theories of modernity given by Giddens, Ritzer, Bauman and
Habermas. Many scholars believe that modernity is a continuing process and an
unfinished project. Anthony Giddens (1990) gives a theory of modernity and
describes the modern world as a “juggernaut”. For him, modernity is multi-
dimensional and it’s four institutional aspects are:
Capitalism
Industrialism
Coordinated administrative power focused through surveillance
Military power
Both Giddens and Beck characterize the late-modern world as a risk society.
Thus, there is a shift from classical modernity characterizing industrial society
to late or advanced modernity characterizing risk society. According to Ulrich
Beck (1992:10),

“Just as modernization dissolved the structure of feudal society in the nineteenth

century and produced the industrial society, modernization today is dissolving
industrial society and another modernity is coming into being…….... we are
53
Theorising Development witnessing not the end but the beginning of modernity – that is, of a modernity
beyond its classical industrial design”. Beck labels this new form as reflexive
modernity.

Modernization is not only a process, but also a set of theories. We will discuss
the theories of modernization in the next unit. Historically, modernization came
with industrialization and urbanization. Let us discuss these processes.

4.3 INDUSTRIALIZATION
Industrial Revolution in England propelled industrialization not only in England
but Europe to be followed by rest of the world. Industrialization paved the way
for modernization. Industrialization is the process of social and economic change
by which the economy shifts from primarily agriculture to manufacture of goods.
It refers to the emergence of machine production, based on the use of inanimate
power resources, which revolutionized production, leading to mass production
and innovations. The factory-based system of production and technological
division of labour led to cataclysmic changes in society. The bureaucratically-
managed industrial firms started mass production of goods, according to the
demands of impersonal markets. As demand for labour increased,people migrated
to cities in large numbers, leading to urbanization.

It was the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century which led to industrialization.
The application of power-driven machinery for manufacturing in England, and
most of Europe, led to many technological changes, agricultural innovations,
advances in transportation and communication and changes in all institutions of
society. Traditions weakened and religious practices got a blow leading to death
of monarchy and feudalism. There was a rise of large-scale organizations in
cities and the importance of cities increased. The classical sociologists in Europe
started writing about the changes in society as a result of industrialization and
contrasted pre-industrial with industrial societies. The well-known classifications
of Tonnies’ Gemeinschaft and Geselleschaft, Durkheim’s mechanical solidarity
and organic solidarity, Maine’s status and contract, Spencer’s militant society
and industrial society, to name some, bring out the differences between societies
before and after industrialization.

Industrialization gradually became the new order of the world as it helped in

capital formation raising productivity. Investment in capital assets is an important
pre-requisite of economic development. Industrialization generates employment
opportunities, provides educational opportunities, improved access to food and
better utilizes resources. All of these make industrial development extremely
valuable to the local economy. Other effects on society include a significant
population growth, a growing demand for raw materials, a rising standard of
living, improvement of transportation and communication, and the development
of new social classes, especially the middle class and the entrepreneurs. But
industrialization also negatively impacts the environment and causes pollution,
increased greenhouse gas emission and global warming.

Industrialization has radically changed the social structures and production

processes. The classical thinkers discussed the negative effects of capitalism,
which had its genesis in the factory mode of production and industrialization.
The repetitiveness, division of labor, fragmentation of tasks characterize industrial
54 employment. Karl Marx talked about “alienation”; Max Weber talked of “iron-
cage” and “disenchantment of the world” as a result of bureaucratization and Modernisation, Urbanisation
and Industrialisation
technological advancement. He believed that rationalization and demystification
of all aspects of modern social life is bound to happen.

Industrialization has historically led to urbanization or expansion of cities by

creating economic growth and job opportunities that draw people to cities.
Establishment of factories within a region creates a high demand for factory
labor leading to urbanization.

4.3.1 Post-Industrial society

An industrial society is a modern society. Daniel Bell (1973), in The Post-
Industrial Society, predicted that rather than industrial production, we are moving
towards a society where services and knowledge related technologies would
dominate. He believed that postindustrial society would replace the industrial
society as the dominant mode. The main features of the post-industrial society,
according to him are:
a shift from manufacturing to services
the centrality of the new science-based industries
the rise of new technical elites and the advent of a new principle of
stratification.
In this ‘information age’, the information technologies and related-industries
dominate. The axial principle (the fundamental logic of economy and society) is
theoretical knowledge, whereas axial principle in industrial society was technical
knowledge. As theoretical knowledge is strategic resource of the new society,
the university and the research institutions become the axial structure where this
resource is located. Intellectual technology rather than machine technology, is
dominant. White collar jobs replace blue collar jobs. Within this society there is
an increase of professional, technical and scientific groups. It is engaged primarily
in production of a service and not in production of good. Bell’s prediction of
post-industrial society was based on already emerging patterns in America in the
1970s.

Box 4.2
Postmodernity
Modernity is associated with the sweeping changes that took place in the
society and also in the fields of art and literature such as, industrialization,
urbanization, rationality, development, democracy, capitalism and free market.

Postmodernity refers to a historical epoch/period or a socio-cultural condition

following the modern age. It is a life beyond modernity. It indicates a
modification or change in the way in which we experience and relate to modern
forms of life or modernity. It has a history of reaction, rejection and rebellion.
In the postmodern age, there is a decline of humanism and values of
enlightenment.

In 1959, C.W. Mills speculated that modern age is being succeeded by post-
modern period in which values of scientific rationality and political freedom
were being challenged. In 1973, Daniel Bell wrote about the post-industrial
society, which is information society. In 1969, Peter Drucker wrote The Age 55
Theorising Development
of Discontinuity and in 1971, Alain Touraine wrote The Post-Industrial Society.
According to Lyotard (1979), “the status of knowledge is altered as societies
enter the postindustrial age and cultures enter what is known as the postmodern
age”.

4.4 URBANIZATION
After industrialization, urbanization is world’s greatest and continuing revolution
in recent times. It represents a revolutionary change in the whole pattern of social
life. It is a product of economic and technological developments. Urbanization
as a social process has brought about great transformations in man’s way of life.
Being a global phenomenon and because of fast growth of urban centers, the
present era is referred to as the ‘Age of Urbanization’.

Urbanization is the process of becoming urban, moving to cities, changing from

agriculture to other pursuits prevalent in cities, such as trade, manufacturing,
industry and management, and corresponding changes of behaviour patterns.
An increase in the size of towns and cities leading to growth of urban population
is the most significant dimension of urbanization. These centers are essentially
non-agricultural in character. Urbanization as a process of population
concentration has been systematically treated by H. T. Eldridge (1956). For him,
it involves two elements: ‘the multiplications of points of concentration’ and
‘the increase in size of individual concentrations’. As a result, the proportion of
the population living in urban places increases.

Urbanization refers to the changing morphological structure of urban

agglomerations and its development. Demographers call it as the redistribution
of population between rural and urban areas. It is a worldwide process – an
index of economic development combined with the latest scientific temperament
and technological aggrandisement to secure a place among the economically
self-reliant countries. It means the breakdown of traditional social institutions
and values for the people in the west. In the Indian context, it envisages change
in the mode of life styles, emergence of class system, nuclear family and highly
secular religion on the debris of caste system, joint family and strict religious
practices.

Box 4.3
Over-urbanization
Over-urbanization refers to the increased exemplification of the characters
of urbanization in a city or its surrounding rural area. It results due to the
excessive development of urban traits. As the urban activities and occupations
expand, secondary functions like industry increase, bureaucratic
administrative network develops, mechanization of life and the influx of urban
characters into the surrounding rural area, over urbanization gradually replaces
the rural and traditional traits of a community. Mumbai and Calcutta are
examples of such cities.

This socio-cultural and psychological process whereby people acquire the material
and non-material culture, including behavioural patterns, forms of organization,
and ideas that originated in, or are distinctive of the city. Although the flow of
cultural influences is in both directions, but the cultural influences exerted by
56
the city on non-urban people are probably more widespread. Thus, urbanization Modernisation, Urbanisation
and Industrialisation
resulted in what Toynbee called the “Westernization” of the world.

Box 4.4
Sub-urbanization
Sub-urbanization, or the growth of suburbs, is closely related to over-
urbanization of a city. Over-crowding of cities by population results in sub-
urbanization. Delhi is a typical example. Sub-urbanization means urbanization
of rural areas around the cities characterized by the following features:
A) a sharp increase in the non-agricultural uses of land
B) inclusion of surrounding areas of towns within its municipal limits, and
C) intensive communication between town and its surrounding areas.
The study of cities was a subject that had already in the second part of the 19th
century in early classical sociology with its celebrated dichotomies, such as
Maine’s distinction between status and contract and Morgan’s contrast between
savagery, barbarism and civilization. It was further developed by Tonnies, who
contrasted gemeinschaft and gesellschaft, and by Durkheim, who distinguished
between “mechanical and “organic” solidarity. Tonnies and Durkheim believed
that the gemeinschaft type of social organization, or mechanical solidarity, is
fully developed in cities, particularly in modern cities. Fustel de Coulanges in
his famous work on the ancient city, regarded it as a crucial stage in the
development of all civilizations and particularly of western civilization. Other
sociologists like Max Weber (1961) and George Simmel (1950) have stressed on
dense living conditions, rapidity of change and impersonal interaction in urban
settings.

Simmel considered the importance of urban experience that is, chose to focus on
urbanism (life within the city) rather than urbanization (development of urban
areas). “The Metropolis and Mental life” (1903) is an essay detailing his views
on life in the city, focusing more on social psychology. The unique trait of the
modern city is the intensification of nervous stimuli with which the city dweller
must cope. This is because of the movement from the rural setting where the
rhythm of life and sensory imagery is slower, habitual and even, to city with
constant bombardments of sights, sounds and smells. In the city, individuals
learn to discriminate, become rational and calculating, and develop a blasé and
detached attitude.

Louis Wirth (1938) was one of the pioneers of the study of urbanism and his was
the first systematic attempt to distinguish the concepts of urbanism and
urbanization. “Urbanism is that complex of traits that makes up the characteristic
mode of life in cities”. Urbanization is not merely the process by which persons
are attracted to the city and incorporated into its system of life. It also refers to
that cumulative accentuation of the characteristics distinctive of the mode of
life, which is associated with the growth of cities, and finally to the changes in
the direction of modes of life recognized as urban.

In his essay “Urbanism as a way of life” (1938) in the American Journal of

Sociology, Wirth focused more on urbanism - urban lifestyle - than on structure.
He indicated that size, density and heterogeneity – regarded as the principal
traits in defining cities – are conducive to specific behavioral patterns and moral 57
Theorising Development attitudes. Urbanism, as a way of life, for With, is approached empirically from
three interrelated perspectives:
1) as a physical structure comprising a population base, a technology, and an
ecological order;
2) as a system of social organization involving a characteristic social structure,
a series of social institutions, and a typical pattern of social relationships;
and
3) as a set of attitudes and ideas, and a constellation of personalities engaging
in typical forms of collective behaviour and subject to characteristic
mechanisms of social control.
Sjoberg (1960) distinguished among three different types of societies, each with
its own relationship to city culture:
1) preliterate “folk” societies in which there are no cities,
2) literate preindustrial city cultures, and
3) Industrial, urban ones.
According to Sjoberg, preindustrial cities, dependent on animate (human or
animal) sources of energy, are subsystems of feudal societies or bureaucracies
and do not possess impersonality, secularism, and large size that are characteristic
of cities in the folk-urban dichotomy. Conversely, industrial societies that possess
a developed technology, derived from inanimate sources of power, have fully
developed cities with independent economic resources.

Urbanization, according to Meadows and Mizruchi (1969), refers to the processes

by which urban values are diffused; movement occurs from rural areas to cities;
and behaviour patterns are transformed to conform to those which are
characteristics of groups in the cities. They believe that the concepts of urbanism
and urbanization are important from the view of understanding city life.
Urbanization represents the process by which urbanism emerges and develops
out of the interaction of technology and society; or change and development in
technology and society occur in and through urbanism.
Check Your Progress
1) What is modernization?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

2) What is Industrialization?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
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58 .......................................................................................................................
3) What is urbanism? How is it different from urbanization? Modernisation, Urbanisation
and Industrialisation
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4.5 LET US SUM UP

In this unit we see that many classical and contemporary thinkers have analysed
the processes of modernization, industrialization and urbanization from time to
time. All these processes are seen as precursors to the progress and development
of a modern society.

4.6 KEY WORDS

Urbanism: Urbanism is that complex of traits that makes up the characteristic
mode of life in cities

Postmodernity: Postmodernity refers to a historical epoch/period or a socio-

cultural condition following the modern age. It is a life beyond modernity. It
indicates a modification or change in the way in which we experience and relate
to modern forms of life or modernity.

Gemeinschaft : Gemeinschaft is a social system in which most relationships are

personal or traditional and often both.

Gesellschaft: In the Gesellschaft, the society of tradition is replaced with the

society of contract. In this society neither personal attachment nor traditional
rights and duties are important

4.7 FURTHER READINGS

H.T. Eldridge. (1976). “The Process of Urbanization”, in J. J. Spengler and O. D.
Duncan (eds.) Demographic Analysis. Glencoe: The Free Press.

Harrison, David.(1991) The Sociology of Modernization and Development.

London: Routledge,1991,Chapter 1 and 2.pp1-54

4.8 SPECIMEN ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR

PROGRESS
1) Modernization as a process through which a traditional or a pre-technological
society passes, as it is transformed, into a society characterized by machine
technology, rational and secular attitudes and highly differentiated social
structures.

2) Industrialization is the process of social and economic change by which the

economy shifts from primarily agriculture to manufacture of goods. It refers 59
Theorising Development to the emergence of machine production, based on the use of inanimate
power resources, which revolutionized production, leading to mass
production and innovations.

3) Urbanism is that complex of traits that makes up the characteristic mode of

life in cities. It is a way of life, an urban lifestyle. For Louis Wirth, size,
density and heterogeneity, which were the principal traits in defining cities,
are conducive to specific behavioral patterns and moral attitudes.
Urbanization is the process by which persons are incorporated into city
life. It is the cumulative accentuation of the characteristics distinctive of
the mode of life, which is associated with the growth of cities, and finally
to the changes in the direction of modes of life recognized as urban.

REFERENCES
Beck, Ulrich. 1992. Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. London: Sage.
Bell, Daniel. 1973. The Coming of Post-Industrial Society: A Venture in Social
Forecasting. New York: Basic Books.

Connell, James O’. 1976. “The concept of Modernization” in Cyril. E. Black

(ed.) Comparative Modernization. New York: The Free Press.

Giddens, Anthony. 1990. The Consequences of Modernity. Stanford: Stanford

University Press.

H.T. Eldridge. (1976). “The Process of Urbanization”, in J. J. Spengler and O. D.

Duncan (eds.) Demographic Analysis. Glencoe: The Free Press.

Huntington, S. P. 1976. “The Change to Change: Modernization, Development

and Politics” in Cyril. E. Black (ed.). Comparative Modernization. New York:
The Free Press.

Lerner, Daniel. 1958. The Passing of Traditional Society: Modernizing the Middle
East. Glencoe: Free Press.

Meadows, P. and Mizruchi, E.H. (ed.), 1969, Urbanism, Urbanization, and

Change: Comparative Perspectives, Addison-Wesley: Reading.
Sjoberg, G. 1960. The Preindustrial City: Past and Present. Free Press.
Toffler, Alvin. 1980. The Third Wave. Bantam Books.
Wirth, Louis, 1938, “Urbanism as a Way of Life”, American Journal of Sociology,
XLIV.

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 Modernisation, Urbanisation
UNIT 5 PERSPECTIVES ON and Industrialisation

DEVELOPMENT*
Structure
5.0 Objectives
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Perspectives on Development
5.2.1 Modernization Theory
a) Ideal-Typical Index Method
Talcott Parsons’ pattern variable approach
Rostow’s Historical Stages Approach
b) Diffusionist or Acculturation Approach
c) Psychological Approach
5.2.2 Marxist and Neo- Marxist Approaches of Development and Underdevelopment
a) Dependency Theory
Paul Baran
Andre Gunder Frank
Samir Amin
b) Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory
5.2.3 Neo-liberal Perspective on Development
5.2.4 Alternative Development
5.2.5 Human Development Perspective
5.2.6 Anti-development Perspective
5.3 Let Us Sum Up
5.4 Key Words
5.5 Further Reading
5.6 Specimen Answers to check your progress.

5.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit you would be able to:
Discuss the modernization theory of development.
Analyse Marxist and Neo-Marxist approach of development and
underdevelopment.
Describe the neoliberal perspective of development.
Outline the alternative development and human development.
Understand the antidevelopment perspectives.

5.1 INTRODUCTION
In this unit we will discuss the various perspectives of development i.e.
modernization theory, Marxist and Neo-Marxist approaches of development and
underdevelopment, neoliberal perspectives, alternative development, human
development and anti development.

*Prof. Manisha Tripathy Pandey, HOD, Deptt. of Sociology, Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi 61
Theorising Development The growth of development theory is a post-World War II phenomenon but the
ideas of development and progress have been present in the theories of social
Darwinism, Morgan’s analysis of savagery, barbarism and civilization, Marx’s
Historical Materialism, Tonnies’ Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft, Comte’s Law
of Three Stages, Durkheim’s Mechanical to Organic Solidarity and Weber’s
treatment of rationality. The earlier ideas saw development as evolutionary process
and change of man’s society. Evolutionism, Marxism, neo-Marxism,
Keynesianism, structural functionalism, neoclassical economics and
poststructuralism are social science paradigms which influenced development
theories at different times. But development as action was a consciously planned
and monitored process of growth and change, that came up much later.From the
19th century, development thinking was a reaction to the crises of progress, such
as the social problems caused by industrialization. Development became a project
to produce a far better world. It was seen as improving the living conditions of
the poorest people. ‘Development’ was the agenda laid down in US President
Harry Truman’s 1949 inaugural speech…”we must embark on a bold new program
for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available
for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas’’.

There have been three eras of development:

1) From ‘Rise of man’ to emergence of modern states in Europe around 16th
Century. This period saw the evolution of agriculture, cities and civilizations.

2) ‘Rise of Europe’ and North America (16th C – 20th C). This period saw the
rise of market system, capitalist institutions and colonisation.

3) Global Development era from 1917 onwards, wherein World War II was a
watershed event culminating into the formation of League of Nations.
Development started meaning not only social improvement but also
‘catchingup’ with advanced countries to restore parity of power and esteem.

The meaning of development has changed over time. Initially it meant catching
up with the advanced industrialized countries. Later, economic growth and
accumulation of capital became the core meaning of development. In 1990s,
emphasis was put on human well-being. Then, the concept of social development
emphasized the development of society in its totality – including economic,
political, social and cultural aspects. When the limits to growth was realized,
sustainable development became the buzzword, focussing on the ‘needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own
needs’ (Brundtland Commission).Thus, development is both, a physical reality,
and a state of mind or deliberate intention to resolve immediate problems of
poverty. It is important to mention here that development is one of the dominant
western discourses that postcolonial approaches seek to challenge and attempt
to decolonize development studies. Let us discuss the various perspectives of
development.

5.2 PERSPECTIVES ON DEVELOPMENT

Development ‘Theory’ is a limited notion. It is more appropriate to say
‘perspective’ or ‘analysis’. The meaning of development has changed with the
changing perspectives of development: modernization theory, dependency,
neoclassical economics, alternate development, human development and post-
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development. There is a distinction between development as planned change or Perspectives on Development
engineering, and development as immanent change, a process from within.
Modernization theory and Dependency theory followed the logic of development
from above and outside.

The early pioneers of development thinking were Adam Smith, David Ricardo,
Thomas Malthus and John Stuart Mill. For Smithin The Wealth of Nations, the
progress of opulence was driven by the growth of labour and stock of capital in
England. Malthus emphasized growth retarding factors as well as the limits to
population growth. Marx identified five stages in the development of human
societies in a historically deterministic process. All these classical thinkers were
concerned with the evolution of societies from feudal and rural to urban and
industrial; and believed that there is one single trajectory of development that all
countries follow.

5.2.1 Modernization Theory

In 1950s and 1960s, Modernization theory attempted to identify commonalities
in the process of development in highly developed countries. It is based on a
dualistic world view, opposing traditional to modern lifestyles and indigenous to
westernized cultures. It believes that ‘trickle-down’ would occur from the
developed world to the underdeveloped world at national, regional and global
levels. James O’ Connell defines modernization as a process through which a
traditional or a pretechnological society passes, as it is transformed, into a society
characterized by machine technology, rational and secular attitudes and highly
differentiated social structures It meant the adoption of ‘Western’ political and
economic institutions. Modernization theory proposes that societal development
can take place in the Third World through the application of capitalist economic
mechanisms. It evolved from two ideas about social change:
a) Conception of traditional versus modern society.
b) Positivism that viewed development as societal evolution in progressive
stages of growth.
Modernization theories wrote a kind of ‘how to develop manual’ for less developed
countries. They were problem-solving and policy-oriented theories of social
change and economic development. The unit of analysis ranges from the individual
through local communities to national and international states. The expansion of
political, military and economic interests of America; emergence of newly
independent countries and the cold war: these were the factors that led to the
study of societies of Asia, Africa and Latin America and their economic
development and socio-cultural changes in 1950s and 1960s.

Before critiquing them, A.G. Frank (1967) spells out three approaches/modesunder
Modernization theories:
1) Ideal Typical Index method
2) Diffusionist or Acculturation Approach
3) Psychological Approach
a) Ideal Typical Index method
In Ideal Typical index method or gap approach, the general features of a developed
economy are abstracted as an ideal type and then contrasted with the ideal typical 63
Theorising Development features of a poor society. Development here is viewed as the transformation of
one type to the other. By identifying a gap between the two, a development
programme is worked out. The two variant of this approach are:

Talcott Parsons’ pattern variable approach as exemplified by Hoselitz (1960).

Rostow’s Historical Stages Approach

Talcott Parsons’ Pattern Variable Approach

According to Parsons, any social action and social system can be analyzed in
terms of only five pairs of pattern variables, which supposedly characterize all
possible social action. Parsons’ pattern variables are alternative patterns of value
orientation in the role expectations of the actors in any social system. The five
contrasting variables are affective neutrality-affectivity, universalism-
particularism, achievement-ascription, specificity- diffuseness, and self-
orientation-collective orientation.

Bert Hoselitzused the Parsonian modernization pattern variables to explain the

process of development in any country. He emphasized cultural change as a
precondition for economic development. Heused Parsons’ pattern variables to
look at differences in behaviour between peoples in modern and traditional
societies.The developed countries exhibit the pattern variables of universalism,
achievement orientation, affective neutrality, functional specificity and self-
orientation. On the other hand, underdeveloped countries are characterized by
their opposites - particularism, ascription, affectivity, functional diffuseness and
collective orientation. The shift from society having the latter set of variables to
the former is seen as development. To develop, Hoselitzasserts, underdeveloped
countries should eliminate the pattern variables of underdevelopment and adopt
those of development.

Gunder Frank critiques Parsonian theory of modernization that it is empirically

invalid, theoretically inadequate and policy-wise ineffective. Underdevelopment
and development are not associated with the characteristics of roles in society
but with the structure of that society.

Rostow’s Historical Stages Approach

Karl Marx envisaged that economy passes through the stages of slavery, feudalism
and capitalism. These stages, in fact, represent transition of economy from agrarian
to industrial, following technological development. Later, W.W. Rostow’s thesis
also advocates that economy must pass through a historical evolutionary sequence
from one stage to another.

Walt W. Rostow’s Theory of Stages of Growth is the second variant of the index
approach. In The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto,
Rostow (1960) identified certain intermediate stages of growth within the gap
between the underdeveloped and developed world. All economies are considered
as going through five stages of economic growth, in the development from fairly
poor agricultural societies to highly industrialized mass-consumption economies.
These stages are as follows:

1) Traditional societies are those where the ‘production functions’ are limited;
and output per head is low and does not tend to rise because of inaccessibility
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 of science and technology. Here family and clan groupings are emphasized. Perspectives on Development
Values are ‘fatalistic’ and political power is non-centralised.

ii) The second stage is the development of a set of pre-conditions for economic
‘take-off’. This is a period of transition in which traditional institutions
begin to change. The economy gradually gets geared to the using of modern
science and technology.

iii) ‘Take-off’ stage, where the old resistances to steady growth are overcome
and growth becomes the normal condition of the economy.

iv) ‘Drive to maturity’, which is the stage of the increasing sophistication of

the economy i.e. new industries are developed, there is less reliance on
imports and more exporting activities start. Profit maximization becomes
the need to survive.

v) Stage of high mass-consumption where there is an affluent population and

durable and sophisticated consumers’ goods and services. All the basic needs
are satisfied in this stage of society and more resources are utilized for
social welfare and security. There is an emergence of welfare state.

Aid should be given to economies at the pre-take-off stages to get them to take-
off stage. The necessary pre-condition for development refers to society’s
increasing efficiency to promote savings and generate capital, develop managerial
and entrepreneurial acumen of its people and make institutional and structural
reforms to cope with the new challenges of economic growth. The main flaw in
the gap approach is that it does not take into account the international structure
of development and underdevelopment, of which the domestic structure of
underdevelopment is only a part.

b) Diffusionist or Acculturation Approach

According to this approach, development occurs by the diffusion of cultural
elements from the developed to the underdeveloped countries. These cultural
elements may be identified as including capital, technology and institutions. The
less developed societies cannot be developed because they are not able to be
influenced by the changes in the developed world due to obstacles to development.

c) Psychological Approach
This rests on the assumption that it is values, motives or psychological forces
that determine ultimately the rate of economic and social development. One of
the most influential books in this genre is The Achieving Society by David
McClelland (1961), which argues a society with a high level of achievement will
produce energetic entrepreneurs who, in turn, will produce more rapid economic
development. A psychological characteristic, which he called, ‘n-Achievement’,
or the need for achievement, suited particular individuals for entrepreneurial
roles, which could be enhanced through ‘achievement motivation training’.

Like the diffusionist approach, this approach too doesn’t consider that any changes
are needed in the given social structure, to create conditions for economic
development. It appeals to individuals to transform themselves psychologically,
in order to hit the road of social progress.

65
Theorising Development Modernization theory, overall, undervalues the critical importance of traditional
societies and is highly Eurocentric. It depoliticises development by ignoring
diverse histories and culture. Current themes in Modernization theory focus on a
revaluation of tradition, not as obstacle but as resource. The trend is also on to
view modernities in the plural; and engagement with postmodernism.

5.2.2 Marxist and Neo-Marxist Approaches of Development and

Underdevelopment
There is an alternative set of approaches to study the social aspects of economic
growth in the modern world, i.e.by the Marxists, who employ the method of
historical materialism. These approaches use the concepts of development and
underdevelopment in a way that questions the basic foundation of modernization
theories. Historically, the process of economic growth in the developed world is
necessarily accompanied by a process of underdevelopment of certain other parts
of the world. From this point of view, modernization theory provides an ideology
for imperialist domination.

Lenin’s writings links the process of capitalist development in the West to the
process of the worldwide imperialist expansion and establishment of an unequal
economic relation between capitalist countries and colonies.But not all
dependency theorists are Marxist. Marxist Theory of Imperialism (as interpreted
by Lenin) explains dominant state expansion and why imperialism occurs. On
the other hand, dependency theory explains underdevelopment and consequences
of imperialism. The theories of underdevelopment are essentially dependency
theories. These theories are propounded by scholars like Paul Baran, Andre
Gunder Frank, Samir Amin, Immanuel Wallerstein and H. Magdoff.

a) Dependency Theory
Dependency Theory came as a reaction to the modernization theory, viewing the
poverty of countries in the South as a product of their integration into the ‘world
system’.The origin is traced back to the notion of Dependencia among Latin
American economistsduring 1930s; UN Economic Commission for Latin America
(ECLA) during post-war period and works of Argentinian economist Raul
Prebisch. Historically it began with the establishment of international division
of labour, for which Third World countries acted as producers of low cost raw
materials and Western Europe as manufacturers of high priced finished goods.
This led to a relationship of unequal exchange which in turn led to further
deterioration in Balance of Trade. The exchange was unequal as power and surplus
value from labour flowed up; and control, ideology and expensive products flowed
down the chain.

Dependency is a historical condition which shapes world economy, rooted in

internationalization of capital. (Dos Santos 1971). It is an explanation of economic
development of a state in terms of external influences – political, economic and
cultural – on national development policies (Sunkel 1969). It has three features:
1) Dependency characterizes the international system as comprised of two
sets of states: dominant-dependent / centre-periphery / metropolitan-satellite.
2) It assumes that external forces (foreign assistance, communication,
multinational corporations etc.) are of importance to economic activities
within the dependent states.
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3) Relations between the two set of states are dynamic because the interaction Perspectives on Development
between the two reinforces and intensifies unequal patterns.

The main propositions of Dependency theory are:

Underdevelopment is different from underdeveloped. The latter is a condition
where resources are not being used. But underdevelopment is a state where
resources are actively used in such a way which benefits the core.

Poor countries are not poor because of lack of scientific transformations of

Enlightenment but because they are coercively integrated into European
economic systems as producers of raw materials.

This approach view underdevelopment of the less developed countries as a

consequence of the fact that the developed rich countries exercise dominance
and imperialist assertion over the former. Paul Baran pioneered the theory of
underdevelopment. In Dependency is Dead: Long Live Dependence and the Class
Struggle (1974), Andre Gunder Frank underlines the growth of class struggle
between the rich and poor nations, which would aggravate due to aggressive
policies of the former. Samir Amin’s contributions like Class and Nations:
Historically and in Current Crisis (1979), De-linking: Towards a Polycentric
World (1990), talk of role of rich countries in backwardness of the colonial
countries.

Paul Baran (1957) in The Political Economy of Growth , was the first among
the advocates of dependency theory. He viewed that capitalism, due to its inherent
characteristics, exploited the Third World. The capitalist world keeps the backward
world as an indispensable hinterland and extract the economic surplus.

Baran argues that the historical contact between the underdeveloped and
developed countries not only accelerated the decomposition of pre-capitalist
structures in underdeveloped countries but it also extracted an important part of
underdeveloped countries surplus; prevented the possibilities of industrialization;
conditioned class formations and distorted the development process to suit the
needs of the developed countries.

Baran clarifies that the most significant factor preventing the emergence of the
‘classical’ conditions for growth in the underdeveloped world, is not the smallness
of economic surplus, due to low volume of production and income. It is, rather,
the mode of utilization of the economic surplus.The surplus is appropriated by
merchants, moneylenders and intermediaries of all kinds and there is exit of
capital from the sphere of circulation to the sphere of production, besides other
obstacles baring the entry of mercantile accumulations into the sphere of industrial
production. Baran believes that the existing class structure of the Third World
countries has also been responsible for their dependent situation. The
underdeveloped countries, given an independent development, would have
initiated the utilization of their natural resources on their own and on terms more
advantageous than those received from foreign investors.Like Baran, other
dependency theorists also argued that since western development had taken place
at the expense of the underdeveloped countries, the only solution for the latter
was to ‘break out’ of the imperialist system into socialism. Baran’s obsession for
the Socialist model of economic development makes him as utopian as Marx.

67
Theorising Development Andre Gunder Frank was influenced by Paul Baran and is a critic of
modernization theory. He rejects the theory of diffusion and also criticizes
McClelland and Hagen. He gives a metropolitan-satellite model, to describe the
features of a single, integrated, world-wide capitalist system. This model
characterizes the domination by industrial metropoles (USA) of the
underdeveloped satellites ( Mexico) through an expropriation of their surpluses
by the imposition of an export-oriented capitalist development. It applies not
only to the relations between developed and underdeveloped world, but also to
the relations between and within underdeveloped economies, and also within
the developed economies themselves. Examples can be Milan and Turin in Italy
as metropolises for Southern Italy and Sao Paulo (Brazil) as a metropolis for
surrounding satellites. In the case of developed countries, examples could be the
relationship between Scotland and Britain, or between Southern and Northern
USA. Thus, according to this model, each connection between a satellite and a
metropolis is a channel through which the centre appropriates a part of the
economic surplus of the satellites.

Frank has made a periodic presentation of the history of the world system. Both
the processes of development and underdevelopment started in the mercantile
period (1500-1770), carried through into industrial capitalism (1770-1870) and
ended with imperialism (1870-1930). Throughout the process, the colonies, semi-
colonies and neo-colonies existed primarily for the benefit of the capitalist
metropolis and as a direct result became underdeveloped.

Frank argues that the gap between development and underdevelopment is often
greater nationally than internationally, and also that the more underdeveloped a
country is as a whole, the greater is its internal development-under development.
He uses the term ‘internal colonialism’ to describe the domination by the
developed sector in an underdeveloped or developed country, over the
underdeveloped parts. He rejects the traditional Marxist argument that the reason
for the lack of development in agrarian underdeveloped countries is the persistence
of feudalism. Frank argues instead that the only way in which underdeveloped
countries can develop, is by breaking away from the capitalist system.

Thus, Dependency theorists believe that the Third World is not an area ripe for
development along a pathway taken by European countries (as modernization
theory suggests), but instead, is a subsidiary part of the Western capitalist system.
They have been criticised for giving a distorted structure of periphery economy
and society.

Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory

The important theorists associated with the World Systems Theory are Immanuel
Wallerstein and Samir Amin. This theory gives a historical account of the
underdeveloped societies. It emphasizes on international structure of inequality,
ignoring the importance of internal socio-economic structures; and focuses on
unequal exchange between the rich and poor countries. Dependency theorists
tend to focus on the power of transnational classes and class structures in
sustaining the global economy, whereas world systems analysts tend to focus on
the role of powerful states and the interstate system.

Immanuel Wallerstein’s theory is rooted in the work of dependency theorists

because like them, it seeks to explain the ‘development of underdevelopment’ as
68
a consequence of the growth of the capitalist world economy. It is a dialectical Perspectives on Development
process – development of the First World and consequentlyunderdevelopment
of the Third World. World Systems theory abandons national economies and
nation-state as a unit of analysis and believes that capitalism and its related
international division of labour, exploitation and inequality are organized not on
national-scale but on a world-scale. This results in inequality and backwardness
for periphery and progress and wealth for core.

World system is a self-contained social system, that has boundaries, structures,

member groups, rules of legitimation and coherence. The modern world system
followed the decline of feudal system and explains how the domination of Western
Europe emerged between 1450 and 1670. It is essentially capitalist in nature.
There two types of world systems:

1) World empires, which existed with a single political system. For example,
the Roman empire and British empire.

2) World economy, with a single, large axial division of labour with multiple
political centers and multiple cultures. Capitalist world system can
accommodate many different political forms (democracy, monarchy) and
different forms of production (slavery, feudalism).

Wallerstein posits a three-level system, consisting of the core, the periphery and
the semi-periphery, to analyse the capitalist system. This refers to nation-states
and the hierarchically ordered relations between them. The developed core
(England, France) refers to the area that appropriates surplus from the
underdeveloped peripheries (Brazil, Mexico). The existence of developing semi-
peripheral areas (Portugal, Spain) depolarise the system and contribute to the
continued existence of the system. They provide a check to the political assertion
of the majority peripheries against the minority core areas. These semi-peripheral
states ensure that the upper stratum is not faced with the unified opposition of all
the others because the middle stratum is both exploited and exploiter. Besides
the three categories, Wallerstein talks of ‘External Areas’, which maintain their
own economic system. The internal trade is given importance by the countries of
this region. Russia is the best example. The main criticism against the world
system thesis is that it is highly Eurocentric.

Samir Amin divides the world systems into two sectors: self-centred systems
and peripheral systems and talks of Unequal Development (1976). The countries
which are self-centred have their own internal dynamic system unaffected by
external relationships, whereas the countries on the periphery meet the
requirements of the centre. Amin is of the view that the Third World countries
are under direct influence of the capitalist world. Despite their own exclusive
modes of production, these countries, under the influence of western capitalism,
have almost similar capitalist nature of economy. For him, history of peripheral
capitalism is full of ‘short-term miracles’ and ‘long-term blocks’, stagnation and
even regression. In ‘Accumulation on a World Scale’ (1974), Amin talked about
disarticulation/distortion of economy and polarization of class interest on a global
scale, leading to a world proletariat against a world bourgeoise.

F. H. Cardoso criticises Gunder Frank and Wallerstein that their theories are
inadequate and deterministic.They ignore the indigenous social forces and
structural dynamism of industrialization in the peripheries and also the impact of
69
Theorising Development class struggles within the peripheries. Their views ignore the question of the
historical and structural particularities in different countries and provide an over-
integrated view of the world capitalist system.

Hamza Alavi, while writing about the structure of peripheral capitalism,

differentiated between colonial and non-colonial countries lie in their modes of
production. He argues that pre-capitalist structures are profoundly transformed
by the colonial capital and development of indigenous capital.

Dependence skewed the region’s social structure so that local power was held by
a small ruling class that used the gains from exporting for luxury consumption
rather than investment. Real power was exercised from external centres of
command in dominant countries. Dependence continues into the present through
international ownership of the region’s most dynamic sectors, multinational
corporate control over technology, and payment of royalties, interest, and profits.
Development could be achieved only by withdrawing from the world capitalist
system and reconstructing economy and society on a socialist basis.

Arghiri Emmanuel’s (1972)Theory of Unequal Exchange argues that the labour

is not as mobile across countries as the capital is. The natural consequence of
this is that the wages of labour in the West are not as low as in the less developed
countries. Due to lower rates of wages, the products in less developed countries
are cheaper than those produced by the developed countries. Thus, the Third
World is encouraged to produce more for export.

The current trend in dependency theory is the analysis and critique of NICs (Newly
Independent Countries). The approaches like new political economy and
international political economy, gives a renewal of dependency thinking.
Neoliberalism and uneven global development are current themes in this kind of
analysis.

5.2.3 Neo-Liberal Perspective of Development

With Enlightenment, liberalism developed in the 19th century in the West. As an
ideology, it has shaped the history of the world. Liberalism has stood out in
opposition to socialism and political absolutism and has been committed to the
principle of the self-regulating market. The ideals of classical liberalism, based
on the idea of laissez-faire, reappeared in the 1980s in the form of liberalization
and globalization of economic processes. According to the neo-liberal perspective,
economic growth can be achieved through structural reform, deregulation,
liberalization, privatization – all these roll back the role of the government role
and increase the intervention of the market forces. Development is market-led
growth and away from a statist approach to development. In other words, the
core meaning of ‘development’ is retained, that is economic growth, while the
‘how to’ and agency of development switches from state to market. Accordingly,
neoliberalism is an anti-development perspective, not in terms of goals but in
terms of means (Pieterse, 2001).

5.2.4 Alternative Development

Seen as ‘grassroot’ or ‘popular development’, and ‘participatory
development’,Alternative development is the critique of mainstream development
and provides a series of alternative proposals, practices and methodologies. The
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alternative is referred to as alternative in relation to state and market. Here, Perspectives on Development
development should be society-led. This alternative development paradigm is
concerned with local development. Dependency theory and mainstream
modernization emphasize structural macroeconomic change, whereas alternative
development emphasizes agency, in the sense of people’s capacity to effect
change. Here the emphasis is on self-reliance and it privileges local and grassroot
autonomy. Latouche (1993) examines ‘three principal planks of alternative
development: food self-sufficiency; basic needs; and appropriate technologies’.
Elements of alternative development, such as participation, have increasingly
been co-opted in mainstream approaches. Its strength is its regard for local
development and social agency, from grassroots groups and social movements
to NGOs.

‘Alternative’ generally refers to three spheres – agents, methods and objectives

or values of development. According to Nerfin (1977), alternative development
is the terrain of ‘Third System’ or citizen politics, the importance of which is
apparent in view of the failed development efforts of government (the prince or
first system) and economic power (the merchant or second system). Thus,
alternative development is development from below. Here, ‘below’ refers to both
to ‘community’ and to ‘non-governmental organizations’. In other words, agents
of alternative development are community and NGOs. The development
methodology is participatory, endogenous and self-reliant. The main objective is
be geared to basic needs.

Alternative development perspective is strong on critique of mainstream

development and weak on alternatives besides decentralization and local
empowerment. The big hiatus in development now no longer runs between
mainstream and alternative development but within mainstream development.
Mainstream development now incorporates many alternative development
elements and practices.

Gandhian Perspective of Development can be seen as an example of alternative

development. It emphasizes on the indigenous technology in the process of
development and self-development over material prosperity. Real progress is
rooted in swadeshi. Gandhi gave importance to the development of villages and
rural industries, and argued in favour of self-development and self-reliance
through decentralization of control.

5.2.5 Human Development Perspective

Since long, development had been defined as growth, measured by means of per
capita GNP. Gradually development has been redefined as enlargement of people’s
choices and human capacitation (Sen, 1985) and as improvement in Human
Development Index (per capita income, life expectancy and education). Human
Development broadly refers to improvement in the overall human well-being.
According to Human Development perspective, development is the enlargement
of people’s choices. It is the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
which revived the concept in its Human Development Report (HDR) of 1990.
Mahbub ul Haq (1995) proposed a human development paradigm of equity,
sustainability, productivity and empowerment. It is the element of productivity
that sets this paradigm apart from the alternate development paradigm. The human
development approach now extends to gender (as in the Gender Development
71
Theorising Development Index), political rights (as in the Freedom Development Index) and environmental
concerns (sustainable human development).

Alternate and human development together represent a combination of local,

grassroots and state perspectives.

Feminist Theories of Development raised the additional issues of gender

relations, such as exclusion of women from suffrage and decision making,
decreased access to resources, health, nutrition and education. Feminists called
for empowerment of women as agents of development. Various forms of feminist
development theory dealt with varied concerns like WID (Women in
Development), WAD (Women and Development), GAD (Gender and
Development), WED (Women, Environment and Development) and PAD
(Postmodernism and Development).

5.2.6 Anti-Development Perspective

Anti-development and post-development perspectives came as a radical reaction
to the dilemmas of development. These approaches reject the idea that the North
has the right to administer development and democracy to the South. For them,
development is destructive and authoritarian. Development is rejected as cultural
imperialism, Westernization and homogenization and brings environmental
destruction. It is rejected not merely on account of its results but because of its
intentions, its worldview and mindset. (Pieterse, 2001). It has been concerned
with local autonomy, advocating local delinking. It has a nexus with ecological
liberation movements and resists globalization. Anti-development and anti-
globalization are becoming synonyms.
Check your progress
1) What are Modernization Theories?
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2) What are Dependency Theories?

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72
3) Explain Alternative Development Perspective. Perspectives on Development

.......................................................................................................................
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5.3 LET US SUM UP

In this unit we discussed the various perspectives of development i.e.
modernization theory, Marxist and Neo-Marxist approaches of development and
underdevelopment, neoliberal perspectives, alternative development, human
development and anti development. Different perspectives of development are
very well summarized in a tabular form by Pieterse (2001), as given below:
Theories and Current Themes Future Options
Definitions of
Development

Modernization Revaluation of ‘tradition’. Modernities

Development is state- Neomodernization. plural.Postmodernism
led growth. Keynotes: Triumphalism. ‘End of
industrialization, history’.
Western model,
foreign aid, linear
progress, convergence

Dependencia Critique of NICs, new Critique of uneven

Development is international division of globalization.
underdevelopment (or labour, social exclusion. New
dependent political economy: brings the
development) by state back in. International
comprador bourgeosie; political economy: power and
or state-led autocentric economics. Uneven global
development development.
(associated dependent
development) by
national bourgeoise.

Neoclassical
Economics, Market failure, safety net, Regulation of
Neoliberalism human capital, infrastructure, finance. Civic
Development is good governance, economy
market-led growth. sustainability. Debt reduction.
Keynotes: overcome New institutional economics:
state failure through institutional analysis.
structural reform
(deregulation,
privatization,
73
Theorising Development
liberalization) and get
prices right

Alternative Adopted in mainstream. Social economy, social

Development Decentralization. development. Global
Development should Professionalism. reform
be society-led, Alternative
equitable, globalization.
participatory and
sustainable

Human Development Gender DI, Freedom Social and cultural

Capacitation or human DI, human security, capital. Social
resource development global reform development. Global
is the means and end reform
of development,
measured in Human
Development Index.

Anti- Local delinking. Localism

developmentDevelopment Connection with
is destructive, ecological movements.
immiserizing, Resistance to
authoritarian, globalization
past.Keynotes:
discourse analysis,
critique of science and
modernity

Source: Pieterse, J.N. 2001. Development Theory. pg. 155, Table 10.

5.4 KEY WORDS

Trickle-down: This refers to the negative link between incidence of poverty and
the process of economic growth
Diffusion: The spread of elements of culture from one ethnic group to another
Globalisation: It is a process of integrating an economy with the world economy.
Globalisation involves unhindered trade flows, capital flows, technology flows
and, in an ultimate sense, unhindered labour flows among nation states

5.5 FURTHER READINGS

Peet, R. 2005, Theories of Development, Rawat Publications, Jaipur.
Pieterse, J.N. 2001. Development Theory: Deconstructions/Reconstructions.
London: Sage Publications Ltd.

5.6 SPECIMEN ANSWER TO CHECK YOUR

PROGRESS
1) Modernization Theories, that emerged in the post WWII period, are problem-
solving and policy-oriented theories of social change and economic
74
 development that wrote a kind of ‘how to develop’ manual for less-developed Perspectives on Development
countries.
2) Dependency Theories were theories of development and underdevelopment
that critiqued modernization theories and focussed on the structure of
unequal relationships and domination between rich and poor countries.
3) Alternative Development is the critique of mainstream development and
provides a series of alternative proposals, practices and methodologies. The
alternative is referred to as alternative in relation to state and market. Here,
development is seen to be society-led.

REFERENCES
Alavi, Hamza and Shanin, Teodar (ed.). 1982.Introduction to the Sociology of
Developing Societies, Macmillan Press.
Amin, Samir. 1976. Unequal Development. New York: Monthly Review Press.
Baran, Paul. 1957. The Political Economy of Growth. New York: Monthly Review
Press.
Dos Santos, T. 1971. “The Structural Theory of Imperialism”. Journal of Peace
Research.
Emmanuel, A. 1972. Unequal Exchange: A Study of the Imperialism of Trade.
New York: Monthly Review Press.
Frank, Andre Gunder. 1967. “Sociology of Development and Underdevelopment
of Sociology”. Catalyst. 3: 20-73.
Haq, Mahbub Ul. 1995. Reflections on Human Development. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Hoselitz, Bert. 1960. Sociological Aspects of Economic Growth. Glencoe. IL:
Free Press.
Latouche, S. 1993. In the Wake of the Affluent Society: An Exploration of Post-
Development. London: Zed Books.
McClelland, D.C. 1961. The Achieving Society. Princeton. NJ: Van Nostrand.
Nerfin, Marc. 1977. Another Development. Uppsala: Dag Hammarskjold
Foundation.
Peet, R. 2005, Theories of Development, Rawat Publications, Jaipur.
Pieterse, J.N. 2001. Development Theory: Deconstructions/Reconstructions.
London: Sage Publications Ltd.
Rostow, W.W. 1960.The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist
Manifesto. Cambridge: Cambride University Press.
Sunkel, O. 1969. “National Development Policy and External Dependence in
Latin America”. Journal of Development Studies.
Wallerstein, I. 1974. The Modern World System (Vol. 1). New York: Academic
Press.

75
Theorising Development
UNIT 6 WORLD SYSTEMS THEORY*
Structure
6.0 Objectives
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Major Intellectual Influences
6.2.1 A Critique to the Modernization Paradigm of Development: Dependency Theory
and Beyond
6.2.2 Other Inspirations
6.3 Key Concepts and Definitions
6.3.1 What is World System?
6.3.2 Core, Periphery and Semi-Periphery
6.4 A Historical Perspective on the Capitalist World Economy: Origin and
Development
6.5 Criticism and Evaluation
6.6 Let Us Sum Up
6.7 Key Words
6.8 Further Readings
6.9 Specimen Answers to check your progress

6.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit, you should be able to:
Explain the major intellectual influences on the world-system theory.
Critically reflect on the modernization paradigm.
Elaborate on the notion of capitalist world economy as central to world-
systems analysis.

Explain the concepts of core, periphery and semi-periphery as fundamental

to understanding the world-systems theory.

Give an account of the history of development of world capitalist order as

an outcome of imperialist and colonial project of European nations.

Discuss economic expansion and its interrelationship with the other forms
of dominations namely: military, political and cultural.

critically review the world-systems theory and throws light on its efficacy

6.1 INTRODUCTION
In this unit we will discuss the World Systems Theory. The world systems theory
was developed by an American sociologist and economic historian, Immanuel
Wallerstein (1930-2019) in the start of 1970s as a macro sociological perspective
that sought to explain the dynamics of the “capitalist world economy” as a “total

*Written by Kanika Kakkar, Assistant Professor, Janki Devi College, Delhi University
76
social system” (Martinez-Vela 2001). Wallerstein’s works The Rise and Future World System Theory
Demise of the World Capitalist System: Concepts for Comparative Analysis
published and The Modern World System I: Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins
of the European World-Economy in the Sixteenth Century published both in 1974
provide the most comprehensive articulation of the world-systems theory.

The section 6.2 focuses on the origins of the world systems theory as an approach
critical to modernization paradigm of development. It reflects how the world
systems theory is an alternative to modernization paradigm and draws from
various other theoretical traditions like Marxism, dependency perspective and
Annales School. The section 6.3 elaborates on the fundamental characteristics/
key concepts of the world systems theory. It conceptualises the notion of world
economy as the central unit of analysis. The three tiered structure of the world
system, reflected in the concepts, core, semi-periphery and periphery is elaborated
in this section. The world-systems theory proposes historically world as single
economic system in which some countries are dominant while others are exploited
by them.

The section 6.4 provides a description of the origin of the world capitalist
economy. It traces that through history there were certain countries of the world
that emerged dominant because of their superior economic position and these
dominated and exploited other countries. It provides a historical reading of the
origins and development of capitalist world order and economy in imperialist
and colonial project of the European countries. In doing so, we get a critical
perspective on processes of industrialization and technological advancements
whereby certain countries have failed to develop and were to remain economically
subservient and exploited. In section 6.5 some of the criticisms to the world-
system theory are examined. It is seen, that despite, the criticisms on various
grounds, the theory is extremely enriching and illuminating analysis of the rise
and expansion of capitalism.

6.2 MAJOR INTELLECTUAL INFLUENCES

There are series of intellectual sources that have influenced Wallerstein’s thought
and shaped the world-systems theory. The world-systems theory has been
predominantly influenced by Marxist and neo-Marxist theories that focus on
capitalism and its economic and materialist implications, the Dependency theory
and the Annales school.

The world system theory provides an alternate to the conventional analysis of

economic development. It developed as a critical perspective to the modernization
and industrialization processes that circumscribed the traditional understanding
of development. In doing so it comes very close to the dependency theory, as
both theories adopt a critical approach to development, drawing from the Marxist
tradition. Influenced by the Marxist tradition both the world-system theory and
dependency theory provide a basis to reflect on development as a process of
capital accumulation and competitive and conflictual interests between the
dominant and dominated. The section outlines the critique that the world system
theory offers to the modernization paradigm of development. Alongside, it reflects
on the similarities and differences between the world system and dependency
theory. The various other traditions and theoretical influences that have contributed
in development of world-system theory are also pointed out.
77
Theorising Development 6.2.1 A Critique to the Modernization Paradigm of
Development: Dependency Theory and Beyond
The world-systems theory provides a clear conceptual break from the
modernization paradigm on the world expansion and development of capitalism.
It shows close association with its predecessor dependency theory, which
originated as a critique to the modernization theory. In fact, world-systems theory
in many respects is regarded as adaptation of dependency theory (Chirot and
Hall 1982) .Andre Gunder Frank, a Neo-Marxist, German-American sociologist
and economic historian who had played a fundamental role in propagating this
theory post 1970, advocated the world-systems theory after 1984.

Box 6.1

Dependency Theory
Dependency theory originated in 1950s as Sir Hans Wolfgang Singer, a
German-born British development economist and Raul Prebisch, Director of
the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America proposed that
there is a negative correlation in the economic growth between the
industrialized countries and the poorer countries. In the famous Singer-
Prebisch thesis it was pointed that the terms of trade move against producers
of primary products. The economic growth of the industrialized world meant
harmful implications for the poorer countries. This was contrary, to the
neoclassical analysis and modernization theory, which assumed that economic
growth is to have positive outcome for all although its fruits may not be
shared equally be all.

Wallerstein similar to the dependency theorists questioned the modernization

paradigm on the account that it offers a single/ universal path of evolutionary
development of capitalism across the world. The modernization theory was based
on the assumption that development takes place in a series of capitalist stages
and underdeveloped countries are still in the original stage of history through
which the developed countries had passed long ago. In other words, it provided
a very optimistic perception of development, bringing to fore that that the
underdeveloped countries are lagging since they are at an earlier stage of
development where the West, particularly Europe was long ago. Such mapping
of development in terms of stages is erroneous as it fails to make one perceive of
the global economy as an integrated whole or totality, a world-system. It fails to
take account of economic and other relationship between developed and
underdeveloped countries through history of origin and expansion of world
capitalism, which started since the 16th century as seen in the earlier section.

In this respect the world-systems theory like the dependency theory also offers a
much sophisticated understanding than the ahistorical versions of Marxism, which
tends to reify parts of the totality as if they were independent units and then
make a comparison between them. It henceforth, akin to dependency theory,
questions the understanding of development process in terms of concepts like
dual economy that has been used by many liberal economists and traditional
Marxists. According to this concept underdeveloped countries of the world are
constituted by two separate economies/parts each with a different structure, history
of its own and varied disposition of production. The two separate parts in the
underdeveloped countries reflect presence of pre-capitalist/ traditional and
78
capitalist /modern mode of production geared towards the local subsistence needs World System Theory
and global export/cash economy respectively. These separate parts are reflection
of different stages of development and integration with the capitalist mode of
production. The pre-capitalist part is lagging behind because of being isolated,
lacking contact with the “outside” capitalist world and prevalence of traditional
and feudal values and ideologies. Contrarily, the world-systems theory as
dependency perspective highlights that the underdevelopment and backwardness
of a country or its part is to be understood as a product of its participation in a
singular world capitalist system. Both challenge the idea of nation-state as an
independent entity with its own economy, society and polity. They demonstrate
this by reflecting on the constitution and reconstitution of nation-states as a result
of evolution and development of world capitalist economy.

The world-systems theory like the dependency theory views capitalist system on
the world-scale as a whole demonstrating that the contemporary
underdevelopment is in large part a historical product of past and continuing
economic and other relations between the underdeveloped and developed
countries (Frank: 1989). Rather than reading the issue of development as a
domestic story, as modernization perspective proposes, a local question depending
on national institutional arrangements, the world-system theory saw the
transnational structures and institutions as constraining and restraining local and
national development. In other words, it questions the modernization theory for
suggesting that underdeveloped countries can develop by diffusing capitalist
institutions and values from the developed capitalist countries (ibid.). Alternately,
the world-systems theory is suggestive that the development in underdevelopment
countries can occur only independently of the capitalist developed world.

The world-systems theory’s critique of modernization perspective clearly

establishes the dependency theory as one of the most influential precursors to it.
However, the world-systems theory provides a more advanced basis to understand
the development and underdevelopment as a globally integrated process.
Wallerstein’s three-tiered division of world regions into core, periphery and semi-
periphery to map the development of capitalism provides a more nuanced basis
to understand development of world capitalist relations, than Frank’s bimodal
framework, which separates developed and underdeveloped regions of the world
as metropolis and satellite respectively. Thus, moving beyond the dependency
theories fundamental proposition that core countries and states exploit
underdeveloped poor countries, Wallerstein posited that the core exploits workers
in all economic zones not simply periphery. The world-systems theory allows to
explore on more contemporary question of redistribution of surplus value and
not simply surplus resources that was a part of older international division of
labour. In other word, it offers a more pertinent understanding of capitalist
expansion adopting a historical perspective that takes into cognisance a shift in
the organisation of capitalism in terms of interregional and transnational division
of labour rather than the outmoded and simplistic international division of labour
as suggested by dependency theorists.

6.2.2 Other Inspirations

The Annales School tradition shaped world systems theory’s historiographical
methodology and approach to understand capitalism. In this respect the role of
Fernand Braudel in influencing Wallerstein’s thought is central. Braudel’s concept
79
Theorising Development of longue durée, inspired Wallerstein to study history of world capitalism as
continuous including constitution and reconstitution of geo-ecological regions.
It influenced him to make a more broad and macro analysis of history of origin
of world capitalism giving priority to long-term structures, patterns and trends
that evolved slowly but never remained static, rather than focus on what is called
as histoire événementielle, the “eventual” and short time span as seen in traditional
history.

Box 6.2

Fernand Braudel, Longue durée ans World-Systems Analysis

Ferdinand Braudel (1902-1985) a pre-eminently influential French historian
and historiographer, is one of the leading representatives of the Annales
tradition. Lee (2012:1) elaborates that Braudel “is known and celebrated for
his instance on the plurality of social times anchored in the longue durée as a
structure, has been a, if not fundamental conceptual underpinning of world-
systems analysis —— underlined by the fact that as Alain Brunhes writes, in
1977 ‘his career was consecrated internationally, particularly in the US, with
the founding of Ferdinand Braudel Center by Immanuel Wallerstein at the
state University of New York at Binghamton.”

Lee (2012: 3) points out that Immanuel Wallerstein (2004: 18) pointed out
that “Braudel’s insistence on the multiplicity of social times and his emphasis
on structural time —— what he called the longue durée ——- became central
to world-systems analysis. For world-systems analyst, the longue durée was
the duration of a particular historical system.”

Other important influences in Wallerstein’s work come from the research of

scholars such as Nikolai Kondratevi and Joseph Schumpeter and Karl Polyani.
The theories on business cycles and capitalist development formulated by the
economists, Nikolai Kondratevi, and Joseph Schumpeter have, had a significant
bearing on the world-systems theory. Drawing from the two the world-systems
theory claims that the regular cyclical rhythms characterize the world economy
and provide a basis for the periodization of modern history.

Further, the research of economic anthropologist and sociologist, Karl Polyani

on the three-fold typology of economic system and exchange namely, the
reciprocal, redistributive, and market systems corresponds with Wallerstein’s
discussion of mini-systems, world-empires, and world-economies respectively.
The section 1.4 of the unit further discusses these concepts.
Check Your Progress 1
i) Complete the following sentences by filling in the blank spaces

a) The modernization theory was based on the assumption .....................

b) The world-systems theory’s critique of modernization perspective clearly

establishes ................................ as one of the most influential precursors
to it.

c) ............................................ inspired Wallerstein to study history of world

capitalism as continuous including constitution and reconstitution of
geo-ecological regions.
80
 d) The research of economic anthropologist and sociologist, Karl Polyani World System Theory
.................................................... corresponds with Wallerstein’s
discussion of mini-systems, world-empires, and world-economies
respectively.

6.3 KEY CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS

The section points out the key concepts used by Wallerstein in world-systems
theory. It begins by conceptualising the notion of world-system, which is central
to the world-systems theory. In doing so, it reflects on the concept of capitalist
world economy. Further, it elaborates on three economic zones- core, periphery
and semi-periphery that constitute the capitalist world economy. The international
division of labour and relationships between various parts of the world economy
provide a departure from the idea of nation-states.

6.3.1 What is World System?

The notion of system is central to the world-systems theory, which it takes as the
basic unit of analysis. Wallerstein has given multiple definitions and explanations
to the concept. He broadly defines it as a socio-economic unit with a single
division of labour that binds its members in a relationship of mutual
interdependence.

Wallerstein elaborates on world system in contradiction from mini-systems. Mini-

systems he states, are based on a single division of labour and have a unified
culture. Simple agricultural or hunter-gatherer societies are examples of mini-
system. These have no economic interaction with the outsiders. In contrast, as
pointed out earlier world-systems are characterised by single division of labour
that binds divergent cultures together. They involve economic networks and
relationships that cut across political boundary and society. The world system
analysis reflects on mini-systems as characteristics of past, a bygone era and
focus on world-systems as operative units of social reality whose rules have
constraining effect on individuals and society.

Further, Wallerstein focuses on two types of world systems—— world-empire

and world economy. A world empire is a large bureaucratic structure with one
political centre based on domination by conquest for e.g. the Roman Empire in
ancient times and British Empire in the modern history. In contrast, the world
economy is characterised by multiple political structures and cultures. It does
not have a common political structure. Wallerstein’s centre of attention is world
economy. According to him the modern period is characterised by a unified
capitalist economy rather than political interests. The economic interests and
networks are pivotal in the organisation of the world capitalist economy and not
political structures. The section 6.4 elaborates further that the world economy
began to take shape from the 16th century along with the development of market
capitalism. The North Western Europe became the centre for the origin for the
world economy with the growing agricultural specialisation and diversification
and was supplemented by the development of manufacturing industries like
textiles and metals. The growth of manufacturing sector led to emergence of
demand for specialised kind of labour, raw material and new markets among the
merchants and newly emerging capitalists. Expansion of trading networks and
later colonisation provided a basis to fulfil these demands. The rationale for
expansion was economic rather than political (Tonkiss 2006). 81
Theorising Development 6.3.2 Core, Periphery and Semi-Periphery
According to the world-systems analysis the origin and expansion of capitalism
and simultaneously, the international division of labour divided the world
economy into four economic zones namely, core, periphery, semi-periphery and
external areas. This stratification of the world economy reflects on the Marxian
and Weberian analysis of class. For Marx class is based on ownership and non-
ownership of means of production and forces of production. Weber understood
class in relation to both ownership and occupational skill in the production process.
The three economic zones of the world economy, the core, semi-periphery and
periphery hold distinct economic and class positions in the world economy, by
virtue of which they accrue advantages and benefits or suffer from disadvantages
and exploitation. Below are discussed the characteristic features of the three
economic zones of the world economy:

Core Countries
The core is constituted by economically and militarily the most powerful and
dominant countries of the world. The core countries are highly industrialised,
owners of the means of production and perform extremely skilled production
tasks. In fact, their high level of industrialisation and technical advancement
attracts the skilled labour from the other economic zones. The core countries are
the producers of manufactured goods rather than raw-material. They are the
vanguard of all technological innovations and industrial development. These are
the countries that focus on the capital intensive production and have benefitted
maximum from the capitalist economy. They have a locally strong dominant
bourgeoisie class that enable them to obtain control over international commerce
and extract capital surpluses from this trade for their own benefit.

The core countries exercise significant influence over non-core countries. They
draw significant advantages by dominating and exploiting the periphery countries.
They are markets for raw material and cheap labour from the periphery countries.
They extract profits from the periphery countries by selling their manufactured
goods and commodities at a high cost. Further, they draw enormous profits by
making capital investments in the periphery countries, which makes the latter
dependent and vulnerable.

The history of world capitalist system makes evident that there has been a
competition among groups of core countries to establish their domination over
periphery countries for the want of access to resources and quest for economic
dominance. There have been occasions where one core country has been able to
establish its supremacy over others. The dominance of Holland and then Great
Britain in the history of the origins of the world capitalist economy as a part of
mercantile capitalism well establishes the point. The following section on the
history of the origins of the world capitalist system will further enable us to
reflect on the point. Wallerstein added that a core nation can establish its
dominance over others by being dominant in the sphere of production, trade and
financial/banking activity. The dominance in these three spheres contribute to a
core country attaining military dominance. However, superior military and armed
strength in the history of world capitalist system have not been the basis of
economic dominance of a core country, rather military expansion has led to loss
of economic dominance.
82
Periphery Countries World System Theory

The periphery countries are the economically and militarily marginalised and
exploited countries of the world. They are least industrialized, tend to have very
little of the world’s means of production and have a pool of unskilled labour.
Periphery countries are predominantly agricultural economies/ producers of cash
crops with a huge base of peasant population. They lack strong central
governments and are primary exporters of raw material to the core nations. They
engage in labour-intensive production and have to rely on coercive labour
practices often set externally by the governments of the core countries. They are
vulnerable to investments from multi-national and transnational corporations
from core countries which expropriate much of the surplus generated through
unequal trade. The periphery countries manifest high degree of social inequality.
They have a small bourgeoisie class, which fulfils its vested interests by forging
connections with the multinational and transnational corporations.

The history of world of capitalist system is replete with examples whereby, core
countries have established/sought to establish their monopoly over a periphery
country to maximize their profits and benefits from it. In this context, Wallerstein’s
concepts of trade concentration and investment concentration, whereby periphery
country trade with and receive investments from a few core countries (or only
one) becomes relevant. A high trade and investment concentration adds to the
vulnerable status of the peripheral country. The periphery country would be hard
hit, economically, in case the core country decides to end trade and investment
transactions with it. The case of Latin America a peripheral country with
concentration of trade with and investment from the U.S.A well explains this
point.

Semi-periphery Countries
Semi-peripheral are countries that are intermediate and in between the core and
periphery. These are countries that have to prevent themselves from falling into
periphery status and simultaneously attempt to graduate to the category of core
status. In other words, semi-peripheries can come into existence from declining
core and developing periphery countries. These are industrializing and developing
countries, which are becoming more diversified economies. When compared to
periphery countries, semi-peripheral countries have relatively developed and
diversified economies. However, they are not dominant in international trade as
the core countries. They have export and import tie-ups with the peripheral and
core countries respectively. The existence of semi-peripheries is extremely crucial
according to Wallerstein for the stability of world system. The semi-peripheries
act as buffers between cores and peripheries, the two opposing economic zones.
They deflect and ease the political pressures, tensions and opposition of groups
in peripheral areas that may threaten the dominance of core-states and dismantle
them.

Activity 1

Think and make note of ways in which peripheral and semi-peripheral

countries can safeguard themselves from getting exploited by core countries
and improve their position in the international division of labour. (Elaborate
in 2 pages)

83
Theorising Development External areas
In addition, Wallerstein focuses on the external areas. These are areas that are
outside the world capitalist economy. They are those that maintain a division of
labour independent of it and have little foreign commercial influence. They engage
in internal commerce rather than engaging in trade with the outside world. Russia
fitted in this case for a considerable time till the 20th century when it entered in
the European world economy.
Check Your Progress 2
i) How does Wallerstein define world system? ( state in two sentences)
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

ii) List out the three zones that constitute world economy?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

iii) What do you understand by external areas?

.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

6.4 A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE

CAPITALIST WORLD ECONOMY: ORIGIN
AND DEVELOPMENT
Wallerstein has provided a historical perspective to the origin of the capitalist
world economic order. According to him capitalist mode of production has shaped
world economy since the 16th century, bringing to fore market trade (Tonkiss
2006). He sees the world economy as an economically integrated whole with a
single division of labour, while including distinct cultural and political systems.

Wallerstein (1974) traces the origin of capitalism in Northern Europe as an

84
unintended consequence of long-drawn-out crisis of feudalism. Europe readily World System Theory
embraced capitalism to emerge strong industrially and technologically, and used
it to establish its dominance and hegemony in the world economic order. Europe’s
colonial and imperialist projects are testimony to the world-wide spread of
capitalist economic order by it, causing development of underdevelopment in
many of the developing countries of the world.

Europe set on the path of industrialisation and technological development in

order to trade around the world. Its superior military position facilitated her to
get control of trade routes and establish her dominance in world economic order.
According to Wallerstein, imperialist quest of Europe led for the first time to the
establishment of economic system of such an enormous scale that included much
of the world transcending national borders and political boundaries. In history
such large economic systems existed in ancient times in empires as the Roman
Empire, however these differed from the new world economy as the latter is not
a single political unit as mentioned in the section 1.3. These were world-empires,
which had defined system of governments and exercised control and drew
economic advantages within specific political boundaries as was also pointed
out. In other words as elaborated in the earlier section, a world-empire operated
under a common political structure, usually imposed by a dominant power through
conquest (Tonkiss 2006). Further, while the world-empires had large clusters of
merchants engaging in long distance trade, they were of little significance to the
total economy and engaged in ‘administred trade’ and not market trade, utilizing
ports of trade, which started only with the rise of modern world economy
(Wallerstein 1974a : 391). The world-empires were predominantly, redistributive
economic forms (ibid.)

Contrarily, the rise of modern capitalism led to the emergence of a world economy
and growing predominance of market trade, which had its limits beyond political
and administrative boundaries of any one empire. The world economy in
distinction from politically unified world empire emerged as a single global
economic system. It came to be based on an international division of labour that
provided a basis for determining the relationship between the various regions of
the world, the nature of their labour organisation/conditions and political systems.

As has been noted in the earlier section, according to Wallerstein (1974a andb)
the international division of labour divided the world system into three broad
economic zones namely, core, periphery, semiperiphery. The core is dominant
region in the capitalist economy, the semi-periphery is the intermediate economies
and periphery is the underdeveloped or dependent economies. Wallerstein has
focused on the historical evolution of the capitalist world economy reflecting on
stages in its evolution as a system (1974a: 406). From its beginning in sixteenth
century Europe, the international economy has had three or arguably four,
international divisions of labour (Hutchinson 2004: 3).

The first international division of labour, spanning the early period of European
colonisation in the 16th century, was predicated on rudimentary exchange between
core countries and extraction from the economic periphery (ibid.). The core was
constituted as the dominant economic region originally located in Northwest
Europe as pointed out earlier (Tonkiss 2006). Core countries, in the Northwest
of Europe, were the loci of military and trade control. These nations were engaged
in specialised agricultural, mineral, and basic commodity production, which was
traded with nearby countries (Hutchinson 2004:3). The economic periphery in 85
Theorising Development the initial phase of capitalist expansion, comprised of countries of Eastern Europe
and Western Hemisphere including America and Carribean. Their relationship
with the core countries was marked by slavery, indentured labour and cash-crop
production by their large peasant population. These countries were source of
raw material, unprocessed agricultural commodities and mineral wealth and cheap
labour. The Mediterranean Europe formed the semi-periphery in the early period
of capitalist expansion. The core states were marked by strong state machinery
and a powerful bourgeoisie class, which played a pivotal role in strengthening
their positions in world-market by enforcing unequal exchange with the peripheral
countries, which were characterised by weak state.

A further consolidation of Europe world-economy is witnessed in the second

stage of the modern world economy in the 18th century. This stage was marked
by the emergence of Britain as the core nation ousting Netherlands from its
commercial primacy. The Britain was also able resist French attempts to establish
it economically strong.

The third stage of capitalist world economy began in the early 19th century as
the stage of industrial rather than agricultural capitalism. It was marked by the
rapid development of manufacturing industry in Europe. The core exchanged
manufactured product against periphery’s agricultural products, hence Britain
from 1815-1873 emerged as ‘the workshop of the world’ (Wallerstein 1974a:
410). Improved military and shipping facilities had made trade more viable and
less expensive for Britain. Britain during this period supplied half their needs to
the semi-peripheral countries of France, Germany, Belgium, and the US that had
some manufacture.

This period witnessed further geographic expansion of the European world-

economy to include whole globe. The geographical expansion of the European
world economy and imperial conquest led to the inclusion of Africa and Southern
Asia as peripheral zones in the latter part of the 19th century. The ‘Scramble for
Africa’ expanded among the European countries during the last two decades of
the 19th century leading to its occupation and division among the European
powers leading to the integration of the most remote regions of the world into
the global economy.

Russia the most powerful country, outside the realm of European world economy
entered in it in the status of semi-peripheral country. Latin American countries
independence from Spain failed to change its status of peripheral zone. Japan
because of the combination of the strength of its state machinery, poverty of
resource base and geographical remoteness from the core was able to climb into
semi-periphery status. The creation of vast areas as periphery brought significant
change in the status of some others. The US and Germany gained ascendancy in
the manufacturing sector, the US was able to industrialize to considerable extent
prior to the First World War.

The end of First World War and the Russian Revolution in 1917 was the beginning
of the new era, the stage four of world economy. This is the stage of consolidation
of industrial capitalist world economy. The Russian Revolution as it was brewing
had lead to decline in the status of Russia from semi-periphery to periphery.
However, the situation was to change by the end of Second World War, Russia
emerged as a powerful member of the semi-periphery that could begin to seek
full core status.
86
The last two decades of the 19th century witnessed a decline in Britain’s and its World System Theory
hegemonic and economically dominant role was assumed by the United States
post First World War. The significant reasons for Britain’s economic decline
were the colonial system and participation in the War that had begun to put a
strain on its military. Again, there was a great deal of core conflict after the
Britain lost her clear dominance. This time it was Germany, and later Italy and
Japan that provided the new threat.

However, the defeat in the First World War led to a decline in Germany’s
popularity and dominance in the world markets. Various German attempts in the
1920s to find new industrial outlets in the Middle East and South America were
unsuccessful in the face of the US thrust combined with Britain’s continuing
relative strength. With Japan and Europe in ruins after the Second World War,
the U.S.A gained ascendancy and came to dominate the modern world system
more than any other country. During this period U.S.A achieved tremendous
growth in its industrial output and hence, needed markets for sale. The economic
predominance of U.S.A became evident from that she began to manufacture half
of the world’s industrial output and supplied one third of the world’s exports
(Kennedy, Paul 1987).

The Cold War however, denied U.S.A to have markets in U.S.S.R. and East
Europe. As alternative U.S.A had was to seek markets in Western Europe, Latin
America, South Asia, and Middle East. However, this required a reconstruction
of Western Europe and decolonisation of South Asia, Middle East and Africa.
Consequently, post Second World War Latin America became the reserve of
investment from U.S.A. and got completely cut off from Britain and Germany
for trade.

The end of Cold War and the end of 20th century marked a shift in the hegemonic
position of the U.S.A. For it was not merely U.S.A but along with it other
industrialized countries of Western Europe and Japan that constituted the core of
the world system. The semi-periphery was typically composed of independent
states like Singapore, Hongkong, South Korea, India and China that had not
achieved industrialisation and western levels of influence while the most
marginalised and economically dependent countries in Bangladesh, Afghanistan,
Sri Lanka and Central African Republic came to constitute the periphery.

Activity 2
Take your notebook and write a short essay on India focusing on its semi-
periphery position in the international division of labour.
Check Your Progress 3
i) Complete the following sentences by filling in the blank spaces:
a) Wallerstein traces the origin of capitalism .............................................

b) The first international division of labour.............................was predicated

on rudimentary exchange between core countries and extraction from
the economic periphery.

c) The second stage of the modern world economy in the 18th century
was marked by ...........................................................
87
Theorising Development d) The third stage of capitalist world economy was marked by
................................

e) The end of First World War and the Russian Revolution in 1917 was
the beginning of ....................................

6.5 CRITICISM AND EVALUATION

Although Wallerstein’s world-systems theory is influential, it has invited several
criticisms. These are listed below:

The world systems theory is accused of being a Eurocentric approach to

understand origin and expansion of capitalist world economy. It begins
with Europe, and it traces the spread of capitalism as a world system
dominated by this core region (Tonkiss 2006). There are theories that
question the view that Europe was at the centre stage of capitalism and its
development. Many such theories make claims that it was China, and not
Europe that was the core of extended Afro-Eurasian world system for a far
longer period (ibid.) China they hold was more advanced than most of the
Europe in 18th century, and remained an important economic power into
the 19th century (ibid.) The rise of China in the 21st century does not indicate
the emergence of new economic core, but the revival of an older power
after a relatively brief period of decline (ibid.).

Second, there is a criticism of the world-systems theory on the account that

it attaches great significance to the economic processes and neglects cultural
change. R. Robertson and F. Lechner there is a world system of global
culture which is entirely autonomous from economic processes of capitalism
(Abercrombie, Hill and Tuner 2000: 398).

Third, the world-systems theory overlooks the significance of internal/

endogenous factors like class struggle in bringing about change. It
overemphasises the external forces and positioning in world economy in
determining the fate of a country.

Fourth, it is not entirely evident from the world-systems theory that peripheral
societies are underdeveloped by core regions, because most trade and
investment takes place between societies which are already developed and
industrialized (ibid.).

Fifth, according to the world-systems theory all activities and movements

take place within the structural system, constituted by core, periphery and
semi-periphery. However, the concept of globalization since 1990s has
challenged this view. There are globalisation theorists like Harvey and
Appadurai who advocate the notion of global flows, which take us beyond
the conventional geographical understanding of space as structured and
fixed as the world-systems theory suggests. These flows can be of people,
capital, technology, information and ideas evident in notions of ethnoscapes,
financescapes, technoscapes, mediascapes and ideoscapes. These flows are
suggestive of multiple cores and peripheries. No one core can be centre of
all flows. A core may be central to one kind of flow and peripheral and
semi-peripheral in status in relation to other flows in the global system.
88
 Finally, the theory does not provide an adequate framework to explain World System Theory
regarding the position of socialist societies in the world system. Its primary
focus has been on the rise of modern capitalist economy.

Despite, criticisms we cannot override the relevance and significance of

the world- systems theory and Wallerstein’s work.

Wallerstein’s work in 1970s and 1980s emerged as a critical attempt to

analyse conventional models of the first, second and third world countries
in terms of their integral role in the rise and dominance of capitalism and
industrialization (Tonkiss 2006).

Second, the world-systems theory went beyond traditional sociological

understanding by explaining unequal relations as an outcome of expansion
of capitalism across globe. It is essentially a precursor to subsequent
theorisations on globalisation as it challenges the concept of nation-states
by proposing a single world economy integrated by an international division
of labour.
Check Your Progress 4
i) How does the notion of global flows question the world-systems theory?
(elaborate in 3 sentences)
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

ii) Critics have pointed out world-systems theory as Euro-centric. (elaborate

in 2 sentences)
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

6.6 LET US SUM UP

The section has highlighted that the world-system theory drawing from various
intellectual traditions provides an advanced a sophisticated understanding of
inequality as a result of the rise and development of capitalist world economy. It
has focused on world-systems theory as a critical perspective to capitalist
development and modernization. The various concepts and characteristic feature
underlying the theory are elaborated.
89
Theorising Development The world-systems theory envisions the capitalist world-economy as dynamic
with change and shift in the countries occupying position of core, periphery and
semi-periphery. The conceptualisation of world economy as constituted by three
economic zones/regions: core, periphery and semi-periphery provide a basis to
reflect on varying implications of modernization on different regions of the world.
The theory’s focus on a single world-economy creates significant grounds to
question the efficacy of the notion of nation-states as independent units and their
role in bringing about development.

6.7 KEY WORDS

Capitalism: is an economic organization where markets are paramount, there is
private ownership of resources and economic activity is geared towards
maximization of profits

Feudalism: relates to pre-capitalist mode of production where the dominant

classes are landlords and serfs.

International division of labour: relates to spread of markets and production

activity across the world. It is characterised by growing differentiation of
economic activity, which heightens structured hierarchies and inequalities
between the rich and poor countries of the world.

Market system: is based on the idea of buying and selling of goods in exchange
of money.

Reciprocity: means direct exchange of goods and services, fundamental to non-

market.

Redistribution: is a form of exchange where goods or services move from central

authority to the members of society in a non-market society.

6.8 FURTHER READINGS

Abercrombie, Nicholas, Stephen Hill and Bryan S. Turner. 2000. “world-system
theory” In The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology.England: Penguin

Chirot, Daniel and Thomas D. Hall. 1982. “World-System Theory.” Annual

Review of Sociology. Vol. 8 pp. 81-106.

Martínez-Vela, Carlos A. 2001 “World Systems Theory” In ESD.83-Fall 2001

http://web.mit.edu/esd.83/www/notebook/WorldSystem.pdf

6.9 SPECIMEN ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR

PROGRESS
Check Your Progress 1
i) Complete the following sentences by filling in the blank spaces:
a) The modernization theory was based on the assumption that development
takes place in a series of capitalist stages and underdeveloped countries
are still in the original stage of history through which the developed
90 countries had passed long ago.
 b) The world-systems theory’s critique of modernization perspective clearly World System Theory
establishes the dependency theory as one of the most influential
precursors to it.

c) Braudel’s concept of longue durée, inspired Wallerstein to study history

of world capitalism as continuous including constitution and
reconstitution of geo-ecological regions.

d) The research of economic anthropologist and sociologist, Karl Polyani

on the three-fold typology of economic system and exchange namely,
the reciprocal, redistributive, and market systems corresponds with
Wallerstein’s discussion of mini-systems, world-empires, and world-
economies respectively.
Check Your Progress 2
i) How does Wallerstein define world system? ( state in two sentence)
Wallerstein defines world system as a socio-economic unit with a single
division of labor that binds its members in a relationship of mutual
interdependence. There are two types of world system-world empire and
world economy.
ii) List out the three zones that constitute world economy?
Core, periphery and semi-periphery are the three economic zones that
constitute the world economy.
iii) What do you understand by external areas?
The external areas those that are outside the world capitalist economy and
maintain a division of labour independent of it and have little foreign
commercial influence on their economy.
Check Your Progress 3
Complete the following sentences by filling in the blank spaces:
a) Wallerstein traces the origin of capitalism in Northern Europe as an
unintended consequence of long-drawn-out crisis of feudalism.

b) The first international division of labour, spanning the early period of

European colonisation in the 16th century, was predicated on rudimentary
exchange between core countries and extraction from the economic
periphery.

c) The second stage of the modern world economy in the 18th century was
marked by the emergence of Britain as the core nation ousting Netherlands
from its commercial primacy.

d) The third stage of capitalist world economy was marked by the rapid
development of manufacturing industry in Europe.

e) The end of First World War and the Russian Revolution in 1917 was the
beginning of the new era, the stage four of world economy.

91
Theorising Development Check Your Progress 4
i) How does the notion of global flows question the world-systems theory?
(elaborate in 3 sentences)

The globalisation theorists like Harvey and Appadurai notion of global flows,
takes us beyond the conventional geographical understanding of space as
structured and fixed as offered by the world-systems theory. These flows
are suggestive of multiple cores and peripheries implying that no one core
can be centre of all flows. A core may be central to one kind of flow and
peripheral and semi-peripheral in status in relation to other flows in the
global system.

ii) Critics have pointed out world-systems theory as Euro-centric. (elaborate

in 2 sentences)

There are theories that question the view that Europe was at the centre
stage of capitalism and its development and instead, claim that it was China
that was the core of extended Afro-Eurasian world system for a far longer
period. China they hold was more advanced than most of the Europe in
18th century, and remained an important economic power into the 19th
century.

REFERENCES
1) Abercrombie, Nicholas, Stephen Hill and Bryan S. Turner. 2000. “world-
system theory” In The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology.England: Prenguin
2) Chirot, Daniel and Thomas D. Hall. 1982. “World-System Theory.” Annual
Review of Sociology. Vol. 8 pp. 81-106.
3) Frank, Andre Gunder. 1989. The Development of Underdevelopment.
Monthly Review Vol.41, Issue 2.
4) Halsall, Paul. 1997. Modern History Sourcebook: Summary of Wallerstein
on World System Theory. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/
wallerstein.asp.downloaded on June 24, 2020.
5) Hutchinson, Francis. 2004. “Globalisation and the ‘Newer International
Division of Labour” In Labour and Management in Development Journal
, Volume 4, Number 6.
6) Kennedy, Paul. 1987. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic
Change and Military Conflict From 1500 to 2000. New York: Random
House.
7) Lee, Richard E. 2012. “Introduction: Fernand Braudel, the Longue Durée
and World System Analysis” In The Longue Durée and World-Systems
Analysis. Albany, SUNY Press.
8) Martínez-Vela, Carlos A. 2001 “World Systems Theory” In ESD.83-Fall
2001 http://web.mit.edu/esd.83/www/notebook/WorldSystem.pdf
9) Tonkiss, Fran. 2006. “Capitalism and Globalization” In Contemporary
Economic Sociology: Production, Globalization and Inequality, London:
Routledge.
92
10) Wallerstein, Immanuel. 2004. World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction. World System Theory
Durham: Duke University Press.

11) Wallerstein, Immanuel. 1974a. The Rise and Future Demise of the World
capitalist system: Concepts for Comparative Analysis. Comparative Studies
in Society and history, Volume 16, Issue 4, pp. 3874-415.

12) Wallerstein, Immanuel. 1974b. The Modern World System: Capitalist

Agriculture and the Origins of European World Economy in the Sixteenth
Century. New York: Academic Press.

13) “Debating the Longue Durée”. In Annales Volume 70, Issue 2, June 2015.
(Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 August 2017, pp. 215-
217).

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/annales-histoire-sciences-
sociales-english-edition/issue/DC9017ACF3432E5B1F97 D1AF33DD254
D#fn01

93
Theorising Development
UNIT 7 HUMAN AND SOCIAL
PERSPECTIVE*
Structure
7.0 Objectives
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Human Development
7.3 Social Perspective on Human Development
7.4 Capability Approach to Development
7.5 Development as Freedom
7.6 Process of Human Development
7.7 Ideas Connected with Human Development Perspective
7.8 Let Us Sum Up
7.9 Key Words
7.10 Further Reading
7.11 Specimen Answers to Check Your Progress

7.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit, you will be able to:
Understand the meaning of the concept of development;
Explain the influence of social development on human development;
Discuss the theoretical basis of the human development approach;
Analyse the capability approach to human development; and
Describe the core concepts of the human development perspective as
freedom, agency and capability.

7.1 INTRODUCTION
In this unit we will discuss human and social development perspective. Before
that let us discuss different meanings of the word development. For some
development can signify a change in positive direction in peoples’ lives as an
increase in income or betterment of individual well-being. But there are still
others who believe that there is need to expose the different definitions of
development as it has not reduced the inequalities between the different nations.

There are certain ethics of development. Development implies an improvement

in individuals’ lives. It is the definitions of development that influence the policies
on development. The value judgements underlying the policy influences
development. There is no acknowledgement of these value judgements. For
instance economic development aims to increase the wealth or national income
in a society. Human Development is essentially concerned about the improvement
of well-being of persons in a society (Alkire and Deneulin 2009: 3). The values

* Written by Dr. Charu Sahawny, Independent Researcher

94
that influence the policy makers need to be explored. It is the definitions of Human and Social
Perspective
concepts of development held by the policy makers that determine the outcomes
of development. The outcomes of policies on poverty will be different depending
on how poverty gets defined by the policy makers. For instance if poverty is
defined on the basis of the income of individuals or on the basis of the inability
to fulfil the basic needs of individuals will have different outcomes. Therefore,
the value judgements of the governments and agencies devising development
policies need to be explored. There can also be uncertainties and trade-offs in
development policy making. For instance should governments invest in mining
for higher income and job creation or should the governments tackle the problem
of ecological degradation are objectives that the development agencies have to
frequently trade off. Therefore, policy making depends on the normative
frameworks that we hold.

Development was dominantly defined in terms of economic criteria as national

per capita income. Economists like Amartya Sen, Martha Nussbaum, Mahbubul-
Haq have emphasized that development should lead to the betterment of the
quality of life of people and also enlarge their capabilities and choices. The
normative framework underlying this thinking of human development is that
economic growth is required but it should go hand in hand with the advances in
health and education. The Pakistani economist Mahbubul- Haq and Indian
economist Amartya Sen together worked to develop the Human Development
Index (HDI). HDI stressed that people and their capabilities should be the basis
of assessing development of a country. According to UNDP, “The Human
Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure of average achievement in key
dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable
and have a decent standard of living”.

7.2 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Now let us discuss the distinctiveness of human development approach. If an
approach to development focuses on the economic growth then the unit of analysis
is the economy and market prices play an important role in policy making linked
to development. In the human development approach the focus is on the person
and the economy is just one of the aspects that help people lead a healthy life,
pursue education and jobs and increase their well-being. The human development
approach thus puts people first and focuses on their freedoms and capability.
However, both these approaches to development are not exclusionary but they
overlap. The development approach that focuses on economic growth is also
concerned with improving the richness of life of persons. Conversely the human
development approach that focuses on improving people’s lives is also concerned
with sustained economic growth (Alkire and Deneulin 2009:23). Human
development approach is multi sectoral as it deals with many aspects of people’s
lives ranging from economy, culture, politics, health and education.

It was in 1990 that United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) introduced

a new approach to advance human well-being known as human development
approach. This idea of ‘human development’ was present in Human Development
Report produced by UNDP. In addition to the UNDP report the different countries
also produced their National and Regional Human Development Reports. These
reports evaluated the quality of life of a population and proposed ways for its
improvement. This approach instead of only focussing only on the economic
95
Theorising Development aspects of growth brings to centre stage the opportunities and the choices that
are available to people (Alkire and Deneulin 2009:24). The first Human
Development Report 1990 conceptualized human development as ‘both the
process of widening people’s choices and the level of their achieved well- being’
(UNDP, 1990, p9). The various human development reports have raised awareness
about human concerns as education, importance of people’s participation in the
democracy, health and the environment.

The Human Development Reports were influenced by the viewpoints of the

Pakistani economist Mahbubul Haq. He argued that a country may have high
GDP because it sells weapons and exports them but this criterion does not
determine whether the country is more developed than others. According to him,
people matter and income is also important for people to enhance their capabilities.
Income is only one of the aspects in terms of which development of a country is
assessed. The other aspects of the society as health and education are also
important (Alkire and Deneulin 2009: 24). For instance during the outbreak of
the COVID 19 pandemic in 2020 the major concern of all the countries of the
World was the availability of hospital infrastructure as beds and ventilators to
treat the COVID 19 patients. The availability of healthcare facilities and services
was an asset in dealing with the health crisis. This proved that healthcare facilities
can be more significant than national income.

7.3 SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE ON HUMAN

DEVELOPMENT
Social development influences human development as social institutions deeply
impinge on individuals to exercise their capabilities. Khalid Malik (2014) in his
lecture ‘Advancing, Sustaining Human Progress: From Concepts to Policies’
stated that social institutions influence the behaviour and choices people make
as social institutions influence individual capability. Social institutions are the
non-profit making institutions and non-state institutions like the Non-
Governmental Organizations, neighbourhood associations and sports clubs. These
social institutions influence and are influenced by both state and market. The
2014 Human Development Report (UNDP) laid stress on the role of civil society
and social institutions in articulating the issues concerning the citizens and
reinforcing government policy.

When we speak of social development we need to address human rights issues

as well-being, education or health that affect society. Therefore social development
is also the widening of social opportunities enjoyed by people. The social and
the economic complement each other. Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen (1997:6) in
their work ‘India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity’ argued that
individuals and their opportunities are to be viewed in a social context. The state
and different institutions in society impinge on persons’ opportunities. For instance
the opportunities available to a person in a caste society are different from the
opportunities that may be available to a person in an egalitarian society.

Also social circumstances and public policy influences social opportunity. To

illustrate this, we can view the impact of state policy during COVID 19 on the
Indian farmers. The nationwide lockdown implemented by India in the health
interests of its population in March 2020, impacted the Indian farmers adversely
as they could not sell their winter harvest. There were transportation bottlenecks
96
due to the lack of rural labour. Also there was a breakdown of supply chain and Human and Social
Perspective
non-availability of buyers in the wholesale markets. Thereby it was the state
policy which directly influenced the social opportunity of the Indian farmers
during this health crisis in the country. The terms ‘social’ and ‘economic’ are to
complement each other. For instance, a market maybe functioning well but a
person can only use the opportunities available in the market if a person is educated
and is healthy. Conversely a person may be well educated and healthy but may
not have access to economic opportunities due to bureaucratic controls or lack
of finance (Dreze and Sen1997:6).

7.4 CAPABILITY APPROACH TO DEVELOPMENT

According to the capability approach of Amartya Sen, human beings are the
‘means of all production’ through whom development can be brought about.
(Sen 1990: 41). It is not the increase in wealth that will bring about development
but people as means will bring about progress. He argued that the pursuit of
more wealth is only an intermediate goal and it should be seen in terms of how it
improves human lives. For instance countries might have high national income
but may rate low in terms of well-being of people. Development should improve
the quality of human life. Human life on the other hand can be visualized through
the capability approach. The capability approach to development contains three
key concepts: functioning, capability and agency.

Capability approach sees human life ‘functionings’ as ‘a set of beings and doings.’
Therefore, human life can be assessed through the ‘capability to function’. (Sen
1990: 43).Functionings here refers ‘being’ and ‘doing’ what people value.
Capability refers to the freedom a person enjoys in being or doing what they
value. Thereby capability contributes to the well-being of people. Quality of life
can be assessed through the capability of individuals to function. The capability
approach does not only focus on income in the exercise to assess the quality of
life. In the capability approach the set of doings and beings or the functioning
have to be assessed. Richness of life can be assessed through the capability to
achieve the valued activities. Since elements of life are then composed of different
functionings a person is seen as exercising an agency rather than a passive person.
Agency refers to the ability of a person to follow objectives that they value or
have reason to value. As agents individuals can determine their priorities and the
means to achieve them. But since decisions about development are made by
social groups rather than by people, people need to be educated and they also
should have the freedom to express their views and exercise agency regarding
development policy and its implementation.

7.5 DEVELOPMENT AS FREEDOM

Thus, exclusionary focus on seeing development in terms of income and economic
growth cannot guarantee that a country maybe leading a richer life. Amartya Sen
elucidates this viewpoint through an anecdote in an eighth century Sanskrit text
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. In this text a woman named Maitreyee is engaged
in a conversation with her husband Yajnavalkya. Maitreyee asks him ‘if “the
whole Earth” full of wealth” were to belong to her, she could achieve immortality
through it.” Yajnavalkya her husband, responds that she would not become
immortal but only wealthy. Maitreyee then asks, ‘What should I do with that by
which I do not become immortal?’ (cited in Sen, 1999: 13). 97
Theorising Development In the book ‘Development as Freedom’ Amartya Sen argued that in development
the focus should be on the enlargement of people’s freedoms. The development
approach that focuses on Gross National Product (GNP) is only a means to secure
the expansion of freedoms enjoyed by people in society. But exercise of freedom
is also dependent on social and political rights and facilities for education and
health. To Sen, development requires the removal of many basis of unfreedom
as unavailability of public facilities, meagre economic opportunities for poverty
alleviation, fanaticism of repressive states and social deprivations. Sometimes
due to poverty people cannot satisfy their nutrition needs or access health care
and education. But unfreedom can also be because of the lack of health care
programs as at the time of the pandemic in 2020. During pandemic times, persons
in various countries experienced unfreedom due to the unavailability of a vaccine
to fight and restrict the spread of the virus COVID 19. In 2020 USA with the
highest GDP faced a health crisis in the country due to the spread of the virus
and consequent deaths.

According to Amartya Sen freedom is important for the process of development

for two major reasons 1.) The Evaluative Reason: Development can be assessed
by visualizing if the freedoms enjoyed by people are enhanced 2.) The
Effectiveness Reason: Development is said to take place only if people exercise
free ‘agency’. So exercise of agency and the expansion of freedom go hand in
hand. He gives an agent oriented view of development. Human beings have a
role in moulding their lives. They are not passive receivers of development
programs.

People can exercise their agency only if they have freedom of expression, freedom
to access health care, education or freedom to politically participate in a
democracy. He also argues that freedoms are the means of development and the
different freedoms are also interconnected with each other (See Box 7.1)

Box 7.1

Development as Freedom
Freedoms are only the primary ends of development, they are also among its
principal means. In addition to acknowledging, foundationally, the evaluative
importance of freedom, we also have to understand the remarkable empirical
connection that link freedoms of different kinds with one another. Political
freedoms (in the form of free speech and elections) help to promote economic
security. Social opportunities (in the form of education and health facilities)
facilitate economic participation. Economic facilities (in the form of
opportunities for participation in trade and production) can help to generate
personal abundance as well as public resources for social facilities. Freedoms
of different kind can strengthen one another.
Excrept From Amartya Sen’s Development as Freedom, 1999, p.11

7.6 PROCESS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Mahbubul Haq recognised four concerns for the application of human
development. These are equity, efficiency, participation and sustainability.
However there may also be other concerns as the respect for human rights (Alkire
98
and Deneulin 2009: 29).The four concerns identified by Mahbubul Haq to be to Human and Social
Perspective
be adhered to in the process of development are as follows:-

Equity is not the same as equality. Equity implies that there should be fairness
of treatment towards all sections of people in a society. For instance, there
should be schemes to enable the weaker sections of society as the poor, the
women and the differently abled to lead a richer life.

Efficiency refers to the minimal use of human and natural resources to expand
the capability of individuals and societies.

Participation implies the agency and empowerment of individuals to

influence the development process in their social groups. So this approach
puts people first as they are involved at every stage of development policy
making and implementation.

Sustainability argues that development takes place in such a way so that the
outcomes sustain over time. Development should take place in a way that
the nature and environment are unharmed. Sustainability should be social,
environmental and financial so that the interests of the future generations
are unharmed.

7.7 IDEAS CONNECTED WITH HUMAN

DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE
In this section we will be studying some of the perspectives that are connected
with human development such as basic needs, human rights and human security.
As discussed in the previous section the earlier approach to development argued
that economic growth would eliminate poverty, improve the life of people and
also expand their opportunities to live life in a certain way. The focus in this
perspective was largely on the economic growth and the tricking down of benefits
to the poor. The first ‘Development Decade’ was declared by the UN General
Assembly in 1961. The objective was to support the states to achieve economic
growth so that both the developed and the developing countries achieve a savings
rate of investment (Deneulin 2009: 57). This focus on economic growth was
questioned in the 1970s as economic growth could not do away with the wealth
concentration in the hands of a few and a class of have nots.

We will focus on the first perspective connected with the human development
approach and that is ‘basic needs’. It was the ‘basic needs’ perspective to
development provided an alternative to the economic growth perspective in the
1970s. The basic needs approach focused on the minimum conditions that are
required for life such as health, nutrition, education, safe drinking water, housing,
Like the human development approach the basic needs approach focused on
improving the human life, not only in economic terms but also in socio- cultural
terms. However, the human development approach propounded by Sen and
Mahbub-ul- Haq is based on a wider theoretical and philosophical foundation
than basic needs approach. The human development approach stressed on the
expansion of freedoms and capabilities of individuals and also held that the agency
of individuals was critical in the development process. The human development
approach is applicable in both the developed and the developing countries. On
the other hand the basic needs approach was less applicable to the developed
countries as the US (Deneulin2009: 59). 99
Theorising Development Secondly, human development and the capability approach to development are
also linked to the issue of ‘human rights’ perspective. According to the Human
Development Report 2000 both these approaches work to secure the freedom,
well-being and dignity of people. While the human development approach
assesses the progress in a society through the freedoms available to the individuals,
the human rights enhances human development by focusing on rights and
obligations of individuals. The human rights approach therefore point out that it
is the responsibility of governments and other institutions to respect and safeguard
the human rights of all individuals. The human rights approach therefore draws
attention of institutions towards persons who may not have access to rights related
to education or health. The human rights approach therefore sensitizes human
development approach.

The third perspective that we will be discussing in this unit that is linked to the
human development perspective is ‘human security’. As developing countries
increasingly faced internal conflicts the notion of human security in the human
development approach highlights that military solutions are not enough to tackle
the problems in a conflict ridden society. The 1994 Human Development Report
stated “safety from such chronic threats as hunger, disease and repression, and
protection from sudden and harmful disruptions in the patterns of daily lives,
whether in homes, jobs or communities” (UNDP 1994,p1). Human security is
not only defined in terms of absence of violent conflict but also economic security,
food security, health security, environmental security, personal security,
community security and political security (Deneulin2009: 62).
Check Your Progress
1) Match the following:-
i) Human Development a) Minimal basic needs required for life
ii) Economic Development b) Puts people first
iii) Agency c) Safety from threats as hunger, disease.
iv) Basic Needs d) Focus on economic growth
v) Human Security e) Bringing about change
2) Write short note on the following:-
i) Explain the capability approach on human development?
ii) Explain the phrase ‘development as freedom’ in human development
approach?

7.8 LET US SUM UP

In this unit we discussed the perspective on human development. We explored
the development ethics and how value judgements held by policy makers influence
development policy making, implication and outcomes of development policy.
We understood that in the past, economic development was measured in terms of
economic growth while human development is seen in terms of betterment of
quality of life of human beings. The human development approach puts people
first and works towards enhancing their capability. However, the human
development approach does not exclude sustained economic growth. The
theoretiical base human development approach has been the capability approach
100
to development. The capability approach is based on the concepts of capability, Human and Social
Perspective
functioning and agency. Capability here referred to a set of functionings that is
the being or doing what people value. Since the focus in this approach is on
functionings the capability approach views human beings as agents who can
voice their concerns and also influence development. Development should read
to the removal of unfreedoms as illiteracy, ill-health. So, development should
lead to the expansion of freedoms as freedom is the end and means of development.
Mahbubul Haq recognised four concerns for the application of human
development as equity, efficiency, participation and sustainability. We also
discussed some of the perspectives connected with human development as basic
needs, human rights and human security. We discussed that these perspectives
impinge on the human development perspective and the latter has a different
theoretical and philosophical base. Lastly, we discussed the social perspective
on human development. We discussed that the enhancement of human capabilities
is also dependent on social institutions and civil society. Also we discussed that
development policy and social circumstances has a bearing on opportunity of
individuals.

7.9 KEY WORDS

Functionings: Functionings are things that persons value being or doing
according to Amartya Sen. Functionings are things that are valued by human
beings as good health, education, safety.

Capability: Capability refers to the set of functionings. They are a set of

functioning (doings and beings) that persons can achieve.

Agency: Agency refers to the ability of a person to bring about change and affect
the development process.
Freedom: Freedom is the end and means of development.

7.10 FURTHER READING

Dreze, J., A. Sen 1995 India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity.
New Delhi: OUP.

Gasper, D. 2004.The Ethics of Development. Edinburgh University Press:

Edinburgh Sen,A. 1999.Development as Freedom. Oxford University Press: New
Delhi.

UNDP. 2000. Human Development Report: Human Rights and Human

Development. Oxford University Press.

7.11 SPECIMEN ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR

PROGRESS
1) i) b
ii) d
iii) e
iv) a
101
v) c
Theorising Development 2) i) According to the capability approach of Amartya Sen, human beings
are the means of development. The capability approach to development
contains three key concepts: functioning, capability and agency.
According to capability approach it is not income that will bring about
development but people as agents of development. Sen argued that
income is not the only adequate measure of development and income
just enables individuals to enrich their lives. For instance countries
might have high national income but may rate low in terms of health
status of people. Development should enrich the lives of human beings.
Capability approach sees human life ‘functionings’ as ‘a set of beings
and doings.’ (Sen 1990: 43). Functioning here refers ‘being’ and ‘doing’
what people value. Capability refers to the freedom a person enjoys in
being or doing what they value. In the capability approach the set of
doings and beings or the functioning have to be assessed. Development
can be assessed through the capability to achieve the valued activities
as education, health, freedom to express views.

ii) In the book ‘Development as Freedom’ Amartya Sen argued that in

development the focus should be on the enlargement of people’s
freedoms. Gross National Product (GNP) is only a means to secure the
expansion of freedoms enjoyed by people in society. Development can
take place when there is removal of many unfreedoms as unavailability
of health facilities, meagre job opportunities for youth, fanaticism of
repressive states and social deprivations. Freedoms are both the primary
ends and means of development. We can assess the development in
society through the freedoms enjoyed by people. But different kinds of
freedom are also interconnected with one another. Political freedoms
as freedom to participate in elections or free speech may promote
economic well-being. Health and education opportunities may lead to
economic participation. So if people exercise their agency, bring about
change, there is expansion of freedom in society.

REFERENCES
Dreze, J., A. Sen 1995 India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity.
New Delhi: OUP.

Deneulin, S., S. White, L.Shahani, A. Proochista, S. Johnson, A.Naveed,

I.Robeyns, R.Spence and Elaine Unterhalter. 2009. An Introduction to Human
Development and Capability Approach: Freedom and Agency. New York: Taylor
and Francis Group

Gasper, D. 2004.The Ethics of Development. Edinburgh University Press:

Edinburgh

Malik, K.2014. Inaugural MahbubulHaq-Amartya Sen Lecture, UNIGE:

Advancing, Sustaining Human Progress: From Concepts to Policies. Retrieved
fromhttp://hdr.undp.org/en/content/inaugural-mahbub-ul-haq-amartya-sen-
lecture-unige

Sen, A. 1990.Development as Capability Expansion.Retrieved

frompunarjitroyc.weebly.com
102
Sen,A. 1999.Development as Freedom. Oxford University Press: New Delhi. Human and Social
Perspective
UNDP. 1990. Human Development Report, Oxford University Press, New York,
Retrieved from http// hdr.undp.org/en

UNDP.Human Development Index (HDI) | Retrieved from hdr.undp.org › content

› human-development-index-hdi

UNDP.1994. Human Development Report, New Dimensions of Human Security.

Oxford University Press.

UNDP. 2000. Human Development Report: Human Rights and Human

Development. Oxford University Press.

103
Theorising Development
UNIT 8 ENVIRONMENTAL
PERSPECTIVES*
Structure
8.0 Objectives
8.1 Introduction
8.2 What is Environment?
8.2.1 Human-made Environment
8.2.2 Social Environment
8.3 Relationship Between Development and Environment
8.4 Environmental Perspectives
8.4.1 Classical Perspectives
8.4.2 Sustainable Development Perspective
8.4.2.1 Sustainable Development: A Discourse
8.4.2.2 Sustainable Development: Definition and Meaning, Requirements,
Policy Objectives and Suitable Strategy
8.4.2.3 Criticisms of the Concept of Sustainable Development
8.5 Let Us Sum Up
8.6 Key Words
8.7 Further Reading
8.8 Specimen Answer of Check Your Progress

8.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit, you will be able to:
Understand the concept of the environment;
Discuss the relationship between development and environment;
Describe the classical perspectives on environment; and
Discuss the sustainable development, its genesis, meaning and criticism.

8.1 INTRODUCTION
In this unit we will understand the environment and its related aspects, what the
environment is and what constitutes this. Then we will discuss why and what for
the environment is changing in due course of human action and interaction. Next
section we will discuss development and environment discourse and then we
discuss the perspective.

8.2 WHAT IS ENVIRONMENT?

The term environment is coined from the French word “Environer,” meaning
“neighborhood” in other words, the place, people, things, and nature surrounding
any living organism is called the environment. Hence, the environment is the
sum total of biotic and abiotic aspects of life. The environment is a system that

* Written by Prof. B.B. Mallick, Department of Sociology, BBAU, Lucknow

104
provides natural surroundings for the existence of organisms such as humans Environmental Perspective
and animals and which is a prerequisite for their further evolution. A-biotic
components of the environment (atmosphere, water, minerals, energy) and biotic
concept of environment (organisms – from simple to complex) are its main
elements. In this setup, organisms get their life, grow, produce, and reproduce an
appropriate environment and adjust to this environment and try to modify it in
the process. The process of this reproduction takes place through human action
in everyday life, vis-à-vis their sustenance, planning, and developmental initiative.
Through this, it does a broad spectrum of environmental changes. Hence, it is
required to ascertain, which human activities cause environmental changes, and
what are the fundamental and detailed causes for different changes, activities
and actions are deliberate and which are inadvertent; what are the environmental
effects of man’s activities. To summarize, it is noteworthy that whatever surrounds
us, virtually an anthropocentric (non-biological) definition perceiving
environment as one where a man can live. Hence, on the basis above analysis,the
environment can be understood in two ways (i) human-made environment, (ii)
social environment.

8.2.1 Human-made Environment

Human beings are interacting with and modifying the environment according to
their needs and requirements. When humankind changes from hunter-gathers to
agriculturalists and pastoralists, they began to change the environment according
to their requirements and convenience. They learn to grow crops and use domestic
animals to lead a settled life. They use fertilizers and pesticides to boost yields.
Humankind has been overusing and depleting natural resources. When the
industrial revolution enabled large-scale production, transportation, information,
and communication became faster and speedy across the world. In the process of
development, a human-made environment has been manifested in manifolds,
which include crop fields, cities, and industrial space. Men artificially make
these for the fulfillment of their needs. For example, life in cities and urban
centers is an example of a human-made culture, but the city atmosphere has
become more polluted than rural areas. Factories, power plants, industries and
companies immensely contribute to the pollution of the atmosphere and air. This
kind of human-made environment results in lots of health hazards, consumptions,
or use of the excessive amount of material and energy leading towards a crisis
and developing the inertial of ‘risk society’.

The basic requirements of human beings are housing, water, sanitation, transport,
communication, food, energy, education, and health. These were readily available
to human beings in plenty at rural set up in a natural manner. However, the
notion of industrial and urban-centric development led the human population to
migrate to cities. As a result of which the population in cities increased day by
day along with pollution, health hazards, and atmospheric imbalance and
misbalanced. Population pressure in cities gave rise to the number of pavement
dwellers and many more problems. Excessive traffic, factories, mills, and domestic
smokes pollute the atmosphere. In this way, a hiatus between rural and urban
setup and society is more prominent.

8.2.2 Social Environment

Biotic and abiotic aspects are integral part of human life, in the same way, societal
setup and relationship creates social environment. The social environment 105
Theorising Development includes cultural norms, values, and political, economic, and religious institutions.
All these institutions play significant role in the societal milieu and decide how
it utilize environmental resources for its benefit and sustenance. Further, the
social environment can be understood in terms of the broad structural arrangement
of the society, which includes various groups, institutions. Major institutions
and groups of society are concerned with such basic requirements of life, and all
together, they constitute the social environment. In the socio-cultural environment,
a family is one of the primary institutions of social organization that performs
various functions like reproduction, socialization, transferring cultural tradition
from one generation to another, and many more. The human-made part of the
environment is culture, and it also determines the social environment and social
action. Social norms, economic activities, political and religious institutions
always affect the cultural environment.The economy is another important factor
that determines how resources are acquired and used in economic activities. A
proper or improper use or exploitation of natural resources will lead to
environmental destruction and degradation.

8.3 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEVELOPMENT

AND ENVIRONMENT
The concept of development is not new. Development is continuously changing
the nuances of society and the concept itself. Initially, development connotes
change plus growth; however, it needs to be used in the broader sense by desisting
from economic development alone. Further, development is not purely an
economic phenomenon, rather a multidimensional process. It involves
reorganization and reorientation of the entire economic, social, cultural, and
political system for prosperity, peace, and tranquility.

Further, in a narrow but a positive sense, development is the process to improve

the quality of life of all organisms with a focus on human life. It is a process of
growth in the direction of modernity and particularly in the direction of nation-
building and socio-economic prosperity and progress of the society at large.
Development is a process to improve the well-being of the people at large.
Development is associated with several factors and each factor influence and
affects each other. The factors such as environment, economic, social, and political
have effect on development in several ways. The development has many
meanings, but it is a problematic, contested, vague, and elusive term. However,
in simple terms, we can say that development is about social change. It means
development allows people to achieve their human potential.

Another relevant point that emphasizes development is also a political term and
has a range of meanings. A diversified form of agenda held by different people
or organizations can be reflected and justified in their context. For instance, the
idea of development is articulated by the World Bank, which is very different
from and promoted by Greenpeace activists. This point has important implications
for understanding sustainable development because much of the confusion about
the meaning of sustainable development’ arises because people hold very different
ideas about the meaning of ‘development’ (Adams 2009).

Material and social poverty are identified as two leading causes of environmental
devastation. However, on the other hand, the degrading quality of environment
can be the cause of poverty. Both environment and development can be
106
characterized as interdependent. Development is impossible without a suitable Environmental Perspective
living environment, hence, the environment cannot be tranquilized and maintained
without sustainable development.

Environment is one of the essential decisive factors exerting influence on

developmental possibilities. The diversified strategies of development must be
applied in urbanized, industrial, and rural areas differently. For example, different
methods of development must be done in coastal areas that cannot be used in
hilly or bare areas. Hence, it is society, culture, and geographically specific.
However, development in an economic growth context, the quality and
accessibility of natural resources of raw materials and energy are significant. If
we understand development in sustainable development, the quality of the
environment and its sustainable condition will become one of the key priorities.
The impact of development on the environment can be viewed in two ways: (a)
Positive and (b) Negative

Positive Impact-
Construction of smaller water dams, environment-friendly technologies, and allied
developmental initiatives will be positive for the environment. Such an impact
of development and its effects will enrich the landscape in a socio-cultural context
and bring sustainable use of the environment for the present and future generations.

Negative Impact-
The construction of large-scale transport infrastructure, great water dams, cities,
mining of natural resources of raw materials and energy leads to a negative impact
of development. These impacts affect the environment like fragmentation of
natural habitats, loss of fertile soil degradation, pollution of the environment,
local climate change, and many more. Environmental issues in India rose due to
the uncontrolled urbanization, industrialization, destruction of forests, and massive
intensification of agriculture. The major environmental issues are forest and sand,
rocks, etc. Environmental degradation is affecting public health, loss of
biodiversity, loss of resilience in ecosystems, livelihood security for the poor.
Water shortages issues, soil exhaustion, and erosion, deforestation, air are related
to many environmental issues.
Check Your Progress 1
1) What do you understand by the environment?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

8.4 ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVES

8.4.1 Classical Perspectives
The environment is determined by how we perceive and treat it in our day to day
life. The perception and perspectives of people on the environment and their 107
Theorising Development relationship with nature are traditionally divided into four categories: stewardship,
imperialism, romanticism, and utilitarianism. These perspectives are still relevant
to the environment today.

i) The perspective of stewardship means that humans hold an absolute

privilege and responsibility about their environment. This perspective
narrates, it is our duty as human beings to look after all living things and
treat them with respect. Such an attitude is prevalent within certain Christian
and Jewish societies, and there are many biblical references following this
behavior. Since nature is supposed as sacred, traditional stewards are often
against science and technology because they are involved in controlling
nature.

ii) Imperialism: It is deep-rooted in Jewish and Christian religion and its

stewardship. However, imperialists support the view that God has given
humans a right to control nature and feel that nature and God are separate.
In contrast, stewards feel that a sacred bond exists between nature and God.
Imperialists believe that God would give them respect if they are subduing
the Earth and controlling nature. In historical view point of imperialist and
their culture, plant and animal sacrifice are essential to God. Francis Bacon
suggests that the ambition of conquering nature is highest in human. He
developed the modern view of science-based upon the assumption that
science aims to discipline nature. The Imperialist analyzed nature, which
was predominant during the 18th and 19th centuries and remains prevalent
in some quarters today

iii) Romanticism-By the end of the 18th century, a cluster of artists, poets, and
writers— adopted the imperialistic view that nature must be controlled and
managed. The new industrial landscapes, geometrically sculptured gardens
are considered as detested by the romantics. For their sake environment
and its values are not considered by the Romantics; however, imperialists
give importance and value to the environment, which is worth humans.
Further, instead of observing nature as ugly and dangerous, Romantics
became excited about the beauty of nature by it treating it just like God.
Nature is beautiful when it is in its purest state, unaffected by humans, as
explained by the Romantics.

iv) Utilitarian or hedonist is the fourth perspective to understand nature. In

this perspective, life is considered happy and contentment and cannot be
comprehended beyond human feelings. Here, happiness and contentment
are the essential things in life; it does not matters which can appreciate
these feelings or not. Humans are more capable of experiencing such
feelings; hence they should be valued above everything. Animals may have
value because they feel pleasure and pain, but plants and trees having no
feelings and only means to earn. However, there are several reasons why
trees, plants, and the environment are essential to the utilitarian. People
enjoy and use the food chain and diverse landscapes in which the
environment performs their fundamental roles. Utilitarian want to protect
and conserve the environment for these reasons. Utilitarians accept that
long-term pleasure has to be compromised by short-term pleasures, although
they used to seek pleasure.

108
8.4.2 Sustainable Development Perspective Environmental Perspective

In 1972, the United Nations Conference on “Human Environment” took place in

Stockholm, Sweden. The Stockholm Conference was historical because
environmental problems received formal recognition for the first time at the global
level. The modern industrial societies could realise that there is only “one world.”
It also recognized that environmental problems are global problems requiring
international solutions. However, the developed countries of the North and the
developing countries of the South do not necessarily share the same environmental
concerns.

Then, in 1981, the concept of “sustainable development” appeared for the first
time. It was enshrined in the title of a key document - World Conservation Strategy:
Living Resource Conservation for Sustainable Development, published by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN),
the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and UN Environment Programme (UNEP). In
1983, the United Nations set up the World Commission on Environment and
Development (WCED) headed by Gro Harlem Brundtland, Prime Minister of
Norway, as an independent body. Its objective was to re-examine the critical
environment and development problems on the planet and to formulate realistic
proposals to solve them and to ensure that human progress will be sustained
through development without bankrupting the resources of the future generations.
The WCED published its report titled “Our Common Future” in the year 1987.
This report presented the first official definition of the concept of “sustainable
development.” Another document, “Caring for the Earth: A Strategy for
Sustainable Living” (published by IUCN, UNEP, and WWF, in 1991), has
suggested a revised global strategy for conserving nature. More importantly, it
was recognized by this work that global nature conservation requires the
participation of local people. In 1992, representatives of over 150 countries met
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development (UNCED), popularly known as the “Earth Summit.” The Earth
Summit established crucial linkages between environment and development. It
produced the “The Earth Charter,” a code of conduct or plan of action for the
21st century, i.e., Agenda 21, Local Agenda 21 (LA21), an interpretation for
local issues (which came later), the Climate Convention (a convention to control
climate change due to atmospheric pollution), and the Bio-diversity Convention
(a convention to promote the conservation of biodiversity). The Rio Declaration
also determined the framework of conservation and the use of forests. It
established essential steps to ensure an environmentally stable and sustainable
planet (The Hindu Survey of the Environment 2002: 5-6).

Internationally and nationally the focus is on “sustainable development.” To assess

the progress towards “sustainable development, the “Rio+5” meeting was held
in New York in 1997. Again, the World Summit on Sustainable Development
(WSSD) was held at Johannesburg, from August 26th to September 4th, 2002
which was known as Johannesburg Summit and it is documented as “Rio+10”.
The agenda included every issue related to environment and development such
as energy, water, sanitation, health, forests, consumption patterns, poverty, trade,
and globalization. Consequently, the scope of sustainable development has
broadened.

109
Theorising Development Check Your Progress 2
1) What is agenda 21?
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8.4.2.1Sustainable Development: A Discourse

The early roots of the concept of sustainable development can be traced back to
the development-environment debate. The economic growth model of
development adopted by most countries globally, and is produced in various
forms of environmental degradation, have provided the historical context for the
rise of the development-environment debate.

Modern technology, the factory system of production, rapid industrialization,

and urbanization is the quality of this economic growth model of development.
The Western countries initially followed this model of development and prescribed
it for the less developed ones, in due course of time they will follow the same
path of industrialization for development uncritically.

The consequences of adopting the western model of development by the less

developed countries were not all positive. Economic growth occurred, but a
widened gulf between the countries accompanied it in the North and the South,
and it also helped to promote economic disparities between the rich and the poor
sections within particular societies. It was realized that “development” conceived
only as “economic growth” was an inadequate notion. Economic growth does
not necessarily lead to the development of the lower strata of society. This
realization caused a shift in development thinking. Eventually, it led to the
inclusion of some additional criteria of development, such as distributive justice
or equity, and improvement in the overall quality of life of the masses (Dhanagare
1996: 7-9).

Moreover, it is more important to note that examining the impact of the western
model of development on the quality of the global environment has led to the
critical reconsideration of this model of development. It is realized that the reckless
pursuit of industrialization and the use of resource exploitative modern technology
for development has resulted in environmental deterioration to such an extent
that the very existence of all the living species is endangered. There is a general
agreement that economic expansion, especially during the post-war period, has
had alarming consequences for the global environment (Munshi 2000: 253).
Industrialization is not possible without continuous supply of energy and materials
from nature. It led to the constant accumulation of wastes that resulted from
accelerated industrial production and an increasing level of consumption. There
was a gradual deterioration of nature. The “modern, industrial form of production
induced increasingly severe degrees of social inequality and growing
environmental instability and degradation... which, together, have more recently
been conceptualized as the “crisis of modernity” (Eduardo and Woodgate 1997:
110
85). The environmental degradation that has occurred is marked by a large-scale Environmental Perspective
extraction of finite natural resources. Loss of forests, extinction of animal and
plant species, depletion of the ozone layer, air, water, and soil pollution, loss of
marine life and bio-diversity, etc. have occurred at an alarming rate and have
posed a severe threat to the very survival of life on this planet.

While examining the consequences of the Western model of development in the

context of ecosystems and economies of developing nations, Sunita Narain (2002:
13) comments that the “western economic and technological model is highly
material and energy-intensive, it metabolizes huge quantities of natural resources
and leaves a trail of toxins, with highly degraded and transformed ecosystems in
its wake. It is this model that developing nations are also following for economic
and social growth, leading to an extraordinary cocktail of poverty and inequality
side by side with growing economies, pollution, and large-scale ecological
destruction”. It is recognized that the “western development model in its most
triumphant moments appears to be neither desirable nor universally applicable
because it is simply not sustainable” (Bernhard 1997: 113). Thus, the two basic
assumptions of the Western model of development, i.e., “first, development could
be universalized in space and, second, that it would be durable in time” (Sachs
1997: 71), had lost their validity.

Due to the strategies adopted for economic growth, environmental degradation,

and exploitation of natural resources have become global phenomena. Eventually,
the increasing awareness of environmental problems has led to the emergence of
environmentalism. It is important to note that environmentalism has added an
essential dimension to the ongoing development discourse. It has caused a
paradigm shift in our vision of development. It has compelled the intellectuals
concerned to think about what is being done to the ecosystem of this planet in
the name of development. The worsening environmental situation has led to the
re-examination and reconsidering the policies, strategies, and programs for
development. As a result, the environment–development debate emerged and
became intensified in due course of time.

Initially, Development and Environment were seen as distinct entities and there
was a sharp division between those who supported development over the
environment and those who argued for the environment over-development
(Baviskar 1997: 196). As another scholar observes, there emerged two different
camps of protagonists who inhabited two different mental spaces and regarded
themselves as opponents (Ibid: 71-72). It gave rise to the dichotomy of
development versus the environment.

However, eventually, there also emerged an increased awareness that human

beings need both “development” and “environment.” As Balletmus has expressed,
there was “a growing recognition that the overall goals of environment and
development are not in conflict but are indeed the same, namely, the improvement
of human quality of life or welfare of the present and future generations (cf
Mohanty 1998:82)”. Such thinking led to the view that “development” versus
“environment” is a false dichotomy. This view is well articulated in World
Development Report 1992 — Development and the Environment. It is argued in
this report that the “economic development and sound environmental management
are complementary aspects of the same agenda. Without adequate environmental
protection, the development will be undermined; without development,
environmental protection will fail, income growth will provide the resources for 111
Theorising Development improved environmental management” (World Bank 1992: 25). In fact, such a
view underscored the need for reconciliation between “development” and
“environment.” The concept of “sustainable development,” as defined in the
report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED),
titled “Our Common Future” (1987), represents such an attempt to reconcile the
goals of development as well as that of environmental protection. Let us now
understand the definition and meaning of the concept of “sustainable
development” as formulated and elaborated in “Our Common Future” (1987).

8.4.2.2Sustainable Development: Definition and Meaning,

Requirements, Policy Objectives and Suitable Strategy
The definition of the term sustainable development, its meaning, requirements,
policy objectives, and suitable Strategy, as mentioned in the report Our Common
Future, have been briefly dealt with below.

a) Sustainable Development: Definition and Meaning of the Concept

Sustainable development is a development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
It contains two key concepts:
The concept of “needs” to which overriding priority should be given in
particular the essential needs of the world’s poor; and

The idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social

organisation on the environment’s ability to meet present and future needs”
(cf Science Age 1987: 30).

Let us understand the core issues addressed in the above definition. First is the
issue of economic growth. Economic growth is not only considered essential for
poverty reduction but also for meeting human needs and aspirations for a better
life. Second is the issue of limitations of the environment’s ability to meet the
needs of the present and future generations. Due to the pressures generated by
growing societal needs, societies are using modern technologies for extracting
and utilising limited natural resources. If we continue to exploit existing limited
natural resources, future generations will not meet their own needs. Thus, the
environment’s ability to meet present and future generations’ needs have certain
limits. This realisation is reflected in the definition.

b) Sustainable Development: Requirements

While elaborating on the concept, the report Our Common Future (1987) also
brings out the requirements of “sustainable development.” For a better
understanding, the crucial requirements of “sustainable development” can be
highlighted:

Sustainable development requires meeting the basic needs of all and extending
to all the opportunity to satisfy their aspirations for a better life, the promotion of
values that encourage consumption standards that are within the bounds of the
ecologically possible and to which all can reasonably aspire that societies meet
human needs both by increasing productive potential and by ensuring equitable
opportunities for all demographic developments are in harmony with the changing
112
productive potential of the ecosystem. At a minimum, development must not Environmental Perspective
endanger the natural systems that support life on Earth: the atmosphere, the waters,
the soils, and the living beings; the world must ensure equitable access to the
constrained resource and reorient technological efforts to relieve the pressure
that the rate of depletion of non-renewable resources should foreclose as few
future options as possible the conservation of plant and animal species that the
adverse impacts on the quality of air, water, and other natural elements are
minimized to sustain the ecosystem’s overall integrity” (cf Science Age 1987:
30-31)

It is also added that, in essence, sustainable development is a process of change

in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation
of technological development, and institutional change are all in harmony and
enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations”
(cf Science Age 1987: 31).

c) Sustainable Development: Policy Objectives

It also recommends that all nations bring about specific policy changes to move
towards sustainable development. It has been noted that the “critical objectives
for environment and development policies that follow from the concept of
sustainable development include: (i) reviving growth (ii) changing the quality of
growth (iii) meeting essential needs for jobs, food, energy, water, and sanitation
(iv) ensuring a sustainable level of the population (v) conserving and enhancing
the resource base (vi) reorienting technology and managing the risk; and (vii)
merging environment and economics in decision making” (Ibid: 32).

d) Sustainable Development: Suitable Strategy

The Strategy for sustainable development aims to promote harmony among human
beings and between humanity and nature. In the specific context of the
development and environment the pursuit of sustainable development requires:

i) A political system that secures effective citizen participation in decision

making,

ii) An economic system that can generate surpluses and technical knowledge
on a self-reliant and sustained basis,

iii) A social system that provides for solutions to the tensions arising from
disharmonious development,

iv) A production system that respects the obligation to preserve the ecological
base for development,

v) A technological system that can search continuously for new solutions,

vi) An international system that fosters sustainable patterns of trade and finance,
and (vii) an administrative system that is flexible and has the capacity for
self-correction. These requirements are more like goals that should underlie
national and international action on development” (Ibid: 38).
Let us now discuss the critique of the concept of sustainable development.

113
Theorising Development 8.4.2.3Criticisms of the Concept of Sustainable Development
The concept of sustainable development, as defined by the Brundtland
Commission, has been critically scrutiny by many scholars. The criticisms are:

a) Sustainable Development: Logical Contradiction and Semantic

Ambivalence
Scholars like Ramesh Deewan take an extreme stand and express that the
concept of sustainable development represents a contradiction in the term
itself. He remarks that development and sustainability are incompatible
with each other; they are contradictory as well. In other words, sustainability
is not development (cfDhanagare 1996: 10). Such a view implies that the
term development used in any sense — say economic growth or growth
with equity or improvement in the quality of life or modernisation —
inevitably leads to an increase in the level of consumption and also to the
exploitation of natural resources.

b) Definition of Sustainable Development: Vague and Ambiguous

The observations of William F. Fisher show persons with different
viewpoints, holding different philosophical positions, having different goals
in mind, and advocating different means to achieve desired ends use the
same moral vocabulary of social justice and the same economic rhetoric of
sustainable development. Not only does the term sustainable development
mean different things to different persons or groups, but its meaning also
differs for one set of nations from that of the other. As Sevilla-Guzman
Edurado and Graham Woodgate (1997: 86) have brought out differentiation
between the meaning of sustainable development as it applies to industrial
nations and its implications for countries whose economies are relatively
less industrialized. For the latter, first, it means the realization of the potential
for economic growth; second, it promotes generalized increases in levels
of consumption. For highly industrialized nations, sustainable development
allows for the continued realization of a nation’s growth potential, so long
as it is not achieved at the expense of others. Such growth will continue to
be industrial as, according to the World Commission on Environment and
Development (1987), industrial production is of “fundamental importance
to the economies of the modern societies and an indispensable motor of
growth’s to justify whatever one does and, by implication, criticize those
with differing goals, strategies, and opinions (1997: 9).

c) Critique related to the operational substance

Anil Agrawal asks about the doubts related to the operational substance of
the definition (1992: 50-51).Who will ensure the rights of future generations
when, given the highly divided world we live in, a large proportion of even
the present generation cannot meet all its needs? Given such a social and
political context, the definitions also fail to say whose future generations’
needs are being sought to be protected and preserved. Are we talking only
of the future generations of the rich or also of the poor?

Again, C. R. (2002: 10) Reddy comments that “while an entire UN machinery

has been created around ‘sustainable development,’ the world is still waiting
for an operational meaning of what is an intuitively appealing but yet fuzzy
114 concept.”
d) Critique Relating to “Politics of Sustainable Development Environmental Perspective

K. R. Nayar (1994: 1327) looks at the concept of “sustainable development”

as a political instrument. He argues that, “the concept of sustainable
development has emerged from those countries which themselves practice
unsustainable resources” (Ibid: 1327). He further adds that “the politics of
‘sustainable development’ is that at present it is anti-south, anti-poor, and
thereby anti-ecological” (Ibid: 1328-29).

He also comments that “the need” regarding sustainable development is

affluence rather than fundamental, or opulence rather than squalor. Because,
when basic needs become an integral component of a developmental model,
the question of unsustainability does not arise”. He further adds, “the cyclical
relationship between poverty and environmental degradation has
conceptualised in simplistic terms.” The assumption is that,as poverty
increases, natural environments have degraded, and when environments
degrade, the prospects for further livelihood decrease, environmental
degradation generates more poverty, thus accelerating the cycle. While the
fundamental factors which generate poverty are kept outside this framework,
it also does not consider the role of uneven development, which degrades
the ‘natural’ capital, and the issue of the artificially inflated impact of the
poor on an already lower quality of ‘natural capital’ set in motion by factors
other than poverty” (Ibid: 1327-28).
Check Your Progress 3
1) What is sustainable development?
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8.5 LET US SUM UP

In this unit, we discussed the meaning of environment and relationship between
environment and development. We analyzed the environmental perspective in
terms of classical perspective and sustainable development perspectives. In this
sections we also discussed meaning, requirements, policy objectives, strategy
and the criticism of sustainable development.

8.6 KEY WORDS

Biotic - The world of the living organism. e.g., plants and animals.
Abiotic - The world of non- living elements. e.g.,land.

8.7 FURTHER READING

Schnaiberg, A. (1980). The Environment: From Surplus to Scarcity. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Catton Jr, W. R., & Dunlap, R. E. (1978). Environmental sociology: A new
paradigm. The american sociologist, 41-49. 115
Theorising Development
8.8 SPECIMEN ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR
PROGRESS
Check your progress 1
1) The French world “Environer/Environer,” meaning”neighborhood”. In other
words, places, people, things, and nature surrounding any living organism
is called the environment.
Check Your Progress 2
1) Agenda 21 declaration signed by world leaders at the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992 in Rio
de Janeiro and Brazil. It aims at achieving global sustainable development
and an agenda to combat environmental damage, poverty, disease through
global co-operation on shared interests, mutual needs, and shared
responsibilities.
Check Your Progress 3
1) Sustainable development means development should take place without
damaging the environment, and development in the present should not
comprise the needs of the future generation.

REFERENCES
Buttel, F. H. (1987). New directions in environmental sociology. Annual review
of sociology, 13(1), 465-488.

Buttel, F. H. (1997). Social institutions and environmental change. The

international handbook of environmental sociology, 2.

Catton Jr, W. R., & Dunlap, R. E. (1980). A new ecological paradigm for post-
exuberant sociology. American behavioral scientist, 24(1), 15-47.

Dunlap, R. E., & Catton, W. R. (1994). Struggling with human exemptionalism:

The rise, decline and revitalization of environmental sociology. The American
Sociologist, 25(1), 5-30.

Schnaiberg, A. (1975). Social syntheses of the societal-environmental dialectic:

The role of distributional impacts. Social science quarterly, 5-20.

Agarwal, Anil, 1992. “What is Sustainable Development,” Down to Earth, June

15th: 50-51 Fisher W.F. 1997. “Development and Resistance in the Narmada
Valley.” In Fisher W.F.(ed) Toward Stainable Development – Struggling Over
India’s Narmada River. Rawat Publications: New Delhi

Salunkhe, S.A. 2003. “The Concept of Sustainable Development: Root,

Connotations and Critical Evaluation,” Social Change Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 67-80

116
 Environmental Perspective
UNIT 9 FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE*
Structure
9.0 Objectives
9.1 Introduction
9.2 The 1970s: Rise of the WID and the WAD approaches
9.3 The 1980s: GAD approach and Moser’s Model
9.4 Neoliberalism and Post-Colonial Feminism
9.5 Ecofeminism: A Feminist Critique of Development
9.6 Economic Feminists: Absence of ‘Care’ in the idea of Development
9.7 Measuring Women’s Place in Development
9.7.1 Human Development Index
9.7.2 Gender-related Human Development Index
9.7.3 Gender Empowerment Measure
9.8 Approaches to Integrate Women in Development
9.8.1 Welfare Approach
9.8.2 Equity Approach
9.8.3 Anti-Poverty Approach
9.8.4 Efciency Approach
9.8.5 Empowerment Approach
9.9 Let Us Sum Up
9.10 Further Reading
9.11 Specimen Answers to Check your Progress

9.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit, you should be able to:
Understand the evolving interaction of women with the discourse of
Development;
Give an account of various Feminists and their work in particular context
of Development;
Detail various international approaches placing women in the idea of
Development; and
Discuss the global indexes for measuring women’s development;
Explain the Feminist critique of the policies of Development.

9.1 INTRODUCTION
In this unit 9, we will discuss the feminist perspectives of development. World
Development Report, 2012 denes gender equality as a core objective of
development. It states that, “just as development means less income poverty or
better access to justice, it should also mean fewer gaps in well-being between
males and females”. Women are, thus integral to sustainable development. Yet,
the reality remains different. Globally, even though, the progress of women in

* Written by Geetanjali Atri, Research Scholar, CSSS, JNU, New Delhi 117
Theorising Development the fields of education, health, rights and employment has improved; the rate of
this progress has not been spread equally. The changes have not affected all the
women alike. Women in the under-developed countries remain on the lower end
of the development spectrum as compared to their counterparts in the first world
countries.
As late as 1950s and 60s, the issues related to women were addressed only as a
part of general human rights. Thus, not much exclusive attention could be paid
to their comprehensive development. On one hand, the contribution of the women
in the economic process was not acknowledged; and on the other, they still lacked
political and social powers. However, by the 1970s things changed on the
international scene. It was recognised that policies of development had an adverse
effect on women. Thanks to the efforts of the feminist activists and thinkers in
several fields. This recognition came during the ‘second wave’ of feminism.
Various feminists addressed the issue of development through an integrative
approach through the lens of economics, ecology, productive model, patriarchy
and colonialism.

9.2 THE 1970S: RISE OF THE WID AND THE

WAD APPROACHES
The intersection of gender and development was first addressed by a Danish
feminist Ester Boserup in her book, Woman’s role in Economic Development, in
1970. Based on her empirical research in Africa, she critiqued post-1945 western
development model as being exclusionary towards women. In the development
model observed by her, women were included only as passive beneficiaries; as
housewives or as mothers. The model favoured men as the breadwinners of a
family; and totally discounted women’s contribution in agriculture and food
production. Such observations made by Boserup and her contemporaries were
recognised by the United Nations.

United Nations organised a World Conference on Women in Mexico in 1975;

and declared the next decade as the ‘Decade of Women’. This was aimed at
reversing the exclusion of women in the development discourse and make their
productive and reproductive works a part of the national economies. This led to
the genesis of the ‘Women in Development’ (WID) approach. This was an
approach adopted by various players in the development arena, like the NGOs,
policy makers, etc. to elevate the status of women from passive beneficiaries to
programme beneficiaries; and help them access funds earmarked for development.
This approach played upon women’s socialisation

Activity 1
Explore through books, journals and online sources to make a list of World
Conferences on Women, organised by the United Nations, since 1975. Also
try to make list of the major objectives and outcomes of these conferences.
If possible, discuss and compare your list with the fellow students at your
study centre as care-givers and nurturers; and placed it at the rationale of
arguing that women can thus, be good administrators and better resource
managers.

In WID the focus remained exclusively on developing strategies of integrating

118 women into development. The exclusivity of its approach restrained WID to
look at the changes required in the larger socio-economic structure in which it Feminist Perspective
was seeking for the integration of women. This along with its incompetence to
address other cultural and legal factors that led to the unequal status of women in
mainstream development, became the biggest shortcoming of the WID approach.

This limitation in the WID approach led to the rise of another approach by the
latter half of the 1970s, known as the ‘Women and Development’ (WAD) approach
of gender and development. This followed a Marxist feminist approach. Insisting
upon the significance of women’s labour inside and outside of a household, this
approach argued that women have always been important economic actors.
Furthermore, according to this approach the actual problem does not lie within
the economic structures of the society rather in its class segregation and wealth
distribution processes. In order to challenge the inequalities of these structures,
it was important to recognise the productive and reproductive contributions of
women in the development. However, even this approach fell short of addressing
the social relations between men and women and their impact on development.
Check Your Progress 1
i) Name the feminist and her work who first addressed ‘Development’ from
women’s perspective.
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ii) When and where was the first World Conference on Women was organised
and by whom?
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iii) What were the main aims and outcomes of this conference?
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Theorising Development iv) What was the Women in Development approach and what were its
shortcomings?
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.......................................................................................................................
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v) What was the Women and Development approach and what were its
limitations?
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9.3 THE 1980S: GAD APPROACH AND MOSER’S

MODEL
The 1980s were marked by the rise of third wave of feminism. Women in the
Latin American and other developing nations still did not enjoy full citizenship
and were not considered as significant socio-economic subjects. There still existed
a gap between the salaried labour of men and unrecognised productive and
reproductive labour of women. The recognition of this gap led to emergence of
another approach to perceive women in development, called the ‘Gender and
Development’ (GAD) approach. This was influenced by Socialist feminist
thought. It did not remain exclusive in its focus on women and looked at the
impact of development on both women and men. It sought to ensure that both
had equal participation in the development policies and also benefitted from
them equally. This approach, unlike the WID and the WAD approaches recognised
the participation of women in the development; but to no benefit of the women
as the gendered-distribution of roles and responsibilities remained ultimately
detrimental to their well-being.

This approach, therefore, associated development with the change in the social
or gender relations prevalent in the society. The oppression of women in the
private spheres or families also figured prominently in this approach, as it focused
on developing programs to address violence against women. It also sought to
develop projects to address the division of labour between men and women; and
issues concerning access and control of resources between them. The rationale
behind this remains - the way these roles are analysed and weighed also affect
what becomes a priority within a development project. For instance: even though
the provision for child care remains a significant measure to extend the benefit
of the development project to women; it may not figure out significantly in a
project designed by the male planners.
120
In emphasising the productive and the reproductive roles of women, the GAD Feminist Perspective
approach favoured that the state should take the responsibility for supporting the
social reproduction role played by women in the form of bearing, caring and
nurturing the children. Such a focus on the social well-being of women as a part
of the development discourse, was a shift from the earlier two approaches, which
were purely economic in their attention to the interaction between gender and
development. By acknowledging the role of state in ensuring equitable
development to both men and women, this approach also accepted the dynamic
nature of development, in all its complexity, influenced by the political as well
as social factors.

At another level, in order to strengthen women’s legal rights, the GAD approach
advocated for the need of women to organize themselves into a more effective
political voice. This was in congruence with the change in the development theory
in the 1980s, when with the emergence of globalisation and liberalization, the
discourse shifted from the extension of basic needs to the establishment of strategic
needs as the central focus of development. This formed the basis of a differentiated
gender planning model for development programmes developed by another
feminist Caroline Moser. In her acclaimed paper, titled ‘Gender Planning in the
Third World: Meeting Practical and Strategic Gender needs’, she differentiated
between practical and strategic needs of women. While practical needs meant
women’s access to basic needs like food, shelter, etc.; strategic needs questioned
their subordination within the gender system of the society. This included needs
like equal pay for equal work, control over their sexuality, reproductive rights,
protection from gender-based violence. Moser’s model became internationally
recognized by the focal agencies like the United Nations and the World Bank. It
still remains an integral part of the hegemonic canon for development planning

Activity 2
Speak to at least 10 women in your family and neighbourhood and make a
list of their basic and strategic needs on the basis of Moser’s model and
make presentation on your observations and findings in your study centre in
front of other students.
Check Your Progress 2
i) Explain the Gender and Development approach.
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

ii) What was Moser’s model of needs of women?

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121
Theorising Development
9.4 NEOLIBERALISM AND POST-COLONIAL
FEMINISM
Under neoliberalism, women finally became visible as subjects in development,
but recognition within social policies still evaded them. In the labour market,
women suffered unequal conditions and wage discrimination. And at the home
fronts, feeding the family, which was traditionally women’s job, became an
increasingly difficult. This indicated towards newer forms of patriarchal
discrimination against women in both public and private spheres, despite their
inclusion in the development policies. This led to the vicious cycle of poverty of
women and feminisation of poverty. As a result, at the second World Conference
on Women in Nairobi in 1985, a women network called the Development
Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) rejected the narrow definition
of development as economic growth. Instead, it argued that crisis in the living
standards of women were led consumerism and indebtedness.

DAWN redefined development as, “the socially responsible management and

use of resources, the elimination of gender subordination and social inequality
and the organisational restructuring that can bring these about”. It insisted that
economic development should be seen as a tool for achieving a comprehensive
human development and not vice-versa. The post-colonialist feminists, therefore,
critiqued development policies as a continuing form of colonialism. For instance:
Indian feminist Chandra Talpade Mohanty in her 1997 work, ‘Feminist
Genealogies, Colonial Legacies, Democratic Futures’ argues that homogenising
‘women’ into a singular category reduces women into their gender category,
ignoring other factors crucial to their identity like class and ethnicity, etc.
Ethnocentric universalist feminism takes the Western standards as the reference
points to look at the cultural structures of South like its family systems, legal and
economic apparatuses. Thus, it appears ‘under-developed’ or ‘developing’. The
answer to this, according to Mohanty is transcultural feminism, which is based
on feminist solidarity, which is neither colonialist nor racist. Similarly, Gayatri
Spivak, a post-colonial feminist, in her ‘A Critiques of Post-Colonial Reason’
(1995) defines development as a neo-colonial successor of the civilising mission
of imperialism.
Check Your Progress 3
i) What is the definition of Development, according to DAWN?
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122
ii) Give an account of critique of Development made by feminist Chandra Feminist Perspective
Talpade Mohanty.
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9.5 ECOFEMINISM: A FEMINIST CRITIQUE OF

DEVELOPMENT
In the various feminist movements, another strand that views the relationship
between women and development as dissatisfactory is that of Ecofeminism.
According to this school of thought, the history of human civilisation has many
cultural and symbolic parallels between exploitation or oppression of women
and nature. Ecofeminism emerged in 1970s as a counter-culture to the patriarchal
argument that the dichotomy between women and men often corresponds to the
distinction between emotion and reason, nature and civilisation, and even tradition
and modernity. In this kind of a comparison, the ecofeminist disapproved of the
first half of the combinations. In other words, it condemned the degrading
association between women and nature, which they called as patriarchal. Not
just patriarchy, this movement also critiqued the communist parties, who despite
being anti-patriarchal did not raise this comparison as a concern.

The feminist critique of development emerges in the debate between the two
distinct strands within ecofeminism, i.e. essentialism and its rejection. The
proponents of essentialism argue that owing to their feminine essence, women
are closer to nature than men. For the conservation of nature, according to
essentialism, women emerge as a ray of hope. Reason is simple - Because of
their maternal instincts women are more likely to possess an ethic of care and
protect living beings. But then another set of ecofeminists like Maria Mies, Bina
Agarwal and Vandana Shiva among others reject essentialism. They agree that
women do have greater compatibility with nature but the reason lies not in the
nature itself but in the ways gender is constructed socially and historically in a
given culture. According to them at the heart of the gendered environmental
awareness lies the division of labour and social role construction. For example:
Women in most of the societies have been traditionally doing household chores
including collection of firewood, water, tending animals, orchards. This exposes
them to nature more than men, leading to their gradual proximity to nature.

Like their post-colonial counterparts, the anti-essentialists also view development

as a Western colonisation strategy, with its roots in domination over women and
nature. Vandana Shiva argues that in the last five decades of the twentieth century
have been marked by what she calls as ‘badly directed development’. In this, she
believes that in the name of development, unsustainable Western industrial
paradigm has been exported to the South. In a kind of ‘environmental apartheid’,
Western multinational companies, backed by the governments of economically
dominant nations, try to conserve the economic development of the North by
exporting the environmental costs to the Third World. This is an extension of a 123
Theorising Development broader understanding of German ecofeminist, Maria Mies.

Mies contends that after subjugation of nature and colonisation of states, women’s
bodies have become a ‘third colony’ for the imperial powers. She looks at
alternatives to development. The alternatives that may have an appeal to women’s
environmental awareness. According to her alternative model of development,
reproductive activities would not only be shared by women and men; but would
also include other stakeholders like nature, which were excluded in the
development discourse. She further suggests overcoming the antagonism between
nature and labour; and prioritising local and regional economies over global
markets to recover the place of women in the discourse of development.
Check your progress 4
i) What is the debate within ecofeminism, from which the critique of
development is derived?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

ii) What is the alternative of Development, suggested by Maria Mies?

.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

9.6 ECONOMIC FEMINISTS: ABSENCE OF

‘CARE’ IN THE IDEA OF DEVELOPMENT

124 Fig. 9.1: From the Women’s Liberation march, Sydney, 1972.
Like Maria Mies, the feminist economists also begin with an assumption that the Feminist Perspective
unpaid work in the homes generates economic value. Instead of supporting the
general hypothesis that the markets work neutrally towards creating well-being
for all men and women, alike; the feminist economists ask what values are being
created in economics and for whom. Also, they take a leap from the market
centred economics and argue that it is not only in the markets that economic
activities take place; it may occur in private spheres or households, too. Thus,
they aim at doing two things - Firstly, make the economic value of the household
work visible at the national economic level. And secondly, raise awareness about
the over-exploitation of women who begin to work in the paid economic sectors,
while still being active labour at the household front. Their aim, is thus, to build
equality in the distribution of labour in the private domain.

This has a direct bearing upon the concept of development. It exposes the failure
of both the macro-policies and the micro economics in addressing the concerns
of women and her labour. Owing to the economic reductionism of the discourse
of development, it has completely excluded the economics of care, which always
came in the hands of women and included care practices of nurturing children
and supporting elderly as important human needs for leading a dignified life.
Feminist Economist Ulrike Knobloch in her ‘Ethics of Feminist Economics’,
therefore proposes an alternative ethics for economics which goes further than
the criterion of efficiency in the terms of labour and questions the sense in which
each economic activity is shaped; in order to question the fundamental objective
of development. According to her, development economics is a means to a higher
end; it is a philosophical question beyond purely economic sciences.

Based on this proposition, the economics of care demands a public policy, in

opposition to the privatisation of care. It implies that the state must make
comprehensive system with multiple providers in order to correspond to the
society’s need for care. It not only suggests that political strategies should have
work of care at their nucleus; but also that community action should be fostered
in this direction. Going by the development as a philosophical concept, it further
demands that time-use be made more democratic, so that women also get to
enjoy more leisure.
Check Your Progress 5
i) What is the general assumption with which economic feminists look at
development?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

125
Theorising Development ii) What are the two aims of economic feminists behind bringing women within
the purview of development?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

9.7 MEASURING WOMEN’S PLACE IN

DEVELOPMENT
Until 1990s, Gross National Product (GNP), Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in
addition to the per capita income were used to measure progress of any nation.
These taken together reflected the performance of economy, along with income
distribution within the economies. But, these figures did not translate in
understanding the actual well-being of the people living in these economies. It
meant nothing in understanding the access of health facilities, education,
provisions of cleanliness and hygiene to the people constituting these economies.
Thus, was felt a need for newer measures, leading to the development of Human
Development Index (HDI), Gender-related Human Development Index (GDI)
and Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM).

9.7.1 Human Development Index:

It was developed by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), to focus
on three significant indicators of development - Health (by measuring life
expectancy of the people), Knowledge (by measuring levels of literacy), and
Wealth (by relating the Gross Domestic Product of a given economy with the
purchasing power of its people). The combination of these three indicators is
used to compare poverty, deprivation and development in different parts of the
World. According to the 2019 Human Development Report, Norway has the
highest HDI in the world, followed by Switzerland and Ireland, respectively.
India figures at the 129th rank in the list of countries in the descending order of
their HDI. Look at the table below for a comparative perspective on HDI.

9.7.2 Gender-related Human Development Index:

UNDP introduced GDI in its Human Development Report of the year 1995. It is
used to address the gender gaps in the three key indicators mentioned above of
the Human Development Index. The differences between women and men in
relation to the different dimensions of human poverty are also measured. In us-
ing these measures the UNDP attempts to adjust the human development index
for gender inequality.The GDI is on a scale of 0.000-1.000 with 0.000 being the
lowest GDP while 1.000 being the highest.The country with the highest GDI is
Sweden which has a GDI of 0.997. The next countries are Norway and the United
States that have a GDI of 0.993. Other countries that have exhibited high GDP’s
include Australia (0.978), Switzerland (0.974), Germany (0.964), Denmark (0.97),
Singapore (0.985), and Netherlands (0.946). Sweden is the world’s gender equality
126
role model. Currently, 12 out of the 24 government ministers are women. Fur- Feminist Perspective
thermore, almost half of the representatives in the Swedish parliament are made
up of women.

Activity 3.
Make a list of countries according to their Human Development Index and
Gender-related Human Development Index. Try to explore through books,
journals, newspapers, and online sources the reasons for the high fairing of
the top three countries in both the lists. Make a presentation in front of your
fellow students at the study centre.

9.7.3 Gender Empowerment Measure

Unlike GDI, which is an indicator of gender inequality in the key indicators of
HDI, GEM measures gender inequality in the key areas of economic and political
decision-making and participation. This too was developed by UNDP along side
GDI in 1995. GEM range is also from .000 (lowest) to 1.000 (highest). Norway
fairs highest in the global GEM ranking, followed by Sweden and Denmark,
respectively.
Check Your Progress 6
i) What are the three global indexes for measuring women’s place in
development?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

ii) What are the three significant indicators of human development, according
to HDI?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

iii) What are the key areas of gender inequality addressed by GEM?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................... 127
Theorising Development
9.8 APPROACHES TO INTEGRATE WOMEN IN
DEVELOPMENT
Over the years, several approaches have been developed by feminists across
different streams of thoughts and disciplines in order to address the development
challenges concerning women. These are developed with an objective to better
understand the measures required for bringing women to the core of development
policies. These approaches have evolved and adopted in accordance to the
prevailing socio-political and economic conditions.

9.8.1 Welfare Approach:

The development programs, until the 1970s, addressed the needs of women
exclusively from the perspective of their reproductive roles. Consequently, all
that got any attention in development policies remained mother and child health,
child care and nutrition. Later, with the growing acceptance of the link between
population growth and poverty, family planning or population control also started
figuring prominently in such policies. The assumption was that broad economic
strategies oriented towards growth and modernisation would trickle down
gradually to the poor and poor women too would benefit.

But the assumption that with the overall improvement in the economy or by the
enhancement of their husband’s economic conditions, the conditions of women
would improve indirectly was challenged by the feminist proponents of this
approach, as they observed that women still remained on the losing side. As a
result, women were associated more with the traditional and backward, while
their male counterparts were marching towards the modern and the progressive.
Economic development and welfare projects were taken to assist men in their
modernisation project, like the introduction of new agricultural technologies and
crash crops, in which women remained excluded.

9.8.2 Equity Approach

This approach was introduced the feminists calling for gender equality and
elimination of discrimination against women. They emphasised the development
policy makers to revisit the ratio between women’s contribution to the activities
of development, on one hand and the share from their benefit from such activities,
on the other. This approach further brought under the responsibility of the
government, the reproductive roles of women. All this meant that that feminist
proponents of this approach had faith in government policies and legal measures
as a credible means of bringing about equity. In contrast to the welfare approach,
the equity approach, therefore saw a shift in the positioning of women, i.e. from
being passive recipients of development policies to being active participants in
organising necessary changes.

9.8.3 Anti-Poverty Approach

With a tendency to reinforce the basic needs of the women, this approach
advocated for the integration of productive and reproductive roles of women
with their access to income generation and waged employment. Their demand
focused on developing an operational strategy for bringing about this integration.

128
9.8.4 Efficiency Approach Feminist Perspective

This approach developed in the 1980s as a response to the economic reforms

made under the Structural Adjustment Programmes of the International Monetary
Fund and the World Bank. These reforms aimed at increasing production and
economic growth by making a full utilisation of the human resources. Thus,
education and training became the key strategies to achieve the reforms. The
proponents of this approach made a case for gender analysis of the targeted human
resource. The rationale was - understanding women’s and men’s roles and
responsibilities, while planning the strategies for development can improve
effectiveness; as well as helps to ensure that both women and men play their
respective character in national development.

This approach did succeed in bringing about the concerns of women and gender
into the mainstream of development. However, the focus remained on what
women could do for the development and not vice-versa, i.e. what development
could do for women. Thus, women remained on the receiving side of the fallouts
of the economic reforms. They were burdened by limiting of the total spending
in the areas important to them, like health and education. They, therefore had to
spend most of their time in caring for the ill.

9.8.5 Empowerment Approach

This approach is closely associated with the Third World feminists. This approach
is aimed at increasing the virtue of self-reliance in women; and to influence
change at societal, legislative, policy, legal, economic and other levels to the
advantage of women. Its main objective is to make women graduate to position
of decision makers. The basic strategy, therefore remains, awareness-generation
and building organisational skills and self-esteem in women.
Check Your Progress 7
i) Name five different approaches of integrating women in development.
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

ii) What was the main emphasis in the Equity Approach?

.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
129
Theorising Development iii) Describe the main objective of the Anti-Poverty Approach.
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

iv) What was the rationale adopted by the advocates of the Efficiency approach?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

v) What were the main aims targeted under the Empowerment approach?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

9.9 LET US SUM UP

Women have always been visible or invisible contributors in the socio-economic
as well as political development of the society; still, development policies,
legislations and strategies have always ignored women as direct beneficiaries.
The fact that has invited feminist attention and critique from across various
spectrums of the movement. The feminists, on the other hand, have suggested
various alternative models of development in order to bring women to the heart
of development policies. Beginning from 1970s, feminists have worked on the
intersection of women and development and owing to their efforts, the interaction
between the two variables has seen brighter side. However, still a lot needs to be
done in order to extend the benefit of development policies to women across the
world equitably; irrespective of their socio-geographical locations.

9.10 FURTHER READING

Boserup, Esther. (1970). Women’s role in Economic Development. London:
Routledge

Knobloch, Ulrike. (2010). Ethics of Feminist Economics. London: Oxford

University Press
130
Mohanty, Chandra Talpade and M. Jacqui Alexander. (eds.) (1997). Feminist Feminist Perspective
Genealogies, Colonial Legacies, Democratic Futures, London and New York:
Routledge

Moser, Caroline O.N. (1989). Gender Planning in the Third World: Meeting
Practical and Strategic gender needs. World Development. 17(11). pp. 1799-
1825

9.11 SPECIMEN ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR

PROGRESS
Check Your Progress 1
v) Danish feminist Ester Boserup in her book, Woman’s role in Economic
Development, in 1970

vi) United Nations organised a World Conference on Women in Mexico in

1975

vii) This was aimed at reversing the exclusion of women in the development
discourse and make their productive and reproductive works a part of the
national economies. This led to the genesis of the ‘Women in Development’
(WID) approach.

viii) WID was an approach adopted by various players in the development arena,
like the NGOs, policy makers, etc. to elevate the status of women from
passive beneficiaries to programme beneficiaries; and help them access
funds earmarked for development. This approach played upon women’s
socialisation as care-givers and nurturers; and placed it at the rationale of
arguing that women can thus, be good administrators and better resource
managers.
ix) The WAD approach of gender and development followed a Marxist feminist
approach. Insisting upon the significance of women’s labour inside and
outside of a household, this approach argued that women have always been
important economic actors. According to this approach the actual problem
does not lie within the economic structures of the society rather in its class
segregation and wealth distribution processes. However, this approach fell
short of addressing the social relations between men and women and their
impact on development.
Check Your Progress 2
i) The ‘Gender and Development’ (GAD) approach influenced by socialist
feminist thoughtdid not remain exclusive in its focus on women and looked
at the impact of development on both women and men. It sought to ensure
that both had equal participation in the development policies and also
benefitted from them equally.
ii) Moser in her model differentiated between practical and strategic needs of
women. While practical needs meant women’s access to basic needs like
food, shelter, etc.; strategic needs questioned their subordination within the
gender system of the society. This included needs like equal pay for equal
work, control over their sexuality, reproductive rights, protection from
gender-based violence. 131
Theorising Development Check Your Progress 3
i) DAWN defined development as, “the socially responsible management and
use of resources, the elimination of gender subordination and social
inequality and the organisational restructuring that can bring these about”.

ii) Mohanty argues that homogenising ‘women’ into a singular category reduces
women into their gender category, ignoring other factors crucial to their
identity like class and ethnicity, etc. Ethnocentric universalist feminism
takes the Western standards as the reference points to look at the cultural
structures of South like its family systems, legal and economic apparatuses.
Thus, it appears ‘under-developed’ or ‘developing’. The answer to this,
according to Mohanty is transcultural feminism, which is based on feminist
solidarity, which is neither colonialist nor racist.
Check Your Progress 4
i) The feminist critique of development emerges in the debate between the
two distinct strands within ecofeminism, i.e. essentialism and its rejection.
The proponents of essentialism argue that owing to their feminine essence,
women are closer to nature than men. For the conservation of nature,
according to essentialism, women emerge as a ray of hope. Reason is simple
- Because of their maternal instincts women are more likely to possess an
ethic of care and protect living beings. But then another set of ecofeminists
like Maria Mies, Bina Agarwal and Vandana Shiva among others reject
essentialism. They agree that women do have greater compatibility with
nature but the reason lies not in the nature itself but in the ways gender is
constructed socially and historically in a given culture. According to them
at the heart of the gendered environmental awareness lies the division of
labour and social role construction.

ii) According to Mies’s alternative model of development, reproductive

activities would not only be shared by women and men; but would also
include other stakeholders like nature, which were excluded in the
development discourse. She further suggests overcoming the antagonism
between nature and labour; and prioritising local and regional economies
over global markets to recover the place of women in the discourse of
development.
Check Your Progress 5.
i) The feminist economists also begin with an assumption that the unpaid
work in the homes generates economic value. Instead of supporting the
general hypothesis that the markets work neutrally towards creating well-
being for all men and women, alike; the feminist economists ask what values
are being created in economics and for whom.

ii) They aim at doing two things - Firstly, make the economic value of the
household work visible at the national economic level. And secondly, raise
awareness about the over-exploitation of women who begin to work in the
paid economic sectors, while still being active labour at the household front.
Their aim, is thus, to build equality in the distribution of labour in the private
domain.

132
Check Your Progress 6 Feminist Perspective

i) Human Development Index, Gender-based Human Development Index and

Gender Empowerment Measure

ii) Health (by measuring life expectancy of the people), Knowledge (by
measuring levels of literacy), and Wealth (by relating the Gross Domestic
Product of a given economy with the purchasing power of its people)
iii) Economic and political decision-making and participation of women
Check Your Progress 7
i) Welfare Approach, Equity Approach, Anti-Poverty Approach, Efficiency
Approach and Empowerment Approach

ii) Equity approach emphasised the development policy makers to revisit the
ratio between women’s contribution to the activities of development, on
one hand and the share from their benefit from such activities, on the other.
This approach further brought under the responsibility of the government,
the reproductive roles of women.

iii) Anti-Poverty approach advocated for the integration of productive and

reproductive roles of women with their access to income generation and
waged employment. Their demand focused on developing an operational
strategy for bringing about this integration.

iv) The rationale was - understanding women’s and men’s roles and
responsibilities, while planning the strategies for development can improve
effectiveness; as well as helps to ensure that both women and men play
their respective character in national development.

v) Empowerment approach is aimed at increasing the virtue of self-reliance in

women; and to influence change at societal, legislative, policy, legal,
economic and other levels to the advantage of women.

REFERENCES
Boserup, Esther. (1970). Women’s role in Economic Development. London:
Routledge

Knobloch, Ulrike. (2010). Ethics of Feminist Economics. London: Oxford

University Press

Mohanty, Chandra Talpade and M. Jacqui Alexander. (eds.) (1997). Feminist

Genealogies, Colonial Legacies, Democratic Futures, London and New York:
Routledge

Moser, Caroline O.N. (1989). Gender Planning in the Third World: Meeting
Practical and Strategic gender needs. World Development. 17(11). pp. 1799-
1825

133
 BLOCK 3
DEVELOPMENTAL REGIMES IN INDIA
Developmental Regimes in
India

136
 Capitalism, Socialism and
UNIT 10 CAPITALISM, SOCIALISM AND Mixed Economy

MIXED ECONOMY*
Structure
10.0 Objectives
10.1 Introduction
10.2 The Nature and Meaning of Social Development
10.3 The Prevailing Notions of Social Development
10.3.1 The Three Worlds of Development
10.3.2 Approaches to Social Development
10.4 Indian Experience of Development after Independence
10.4.1 Socialist Path and Mixed Economy
10.4.2 Sectoral Development
10.4.3 Community Development and Cooperative Movement
10.4.4 Target Group Planning
10.5 Let Us Sum Up
10.6 Key Words
10.7 Further Readings
10.8 Specimen Answers to Check Your Progress

10.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit, you will be able to:
dene the concept of social development, and describe its nature;
describe the prevailing notions of social development; and
give an account of the Indian experience of development.

10.1 INTRODUCTION
In order to understand the concept of social development, which has been dened
and redened over the year? This unit deals rst with the broad nature and meaning
of the concept of development. We describe the current views on social
development, including a discussion on the ‘three worlds of development’ and
some recent approaches to social development. Finally, we look at the ‘mixed’
path of development, including that of India.

10.2 THE NATURE AND MEANING OF SOCIAL

DEVELOPMENT
Development is a broad concept and, though interrelated, it differs from social
change. Change is a value-neutral concept whereas development is a value-laden
concept. The notion of development is, in other words, the process of desired
change. All cases of change do not indicate development. Only planned and
desired changes can be described as development. Thus, it is important to keep
in mind the distinct character of the concept of development.
*Adapted by Prof. Rabindra Kumar, From ESO-11, Unit 33 and Unit 34. 137
Developmental Regimes in Secondly, we also need to distinguish between economic and sociological notions
India
of development. This point becomes clearer as you read this unit. While speaking
of social development, we emphasize the sociological understanding of the process
of development. As a broad concept, social development refers to the overall
transformation of individuals and society, which may enable every person to
achieve moral, social physical and material well-being. Egalitarian development
is a desired goal, but it remains only an ‘ideal’. In spite of development efforts,
disparities in various dimensions of development continue to widen between
societies, regions and groups. Variations are observed when we compare various
regions or countries.

Out of such comparisons have emerged the concepts of underdevelopment mainly

in economic terms, such as per capita income, gross national product, level of
the standard of living and degree of technological advancement. There are many
criteria of ‘over’ and ‘under’ development. The simplest one of them is the ratio
of industrial capacity to social utility. It means that the countries which are unable
to produce, sufficient goods to meet the requirements of their population, may
be considered as underdevelopment and those which produce more than what is
required, as overdeveloped. In the overdeveloped category may be placed the
countries such as America, and in the underdeveloped category, many Asian and
African countries.

It is, however, a controversial point whether underdevelopment and over

development can be identified with any particular country. Further the term
underdevelopment is not acceptable, to some of the economically less developed
countries, such as India. These countries consider themselves quite developed
from social and cultural points of view. They prefer to be designated as
‘developing’ rather than as ‘underdeveloped’ countries.

An important idea implicit in the classification of countries, into developed and

developing, is that the former became a ‘model’ for the latter. The developing
countries may like to imitate or adopt the economic and technological systems
of developed countries.

What is more important about this classification, with regard to the conceptual
meaning of development, is the fact that the developing countries depended upon
the developed ones for technology, skills and monetary aid. The latter tried to
exploit the former. This is known as the dependency theory of development.
Having realized the exploitative tendencies of the developed countries, the
developing countries tried to be self-reliant in economic terms. Thus, substitution
of economic dependence by self-reliance emerged as an important indicator of
development. The greater the self-reliance, the higher the levels of development.
Endeavours towards self-reliance resulted in import substitution by stopping the
purchase of goods from developed countries and producing them in their own
country.
Check Your Progress 1
1) Differentiate between change and development..
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
138
2) What is the dependency theory of development? Capitalism, Socialism and
Mixed Economy
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

10.3 THE PREVAILING NOTIONS OF SOCIAL

DEVELOPMENT
For a discussion of the contemporary sociological concerns about development,
we can begin by outlining some of the views based on historical events, on the
socio-cultural dimensions of development. But before we examine these dominant
concerns regarding development, it would be useful to undertake a brief
description of the “three worlds of development” as it had existed prior to the
break-up of the Soviet Union. This had become an important part of the social
scientists parlance since the middle of the 20th century. Earlier the world was
divided into two i.e. it was a bi­polar world with the capitalist block of United
States of America (USA), on the one side and the socialist block of the Soviet
Union, on the other. After the break-up of Soviet Union, the ‘Cold War ‘ has
ended and the world has become Unipolar, with USA as the most powerful nation
of the world.

10.3.1 The Three Worlds of Development

The First World consists of North America, Western and Southern Europe. The
countries were seen to be following mainly a capitalist model of development.
The Second World had consisted of Soviet Union and the East European group
such as, Poland, East Germany, Hungary etc. Many socio-political changes have
occurred in these countries now and they do not remain a communist bloc any
more. They were associated with the socialist model of development. The Third
World was and to certain extent still is generally used to refer to the less developed
or developing societies of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Most of these countries
emerged out of colonial rule to attain political independence only in the middle
of the 20th century. The majority of the third world countries are characterized
by low per capita income, high rates of illiteracy and infant mortality. These
were generally agriculture-based economies where people had short life
expectancies, low degree of social mobility and strong attachment to tradition
(Estes, R.J., p. 92). The countries, though subject to influence by the erstwhile
First and the Second World countries, have devised their own national strategy
and path of development. The First and the Second World’s models of
development had laid primary emphasis on economic growth.

i) The Capitalist Model of Development of the First World

The main characteristics of the capitalist model of development are:
a) provision for private ownership of property and means of production,
b) promotion of economic activities through private enterprises, and
139
Developmental Regimes in c) minimum possible state regulation and control on private enterprises.
India
Thus the capitalist model is characterized by a free economy regulated
by competition.
ii) The Socialist Model of Development of the Second World
The socialist path of development adopted by the Second World was seen to be
opposite or dichotomous to the capitalist path of development. The former,
contrary to the latter, is characterized by state ownership of property and means
of production, public enterprises and complete state regulation of economic
activities. Thus, the socialist model refers to a regulated economy.

The main allegation against the capitalist model is that, since it permits minimum
state regulation, its economic system becomes exploitative in the sense that the
working class people (proletariat) do not get their due share. The capitalists enjoy
a major share of the nation’s resources. Hence it contributes to inequalities so
that a few are very rich and the majority is very poor.

The capitalist model is, therefore, alleged to be exploitative and non-egalitarian.

On the contrary, the socialist model was ideally considered as non-exploitative
and egalitarian. Private ownership and the lack of state regulation, were considered
to be important measures of exploitation of the weaker sections and hence the
causes of income inequalities. Since, the socialist state did not allow private
ownership of property, there was a strong belief that there was no room for
exploitation and inequality in it. However, historical events proved this belief to
be incorrect as the Soviet Union could not survive for long. The period of
“Glasnost” and “perestroika” led by Gorbachev, the erstwhile Russian Prime
Minister during the 1980’s, dismantled the communist political and economic
structure. The Soviet Union broke-up into several small countries and the socialist
ideology gave way to capitalist tendencies. However, China still follows a
socialistic socio-political order.

The two models had also differed in their conception of development. Whereas
the capitalist model lays greater stress on economic growth, than on equal
distribution of the fruits of economic growth. The socialist model laid equal
stress on both resource generation and equal distribution of income, and tried to
change the social system in such a way that greater social justice could be ensured.
In reality, socialist model did not give much space to individual initiative and
consumeristic desires.

The foregoing discussion implies another difference between these models. The
capitalist model does not see any major conflict in the interests of the two classes-
workers and capitalists. In its eyes both the classes are complementary to each
other, they; are functionally interdependent. The rules of society, particularly
about ownership of property and distribution of income, are supposed to be based
on consensus. Hence according to this model, there is no need to change the
economic structure.

On the contrary, the socialist model saw inherent conflict in the interests of the
workers and the capitalists. According to it, rules are not based on consensus but
are imposed on the weaker section by the stronger one. This leads to the
exploitation of the weak by the strong, which is likely to result in conflicts, and
in revolution by the exploited people who want radical change in the system
140 itself.
Thus, the capitalist model is sometimes designated as functionalist or consensual, Capitalism, Socialism and
Mixed Economy
and the socialist as a conflict, radical or revolutionary model. In practice, as
observed by some researchers, these two models have entered a process of
convergence. For instance now, there is an increased state regulation on private
economic enterprises in the USA. There has been a relaxation in grants to private
enterprises in Russia. One could see income inequalities, and a tendency to resist
alterations in political and economic systems in both the Worlds.

Box 10.1

The concept of a “third world” is of European origin. It can be traced back to

France in the 1940s as a description of the political parties distinct from both
de Gaulle’s Rassemblement des Peuple Francais and the Fourth Republic
(Saffire 1978). Another author, Clegem (1978) has compared the idea of the
‘third world’ with the ‘Third Estate”, the rising but under-represented
bourgeoisie during the French Revolution of 1789. Wolf-Phillips (1979) credit
the French demographer, Alfred Sawy with coinimg the term in 1962.

However, the credit for “the worlds of development” belongs to sociologist Louis
Irwing Horowitz. In his book, Three Worlds of Development: The Theory and
Practice of International Stratification (1972), Horowitz used a variety of criteria
to distinguish between groups of countries that share more or less similar patterns
of socio-economic development.(Bring it in above box)

In recent times there has developed a new concept of “fourth world” of

development as identified first by Manuel and Posluns (1974) and Hamalian and
Karl (1974: 13). They used this concept to describe “a community of the
powerless, the oppressed and the dispossed”. According to them all the other
“worlds of development” i.e. the First, the Second and the Third, share the people
who belong to the Fourth world of development. In current usage, the countries
which belong to the First world are referred to as “developed Market Economies”
(DMEs); those belonging to the Second World are referred to as the “Eastern
Trading Area (ETAs); and those belonging to the Third World are referred to as
the “Developing Countries”. The countries of the Fourth World are referred to as
“least Developing Countries” (LDCs). (Quoted in Estes, Richard J.’s” World’s
of Development, www. google.com website).

iii) Development of the Third World

It is difficult to specify the model of development, adopted by the majority of
the. Third World countries as there are variations among them, dictated mainly
by their historical and socio-cultural circumstances. What they seem to share in
common is that:
a) They are economically and technologically underdeveloped in comparison
to the countries of the so called developed world.
b) Social planning is a key element in their development process. Their plans
of development incorporate not only economic concerns, especially removal
of poverty, but also concerns regarding nation building, national culture
and social transformation.
c) They have been seeking technological and economic aid from the developed
countries. The developed countries have given them economic assistance,
but they have also been increasingly attempting to extend their political 141
Developmental Regimes in influence in the developing countries. It has been noted that the global
India
military defence strategy is, the major consideration of the developed
countries, in extending their economic and political influence to the
developing countries.

In fact, the idea of the Third World is associated with the emergence of
consciousness among developing countries, of being exploited by the developed
countries in the garb of monetary help and expert advice. Some nations had
become conscious of exploitation much earlier, but others, understood this fact
only after seeing the disastrous role of big powers in the developing countries,
e.g., the role of the USA in Vietnam or the USSR in Afghanistan. The social
analysts have played a very significant role both in appreciating the help, as well
as analysing the “games” of the big powers in the developing countries.

Against this background of information about the First, the Second and the Third
Worlds we will now proceed to look at some of the prevailing conceptions about
development across the world.

Activity 1
Interview at least five people of your Grandfather’s generation and ask them
about their memories of the First & the Second World Wars. What were the
impact of these wars on Indian people. Write a one page note on the ‘‘Impact
of First and Second World War on Indian Society’’. Compare your note with
the note of other students at your Study Centre.
Check Your Progress 2
1) Name two countries, which follow the capitalist model of development
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

2) Fill in the blanks:

a) The First World was characterised mainly by a …………….. model of

development.

b) The Second World countries had adopted a …………………………

model of development.

3) List out some countries which were generally identified as the Third World
countries.
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
142
4) What are the three common characteristics that the Third World or the Capitalism, Socialism and
Mixed Economy
developing countries seem to share?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

Now let us discuss the approaches to social development.

10.3.2 Approaches to Social Development

Approaches to development may be discerned on the basis of two criteria, (i)
centralisation versus decentralisation of development schemes and resources,
and (ii) unit of development, i.e., the focus of development – individual, group,
village etc. The first criterion given rise to two approaches, namely, development
from the top and development from the bottom. The second criterion gives rise
to the three approaches -–sectoral development, areas development and target
group development. Let us now review briefly the five approaches.

i) Development from the top

The approach of development from the top envisages the planning and
execution, of development schemes by the central or apex bodies of
administration. In other words, the central organisations decide the nature
and direction of plan, formulate projects and impose them on the people.
For instance, the ministers and high officials sitting in the capital, make the
development plans for rural people without fully realising their problems.

Implicit in this approach is the assumption that the people who need
development are incapable of understanding their needs, of devising
development schemes and of executing them on their own. Hence the need
for experts and outside agencies. in fact, this assumption is baseless. The
elite at the top have a vested interest in making such assumptions. Their
major interest is to hold control on resources and mobilise them for their
own benefits. The people accept the development schemes, because they
have neither sufficient resources of their own, nor any control on the
resources of the community. As a result, most of the schemes imposed from
the top fail to yield the desired results.

This happens in most of the cases. A large part of the funds of development
schemes is eaten up in one way or the other, by the experts and executive
personnel deputed or employed by the sponsors of the scheme, be it own
government or any foreign agency. The major drawback of this approach is
that it fails to involve the beneficiaries, in the development process. Instead,
it generates a feeling of alienation among them. For these reasons this
approach has been characterised by a higher degree of centralisation and
bureaucratisation.
143
Developmental Regimes in ii) Development from bottom
India
The exponents of second approach of development from the bottom, on the
contrary, believe the fairness of intentions and abilities of the people who
need development. They are given an opportunity to articulate their problems
as well as the ways to solve them. They are trained and made capable, and
are prepared for self-help. Utilisations of resources for development schemes
is decided, by the concerned people themselves or by their representatives
at the local level. Thus, there is a greater decentralisation of plans and higher
participation of people.

While the planners realise the importance of development from the bottom,
and claim that they adopt this approach, in practice, they often adopt the
approach of development from the top. The result is ineffectiveness of the
development schemes.

iii) Sectoral development

on the basis of ‘unit’ of development, as mentioned earlier, three approaches
are envisaged, viz., sectoral development, area development and target group
development. Sectoral development approach refers to formulation and
execution of schemes for development, of a particular sector of economy
like agriculture or industry. For instance, the Indian planners thought of
developing industries just after the Independence. Therefore they made plans
to develop technology or borrow it from other countries. Stress was laid on
technological education. Many institutes and colleges were established,
independently or in collaboration with other countries, such as the United
States of America, Russia and England.

On the other side, funds were made available for heavy industries such as
textile, steel and cement. Later on, when the country faced a food problem
in the early sixties, the planners thought of developing the agricultural sector.
As a result, many agricultural universities were set up, which helped in
evolving high yielding varieties of crops, insecticides and pesticides, and
farm implements, like threshers. Extension services were made available to
educate and persuade farmers, to adopt new agricultural technology, and
loans were advanced to farmers quite liberally. You have seen the results of
these efforts in the form of the green revolution. The country is now almost
self-reliant in food.

iv) Area development

All regions are not equally developed. Some are more affluent than others.
The underdevelopment of regions is due to the lack of infrastructural
development-roads, railways, electrification etc. or due to the problems of
floods and drought. When schemes are devised for the infrastructural
development of an area or region, we call it area development approach.
The Command Area Development Scheme, introduced in India in 1974 for
the development of irrigation resources in certain regions, illustrates this
approach.

v) Target group development

Target group approach has its focus on a particular category of people, such
144 as small farmers, women and farm labourers. Schemes, such as Small
 Farmers Development Agency (SFDA) and reservation of seats in schools Capitalism, Socialism and
Mixed Economy
and colleges, and in employment for scheduled castes, exemplify the target
group approach. There is another approach to development, which has its
focus on the overall development of the people residing in a locality – village
or town. This is known as a community development approach. This
approach lays stress on the development of education, health facilities,
economic and social activities, and other infrastructural facilities.

Activity 2
Visit the local Block Development Officers (BDO’s) office in your area
and interview one or two officers working there regarding the development
activities going on in this area. The nature and types of programmes is
going on and its impact on the different communities in your area. Write a
report of one page on “Social Development and the role of Government”.
Compare your note with other students at your Study Centre and discuss
your findings with your Academic Counsellor.
Check Your Progress 3
1) Economic growth is a sufficient and a necessary condition to stimulate
development of all the sections of a society. Tick the correct box.

Yes No

2) List out the socio-cultural dimensions of development. Use four lines for
your answer.
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

3) What are the five approaches to social development? Use seven lines for
the answer
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

10.4 INDIAN EXPERIENCE OF DEVELOPMENT

AFTER INDEPENDENCE
There have been schemes and plans of development in almost all dimensions of
socio economic life, such as health, education, population control, industry,
transport, irrigation communication and agriculture. It is neither possible to present
here a list of all the development schemes, nor are you expected to know about
all of them. Therefore our main objective is to present a synoptic view of the
development schemes in India, introduced after Independence with a view to
illustrate some of the approaches to development, discussed in the preceding
section.
145
Developmental Regimes in After Independence, India did not follow either the First or the Second World, it
India
adopted neither the capitalist (North American) nor the socialist model of
development. It adopted a path of development in-between the two models, which
is known as ‘mixed economy’. On the one hand, India encouraged private business
and industry and gave opportunity to big business houses, such as the Birla’s and
Tata’s, and other medium and small size entrepreneurs. On the other hand it has
almost full control, at least in principle, over all the entrepreneurial and business
activities.

10.4.1 Socialist Path and Mixed Economy

The state also acts as an entrepreneur in setting up heavy industries, such as the
manufacture of steel and generation of electricity. The banks have been
nationalised. The state has full control over railways and postal departments.
These measures are illustrative of a socialist path of development. On the other
hand, certain industries are reserved for private entrepreneurs – both small and
large. In some industries, such as textile and cement, both private and state
enterprises have been allowed to operate. In many other activities, too, such as
education, health and transport both private and state agencies work, either
independently or in collaboration.

It is true that India adopted a ‘mixed’ path of development, but scholars differ in
their opinion about the real functioning of the economy. One view is that India’s
path of development is a capitalist one. Entry of state in heavy industries was, in
fact, meant to support private enterprise, in the sense that these industries did not
yield high profits and required a long gestation period and high capital investment.
Hence they did not attract private entrepreneurs, and at the same time industrial
development was not possible without basic industries. Similarly, it has been
argued that big enterprises still dominate over the small ones, and the industrial
sector over the agricultural one. Also there is a concentration of economic power
in a few big business houses. The other view is that our bias has been increasing
towards a socialist model, as is evident from the facts such as nationalisation of
banks. These are controversial arguments which cannot be sorted out here. The
fact remains that India pursues a ‘mixed’ path of development.

10.4.2 Sectoral Development

No doubt India has progressed a lot in industrial and agricultural sectors, but
there has been relatively less progress in the latter. Many policies and plans were
adopted, which showed results, that were far below the expectations. The major
policies for the development of agriculture after Independence were: abolition
of landlordism (zamindari), consolidation of land holding, and land ceiling.
Whereas the first two policies succeeded, the last one was made ineffective due
to several factors including the vested interests of large farmers. However, due
to increase in population there has a natural curtailment of farm size, and it has
been that further ceiling on farm size, will come in the way of raising the
productivity. All these policies reflect a sectoral development approach.

The sectoral approach got further accentuated in the ‘green’ and ‘white’
revolutions, i.e., development of cash crops, and dairy products, respectively.
Such revolutions have not been widespread. They are confined to a few states,
such as Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Maharashtra. The important
thing is that the farmers, even in these states, do not get remunerative returns
146
from farm produce, because of an absence of check on the rise of prices of farm Capitalism, Socialism and
Mixed Economy
inputs – machines, fertilisers, insecticides, pesticides etc., which come from
industrial sector, and also because of a strict control on the prices of farm outputs,
with the rationale that high rise in the prices of food grains will adversely affect
the masses. This indicates discrimination against the farm sector. The majority
of people depend upon agriculture even today. Therefore non-remunerative farm
return keep the agricultural sections in poverty.

10.4.3 Community Development and Cooperative Movement

Besides this sectoral approach, a community development scheme was initiated
in 1952 for overall development of villages. The philosophy of this programme
was to educate, encourage and enable the people to develop themselves, with
their own efforts and resources. But the programme was not very successful. It
was realised that a greater participation of the rural people in the preparation and
execution of development schemes was essential. In other words, it required a
greater administrative decentralisation. Hence Panchayati Raj System was
introduced in 1957. It envisaged a three-tier system, viz., Village Panchayat
(viilage level), Panchayat Samities (block level) and Zila Parishad (district level).
This system involved the people at local level, in both planning and execution of
development schemes. It was an effort towards development from the bottom.
But unfortunately the unholy alliance between the rural elite (rich farmers), on
the one hand, and the administrative and political elites, on the other, at the
block and district levels made the system weak.

The same fate met the cooperative movement. India wanted cooperative
cultivation on the Chinese pattern, in which the land is owned by the community
(village) and the farmers have their shares. But this did not work in India due to
the country’s political system which did not permit abolition of private ownership
of land, and because the farmers did not surrender land to the community
voluntarily, in spite of the appeal of “Bhoo Dan” (land donation) movement of
Vinoba Bhave. However, credit societies which granted short term agricultural
credit did become popular. But today many of the credit societies have become
defunct, or are not functioning effectively. The member borrowers usually become
defaulters. The important point is that there is no spirit of cooperating among the
local people, because most of the affairs of these cooperatives are managed by
the government or semi-government officials, such as the Registrar, Managing
Director, Administrator etc. In many cases the nationalised banks provide funds
to cooperatives for advancing loans to their members.

The rural credit cooperative are relatively effective in Maharashtra, particularly

among the sugarcane producers, who also have cooperative sugar mills. In other
fields, too, there are exceptionally successful cases of cooperative, viz., Milk
Producers Cooperative at Anand in Gujarat. Anand Milk Producers’ Union
Limited (AMUL) emerged out of the farmers’ cooperative efforts at the village
of Anand which now has an important place among the rural cooperatives in
Asia.

10.4.4 Target Group Planning

There are many other rural development programmes for certain target groups,
under the 20-point economic programmes. Integrated Rural Development
Programme (IRDP) is one of them which combines both the area development 147
Developmental Regimes in and target group approaches, since it includes the Command Area Development
India
Programme. Drought Prone Area Programme and Small Farmers’ Development
Agency. As a target group programme, its focus is on the poorest of the poor, and
the unit of assistance is the ‘family’, and not a person. It proposes to cover about
3,000 families in each block over a period of five years. Under IRDP there are
special programmes for employment, like Training Rural Youth for Self-
employment (TRYSEM). Besides there are other programmes such as the National
Rural Employment Programme (NREP). Evaluation reports of these programme,
however, indicate the failure of the programme in reaching the real beneficiaries
and in raising their economic status. The blame is laid on the executive personnel,
and the rural elite who consume a large share of the resources, meant for these
programmes. In other fields also India has made a good deal of progress. We
have big hospital and primary healthcare centres. Life expectancy has increased
and many diseases such as malaria, Polio and small pox have been controlled,
and infant mortality reduced. Now we have a large network of transport and
communication. . But the results of development have reached largely the urban
population. Rural people still do not have good schools, proper electrification,
clean water and hospitals. There are no good teachers, or proper infrastructure in
schools, such as furniture, including blackboards in many schools, and no doctors,
nurse or medicines in many primary healthcare centres. Besides this we find
increased unemployment, a state of lawlessness, an increase in social and
communal tension, and a lack of social and national concern. This shows that the
country has achieved more of a quantitative than qualitative development.

However, in terms of social political and economic awareness India and its villages
are doing fairly well. Being one of the largest Democratic nations of the world,
with an extremely vibrant political and economic structure, some amount of social
unrest is inevitable. The policies of the Government are geared towards removing
extreme inequalities and bringing about social justice.
Check Your Progress 4
1) Which path of development has been followed by India after its
Independence? Use three lines for your answer.
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
2) Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) is an example of sectoral
development. Tick the correct box.
Yes ( ) No ( )

10.5 LET US SUM UP

This unit has explained that development is a much broader concept than economic
growth. It includes social, economic, moral, educational, physical and mental
development of people. We discussed the prevailing ideas about social
development. Then we reviewed the five approaches to social development. In
the end, we described the ‘mixed’ path of development, i.e. a combination of
capitalism and socialism, followed by India today.

148
 Capitalism, Socialism and
10.6 KEY WORDS Mixed Economy

Ethnocentric : Belief in the superiority of one’s own

group.
Gross National Product (GNP) : It is the total flow of goods and services
produced by the economy over a specified
time period, usually one year. To this net
income flows from abroad is added and
outflow is subtracted.
Bourgeoisie and Proletariat : The capitalist class is known as the
bourgeoisie. This consists of industrial,
financial and mercantile capitalists. They
own and control industrial, trading and
financial enterprises. They exploit the
working class for maximisation of their
profit and expansion of their enterprises.
They constitute the dominant class in the
capitalist society. But working class known
as proletariat is the exploited and powerless
class. This class does not own the means
of production. The workers work for wages
in the capitalist enterprises to earn their
livelihood.
Mixed Economy : India has adopted the path of ‘mixed
economy’ for economic development of the
country after independence. The concept
of ‘mixed economy’ refers to the co-
existence of both the public sector and the
private sector in the national economy. The
public sector is owned and controlled by
the government but the private sector is
owned and operated by individuals,
families or private bodies.

10.7 FURTHER READINGS

Gore, M.S., 1973. Some Aspects of Social Development, Tata Institute of Social
Sciences: Mumbai.
Pandey, R., 1985. Sociology of Development: concepts, Theories and Issues,
Mittal Publishers: New Delhi.
Sharma, S.L., (ed) 1986. Development: Socio-cultural Dimensions. Rawat
Publication: Jaipur.

10.8 SPECIMEN ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR

PROGRESS
Check Your Progress 1
1) Change is a value-neutral concept while development is a value-laden
149
Developmental Regimes in concept. All cases of change do not indicate development. Only planned-
India
desired changes can be termed development

2) The developing countries depend upon the developed countries for

technological and financial aid. In the process of providing this aid, the
developed countries try to exploit the developing countries. This view is
called the dependency theory of development.
Check Your Progress 2
1) The United States of America and the United Kingdom.
2) a) capitalist b) socialist
3) India, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Venezuela, Nicaragua – these countries
are generally identified as the Third World countries or the developing
countries.
4) Common characteristics shared by the Third World countries are:
a) underdeveloped economy and technology
b) a wider meaning of development which includes social transformation
c) The Third World countries were pressurised by the developed countries
to follow their dictates.
Check Your Progress 3
1) No
2) Socio-cultural dimensions of development are proper satisfaction of basic
needs, availability of necessary amenities, economic welfare, access to
educational development, social integration and minimisation of inequalities
in society.

3) Basing on the two criteria of the centralisation and decentralisation of

development schemes and resources, the five approaches to social
development are:
a) development from the top
b) development from the bottom
c) sectoral development
d) area development
e) target group development
Check Your Progress 4
1) India has followed a ‘mixed’ path of development. India encourage private
business and industry and also exercises almost full control on the
entrepreneurial and business activities. It has recently began to focus on
area development and target group development, thus taking care of socio-
cultural dimensions of development.
2) No

150
 Capitalism, Socialism and
REFERENCES Mixed Economy

Berger, Peter, 1963. Invitation to Sociology. Danble Day & Co. : New Delhi.

Bottomore, T.B.,1987. Sociology : A Guide to Problems and Literature. Allen

and Unwin : London.

Bearly, H.C. 1965. The Nature of Social Control. In Joseph S. Roucek etal (ed.)
Social Control. Affiliated East West Press : New Delhi.
Coser, Lewis, 1956. The Function of Social Conflict. Free Press : New York.
Dahrendorf, Ralph, 1959. Class and Class Conflict in Industrial Society. Stanford
University Press : Stanford.

Eshleman, J.R. and Cashion, B.C. 1983. Sociology : An Introduction. Little Brown
& Co. : Boston.
Horton, P.B. and Hunt, C.L., 1981. Sociology. McGraw Hill : London.
IESS, 1972. International Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences. David I. Sills (ed.)
Macmillan : New York.

Johnson, H., 1986. Sociology : Systematic Introduction. Allied Publishers :

Bombay.
Maclver, R.M. and Page C.H.., 1985. Society. Macmillan : New Delhi.
Merton, R., 1968. Social Theory and Social Structure. Amering Publication
Company : New Delhi.

Ogburn, W.V. and Nimcoff, M., 1979. A Handbook of Sociology. Eurasia

Publishing House : New Delhi.
Pareto, V., 1935. The Mind and Society. Jonathan Cape : London.
Quinney, Richard, 1970. The Social Reality of Crime. Little Brown : Boston.
Sharma, S.L. (ed.), 1986. Development : Socio-Cultural Dimensions. Rawat
Publication : Jaipur.
Sorokin, P.A., 1937. Social and Cultural Dynamics. Free Press : New York.
Spengler, Oswald, 1945. The Decline of West. (2 volumes). Knopf : New York.
Sutherland, E.H., 1937. The Professional Thief. University of Chicago Press :
Chicago.
Estes, Richard J. 1992. At The Gossroads : Dilemmas in Development Toward
Praeger. New York. (Also see www google.com - Three Worlds of Development).

151
Developmental Regimes in
India UNIT 11 DEVELOPMENT AS FREEDOM*
Structure
11.0 Objectives
11.1 Introduction
11.2 What is Development? Economic Growth or Freedom
11.3 Agency, Capability and Entitlement: Understanding Freedom
11.3.1 Agency and Freedom
11.3.2 Development as Freedom: A Capability Perspective
11.3.3 Entitlements
11.4 Capability, Entitlement and Well-being: Gendered Perspective
11.5 Evaluation and Assessment: Reviewing Development
11.6 Lets Us Sum Up
11.7 Key Words
11.8 Further Readings
11.9 Specimen Answers to Check Your Progress

11.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit, you will be able to:
Distinguish development from growth of GNP, increase in personal incomes,
advancement in technology and industrial or social modernization;
Explain freedom as rooted in the idea of human capability and agency;
Elaborate on the various meanings of freedom and its causal relationship to
development;
Focus on entitlements as a significant dimension to individual capability
and freedom;
Elaborate on capability and entitlement as crucial for women’s freedom
and agency; and
Focus on the efficacy of Sen’s perspective in measuring and evaluating
development.

11.1 INTRODUCTION
Amartya Sen proposes an approach to development as a process of expanding
people’s substantive freedoms. In doing so he moves beyond the common
understanding of development in terms of the idea of economic growth/prosperity
signified by material wealth, technical and industrial advancement or social
modernization. The following section, 11.2 elaborates on how Sen’s approach
questions the common and conventional understanding of development rooted
in economic explanations. It provides a better basis for evaluating the level of
development of any community compared to perspectives focusing on economic
growth or technological progress.

*Written by Kanika Kakkar, Assistant Professor, Janki Devi College, Delhi University
152
In the section 11.3 the meaning of freedom as taken by Sen is elaborated. It Development as Freedom
illuminates that agency, capability and entitlements are central to the
understanding of freedom and development. Further, it focuses on various forms
of freedoms manifest both as an outcome of development visible in substantive
capabilities and instruments and means to it.

The next section 11.4 examines capability, entitlement and well-being from a
gendered lens. It reflects that women’s agency and entitlement are critical to her
well-being, empowerment and social development. The section 11.5 throws light
on operationalisation of Sen’s prespective of Development as Freedom in various
valuational indexes and measures to assess and evaluative development and
wellbeing.

11.2 WHAT IS DEVELOPMENT? ECONOMIC

GROWTH OR FREEDOM
Amartya Sen in his work Development as Freedom (1999) put forth the concept
of development as the process of expanding the substantial freedoms that
individual enjoy. This work elaborates on what is actually implied by development
by raising a pertinent question that is development simply economic growth or
does it underlie a much broader objective of expanding individual freedom?

Box 11.1
Amartya Sen
Amartya Sen, a development economist and philosopher was born in 1933
in Shantiniketan, India. He is currently a professor of economics and
philosophy at the Harvard University. He was conferred with the Nobel
Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1998 and Bharat Ratna in 1999.

The idea of development as economic growth/prosperity became popular post

Second World War. This was to quantify development as economic growth, visible
in terms of indicators as GNP, per capita income and industrialization. The
conceptualisation of development as freedom contradicted the conventional
understandings, which take development as synonymous with economic growth/
prosperity. Contrary, to the conventional approaches that focus on economic
variables, viewing development in terms of expanding substantive freedoms shifts
our attention from means or instruments for the process of development to end(s)
that make development important and desirable.

Box 11.2
Conventional Understandings: Modernization and Dependency
Perspectives
The modernization perspective stands for the conventional understanding
of development applied by non-Marxists to the Third World in the 1950s
and 1960s/post the Second World War. It explained the process of
transformation of traditional societies to modern one, based on western
experience of investing in industrialization and technological development
stressing on economic indices of growth.

153
Developmental Regimes in
India The modernization perspective lost its popularity in 1970s with the
emergence of dependency perspective. Dependency perspective provides a
Marxist critique to modernization paradigm of development. It indicated
that modernization does not necessarily lead to industrial growth and
equitable distribution of social benefits, since it is an essentially uneven
process and results in economic dependency and underdevelopment of the
Third World countries.

Both the modernization and dependency perspectives are simplistic and

narrow as they fail to perceive development beyond economic indicators.
Development as freedom is overarching and wider as it provides a qualitative
perspective on development.

To view development in terms of indicators like growth in Gross National Product

(GNP) or industrialization alone is to take a narrow understanding of it. Focusing
merely on economic indicators/growth tends to overlook other variables that are
conducive to development like certain political or social freedoms, such as the
liberty of political participation and dissent, or opportunities to receive basic
education or health care etc. These freedoms and rights are among the constituent
components of development and are effective in contributing to economic progress
by indirectly effecting growth of GNP or to the promotion of industrialization.
This may be illustrated in the following manner:

First, it is not necessary that there will always be a connection between

income per head and the freedom of individuals to live long and live well.
For instance citizens of Gabon or South Africa or Namibia or Brazil may
be much richer in terms of per capita GNP than the citizens of Sri Lanka or
China or the state of Kerala in India, but the latter have very substantially
higher life expectancies than do the former. This may be explicable in terms
of inadequate health care, lack of public security and political instability in
the former category of countries. Similarly, African Americans in the US
are richer than people in the third world however, they have lower chance
of reaching mature ages for the want of protection from racial violence and
discrimination than do people of many third world societies, such as China,
or Sri Lanka or parts of India.

Another example that Sen gives to question the economic understanding of

development focuses on the role of market. The contribution of market
mechanism to economic growth and overall economic progress is well
established. However, development as freedom perspective invokes a much
broader and inclusive perspective of markets and reproves simplistic reliance
on market mechanism. According to this the market mechanism is
worthwhile for economic progress only after direct significance of freedom
to participate in it. The rejection of the freedom to participate in the labour
market is one of the ways of keeping people in bondage and captivity. To
put it differently, the freedom to enter markets can itself be a significant
contribution to development. The critical challenge of developing countries
today include the need for freeing of labour from explicit or implicit bondage
that denies access to the open labour market as was in America before the
civil war to end slavery. Similarly, the denial of access to product markets
is often among the deprivations for which many small cultivators and
struggling producers suffer under traditional arrangements and restrictions.
154
 The freedom to participate in economic interchange and exchange has a Development as Freedom
basic role in social living.

Thus, it may be stated that while there is a connection between income and
achievements, between commodities and capabilities and between economic
wealth and ability to live as we would like, this linkage may or may not be
very strong and may be contingent on other circumstances. In short,
development should not be confused with economic wealth/prosperity. There
is a gap between the two perspectives i.e. between an exclusive concentration
on economic wealth and broader focus on lives we can lead in
conceptualising development.
Check Your Progress 1
i) Distinguish between growth and development with an example. (Elaborate
in 2 sentences)
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

Cite two examples that challenge the view that development relates to
economic prosperity and wealth of nation. (State in 2-3 sentences)
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

11.3 AGENCY, CAPABILITY AND

ENTITLEMENT: UNDERSTANDING
FREEDOM
11.3.1 Agency and Freedom
According to Sen, freedom is both a basic constituent of development in itself
and an enabling key to other aspects. The ends and means of development call
for placing the perspective of freedom at the centre of the stage. In other words
the freedoms of individuals are the basic building blocks to the development
practice and analysis.

The Welfare Approach versus Capability Perspective to Development

The Welfare approach focuses on individuals as beneficiaries or targets of all
development activities. It advocates state and non state agencies to invest in
155
Developmental Regimes in social sector spending and supply welfare products for development. It focuses
India
on the identification of basic needs of individuals in food, clothing, shelter and
drinking water etc. and engaging in direct public provisioning action to fulfil
these needs. This approach thus focuses on individuals as passive recipients of
development. In contrast, the capability perspective recognises the correspondence
between the capabilities of individuals and their needs. In doing so it takes into
clue the differences in positioning of individuals in relation to their age, gender,
caste, class and race and other characteristics, which may influence exercising
similar set of capabilities for the realisation of various needs.

The freedom-centred understanding of the process of development is very much

an agent-oriented view. It holds individual not as ‘the patient’ or passive recipient
of the fruits of development programme(s). Rather, it focuses on his ability to
exercise agency and participate in process of development. This is a bottom-up
approach and moves well beyond top-down development programmes/schemes
based on the idea of welfare and giving out doles to individuals for their well-
being. The state and the society have extensive roles in strengthening and
safeguarding human capabilities. This is a supporting and empowering role rather
than one of ready-made delivery.

Box 11.3
The Welfare Approach versus Capability Perspective to Development
The Welfare approach focuses on individuals as beneficiaries or targets of all
development activities. It advocates state and non state agencies to invest in
social sector spending and supply welfare products for development. It focuses
on the identification of basic needs of individuals in food, clothing, shelter
and drinking water etc. and engaging in direct public provisioning action to
fulfil these needs. This approach thus focuses on individuals as passive
recipients of development. In contrast, the capability perspective recognises
the correspondence between the capabilities of individuals and their needs.
In doing so it takes into clue the differences in positioning of individuals in
relation to their age, gender, caste, class and race and other characteristics,
which may influence exercising similar set of capabilities for the realisation
of various needs.

For Amartya Sen the aim of development is freedom and the exercise of free
human agency an ultimate means to achieve it. In this context it becomes crucial
to understand what Sen implies by agency. Sen states that an individual as an
agent may proceed to act on his own behalf setting out his goals and objectives
in pursuance of his values and ideas. Consequently, an agent is a responsible
individual with the ability to make decisions and take actions that have an effect
on his own life. Individual agency is critical for development as an individual as
an agent is a responsible and capable of evaluating choices. However, this does
not imply that an agent is a rational actor whose choices are based solely on
preferences to maximize utility. Rather, it is intrinsic values and ideas of an
individual that guides his choices and actions. Individual agency therefore, is a
reflection of the force of social structure. It is not free from the influences of
social, economic and political arrangements and is shaped by it. For Sen, fostering
freedom of agency, whereby individuals make reasoned and informed choices
and decisions is the overarching objective of development practice.

156
11.3.2 Development as Freedom: A Capability Perspective Development as Freedom

For an individual to exercise agency he must be vested with capabilities.

Capabilities are thus fundamental to Sen’s notion of freedom of an individual to
act as an agent. The basic proposition of Development as Freedom is the expansion
of the ‘capabilities’ of an individual so that he can lead the kind of life he values.
Capabilities are forms of freedom that vests individual with ability or functioning
do something. In short, according to Sen, freedom can be reflected in an
individual’s capability. Freedom in Sen’s view is an ambiguous and a multi-
layered concept, underlying both substantial/functional capabilities and
constitutive/ instrumental value provided both by actual opportunities that an
individual has and processes that allow him to exercise agency and decision-
making.

Substantive Freedoms: Goals/Ends of Development

The substantive freedoms are the real freedoms which an individual possesses,
which permit him to fully participate in various fields of life and exercise agency.
Sen has derived his understanding of substantive freedom from Aristotle’s notions
of ‘flourishing’ and ‘capacity’ regarding quality of life and Adam Smith’s analysis
of ‘necessities’ and conditions of living (p. 24).

Substantive freedoms have positive value as they enhance the life of an individual,
make it richer and unfettered by making him a fuller social person, exercising
his own volitions, capacities to deliberate choice and interact with and influence
the world in which he lives (pp.14-15). People value substantial freedoms as
these are construed in functional capabilities as to engage in economic transaction
or to participate in political activities or in the ability to live to old age or receive
basic education or health care. These freedoms thus, reflect on the opportunity
aspect. They are distinct from access to resources like income/money,
commodities and assets or other things that are valued and found desirable for
their utility, in view of being able to provide pleasure, satisfaction and happiness.

Further, Sen states substantive freedoms are manifest in capability to make

informed choice and hence, need not always be confused with well-being. To
explain this point he provides example of starvation and fasting. Fasting and
starvation are similar as both challenge individual’s (physical) well-being by
depriving him of nutrition. However, in the case of fasting an individual could
eat if he chooses to, while a starving individual would eat if he could. Starvation
is a state of unfreedom as it reflects capability denial, unlike fasting.

For Sen, substantive freedoms must be the foremost objective of development

planning and public policy. The development programmes must be formulated
to accomplish these as an end. From the point of view of substantive freedom,
Sen focuses on poverty as capability-deprivation, rather than merely leading to
low income. It is a condition, which is rooted in various denials that deprive
individuals of agency and hence, leads to their unfreedom. The development
planning must focus addressing sources of unfreedom like poverty, poor economic
opportunities and social deprivation, which prevents an individual from freely
exercising agency.

157
Developmental Regimes in
India Activity 1

Reflect on the deprivations of basic capabilities caused by poverty. List them

out in your notebook.

Constitutive Freedoms: Instruments/Means to Development

According to Sen an individual could be deprived of substantive freedom
capabilities owing to multiple reasons as poverty/lack of financial resources,
governmental control/restrictions and lack of awareness etc. In this context he
talks about the nature of positive freedom reflecting on its constitutive and its
instrumental role in development.

For an individual to act there are important freedoms which play an instrumental/
constitutive role. Constitutive/instrumental freedoms are crucial for advance of
capability of individuals. They are dependent on factors external to an individual
that provide space to exercise of agency by virtue of expansion of individual
capabilities. In other words they are procedures/means reflected in the form of
available institutional arrangements and values that are crucial for the realisation
of substantive freedoms.

There are diverse freedoms which in keeping with different empirical contexts
may be effective in fostering human capabilities and substantive agency. Sen,
however, identifies five distinct types of instrumental freedoms as fundamental.
These are:

Political Freedom is one of the most important features of democratic polity.

It may be described as absence from external or internal coercive rule by
state or similar agency. It is synonymous with political rights and civil
liberties, which are usually, accorded legal protection from the state.
Economic Facilities include access to credit/financing services and markets.
Social opportunities including healthcare, education and social services.
Transparency Guarantees relates to the need for openness and disclosure in
dealings of business and government. These are crucial for preventing
corruption, financial irresponsibility and introducing fairness.

Protective Security relate to safety net to individuals through institutional

arrangements like unemployment benefit and famine/epidemic relief etc.

Sen focuses on the complementarity and interconnectedness of the instrumental

freedoms. He states that development planning should take note of empirical
linkages that tie the distinct types of freedom together, strengthening their joint
importance (p. 10). Thus programmatic interventions geared towards expansion
of substantive freedoms must adopt an inclusive approach by integrating different
types of instrumental freedoms, namely, economic, social and political. This will
bring to centre-stage the vital and complementing roles that various institutions
like the government, political parties, markets and related organisations and civil
society institutions may play in expansion of individual capabilities.

158
 Development as Freedom
Activity 2

Taking a view of the situation of migrant labour in the times of contemporary

pandemic of Covid-19, explain in a page how their economic unfreedom
has made them helpless victims in the breach of other kinds of freedoms.

11.3.3 Entitlements
Entitlements are yet another aspect of Sen’s notion of development as freedom
as a capability perspective. Sen views entitlement as a kind of capability which
allows an individual to establish ownership and command over certain
commodities through certain rules of legitimacy. In this context, he gives the
examples of malnourishment, hunger, starvation, which may be subsumed under
the condition of famine as instances of unfreedom. The causes of these, he states,
may be traceable not merely in agricultural vagaries leading to shortage in food
production but problems of entitlements that influence an individual’s ability
and capability to procure adequate food. An individual’s entitlement as a capability
is subject to various influences like:
the endowment or ownership over assets or productive resources including
labour power which has an exchange value by virtue of commanding price
in the market.
possession of technical-know-how regarding production
ability to exchange goods and services in the market, and
the presence or absence of social security as a part and parcel of general
well-being of the populace undertaken by the state and government agencies.
Viewed in this context starvation and hunger (famines) may be explicable in
terms of factors other than simply food shortage. To put it differently, there can
be starvation and hunger even when there is no decline in food production and
supply and markets are functioning well.
Starvation and hunger may be reduced by providing sufficient entitlement
protection to the poor for e.g., in the form of wage employment and thereby,
transforming the victims into agents as a part of capability perspective. This
resonates with the idea of democracy as a “protective security” that favours
institutions of basic arrangements to avert crises by enhancing individual agency
and freedoms. However, there may be great disjuncture in theory and practice of
democratic rights, which calls for its critical analysis. For the actual use of
potential of democracy, which may be seen in terms of effective implementation
of development programmes and policies depends on the practice and vigour of
political arrangements, party-politics as well as the prevalent values and moral
arguments. The persistence of gender inequality in countries like India and
Bangladesh, evident in women lacking capability and entitlement endowments,
reiterates the failure of effective practice of democratic rights and privileges.
Check Your Progress 2
i) Complete the following sentences

a) Sen has derived his understanding of substantive freedom from

Aristotle’s notions of ..................................and Adam Smith’s analysis
of................................................. 159
Developmental Regimes in
India
b) For Sen, ............................................................................is the
overarching objective of development practice.

c) Freedom in Sen’s view is an ambiguous and a multi-layered concept,

underlying both ....................................................

d) Sen, identifies ........... distinct types of instrumental freedoms as

fundamental.

e) Sen views entitlement as ..........................................................................

11.4 CAPABILITY, ENTITLEMENT AND WELL-

BEING: A GENDERED READING
Amartya Sen’s capability perspective provides a significant basis to assess
women’s well-being and gender inequality in conjunction with presence and
absence of achieved functionings and entitlements. According to him the role of
entitlement in vesting women with free agency and contributing to their well-
being is significant. The entitlement denials to women reflected in deprivations
of health care, nutritional needs and education and their lack of agency are an
outcome of prevalent values and gendered differential norms. The dire
implications of such deprivations and neglect are evident in the poorer countries
of Asia in terms of ‘missing women’ who have succumbed to mortality. Sen thus
talks about adverse sex ratio of the poorer countries of the world where the relative
biological advantage of women in terms of longevity gets overtaken by serious
failures of capability and entitlement.

In addition, Sen focuses on agency and entitlements of women in having positive

implications on their bargaining power both within the household and in society
at large. Women’s entitlement as ownership of resources (land or property),
participation in labour force, access to education are significantly connected both
to her ability to survive outside household and bargaining power or decision-
making agency within the household. These entitlements endow her with
economic empowerment giving her not merely decision-making agency but
greater share in well-being as nutrition and health-care. Women’s agency is likely
to have noteworthy implications on other capability indexes as reduction in
fertility, child mortality and girl child school dropout rates etc. Women’s access
to entitlements and agency thus may play a significant role in promoting social-
well being and development.
Check Your Progress 3
1) Discuss positive implications of agency and entitlement for women?
(elaborate briefly)
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
160
 Development as Freedom
11.5 EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT:
REVIEWING DEVELOPMENT
Amartya Sen’s perspective of Development as Freedom provides an alternative
to standard economic frameworks for evaluating and assessing human
development as pointed out earlier. It involves a systematic examination of
multiple aspects about human capability and freedoms it confers. It hence, offers
a pluralistic conception to the exercise of development evaluation. Focusing on
freedom, it draws attention to qualitative criterions like social development,
empowerment, responsibility and informed action as central to evaluating and
assessing development.

Its broad framework has provided a paradigm shift enabling in formulation of

various valuational indexes to capture human development rather than evaluating
the same in terms of traditional solitary income related economic indicators as
GNP and GDP. The shift in evaluating development came to be operationalised
in 1990s, as the UN Human Development Report reflecting on Sen’s perspective
of human freedom and capability spelt out the basic objective of development as
to create an enabling environment for people to live. The result has been the
formulation of Human Development Index (HDI) as distribution-sensitive
measure by Mahbub ul Haq in collaboration with Sen and others commissioned
by UNDP for critiquing the global human development throwing light on the
persisting inequality, capabilities deprivation and poverty despite high level of
growth rates visible in terms of GNP and GDP. Sen perspective has also played
an influential role in formulation of various other qualitative and capability based
measurement criterions for capturing development as the Gender related
Development Index (GDI) , Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), Gender
Inquality Index (GII) and Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI)

Activity 3
Write a short essay on HDI, GDI, GEM, GII and IHDI focusing on:
i) when were they introduced ?
ii) what are the variables they focus on for capturing development?

Check Your Progress 3

i) List out the names of the valuational indexes and measures which reflect on
Sen’s understanding of Development and Freedom? (state in a sentence)
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

ii) What is HDI? (explain in 2 sentence)

.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................... 161
Developmental Regimes in
India 11.6 LET US SUM UP
In this unit we have elaborated on Amartya Sen’s theorisation of Development
as Freedom. Development as Freedom is an agent-oriented view, focusing on
individual capability and entitlements. The freedom centred approach provides
a qualitative understanding to development. It allows to view development beyond
the purview of economics, as a social variable. The Freedom has been illustrated
in multiple forms both as outcomes and means to development manifest in terms
of substantive capabilities and instrumental values.

Development as freedom provides a significant thrust to focus on women’s well-

being and development. In doing so it focuses on the relation between women
and development in terms of their being agents capable of making reasoned
choices and endowed with entitlements. Conversely, the absence of entitlements
and agency reflects conditions of their unfreedom.

The freedom centred perspective exercises significant influence in the

development practice. It has been a guiding force to various valuational indexes
and measures to capture development.

11.7 KEY WORDS

Bargaining Power: It is an ability to exert influence or prevail in a situation
marked by difference and conflict of interests.
Empowerment: is an ability to exercise power, agency and informed choice.
Market: is set of institutions or social relations or space marked by exchange
transactions between buyers and sellers.
Slavery: refers to forms of unfreedom and bonded labour. It relates to conditions
in which principles of property law are applied to people, allowing individuals
to own, buy and sell other individuals.

11.8 FURTHER READING

Evans, Peter. 2002. “Collective Capabilities, Culture and Amartya Sen’s
Development as Freedom.” Studies in Comparative International Development,
Vol. 37, No. 2, pp.54-60. T
Fukuda-Parr, Sakikao.2003. “The human development paradigm: operationalizing
Sen’s ideas on capabilities”. Feminist Economics. Vol. 9, No. 2–3, pp.301–317.
Sen, Amartya. 1999. Development as Freedom. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Devereux, Stephen. 2001.”Sen’s Entitlement Approach: Critiques and Counter-
critiques.” Oxford Development Studies, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp.245-63.

11.9 SPECIMEN ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR

PROGRESS
Check Your Progress 1
i) The conceptualisation of development as freedom put forth by Amartya
162 Sen contradicted the conventional understandings, which take development
 as synonymous with economic growth/prosperity. It focuses on viewing Development as Freedom
development in terms of expanding substantive freedoms of individuals
like political or social freedoms, such as the liberty of political participation
and dissent, or opportunities to receive basic education or health care etc.
ii) The two examples which substantiate that development is well beyond
economic growth and prosperity are as follows:
People of Gabon or South Africa or Namibia or Brazil are much richer
in terms of per capita GNP than the citizens of Sri Lanka or China or
the state of Kerala in India, but the latter have very substantially higher
life expectancies than do the former.
Many of the developing countries at present may have well established
market economy but they continue to have unfree/bonded labour which
is denied access to the open labour market as was in America before
the civil war to end slavery.
Check Your Progress 2
i) Complete the following sentences:
a) For Sen, fostering freedom of agency, whereby individuals make
reasoned and informed choices and decisions is the overarching
objective of development practice.
b) Freedom in Sen’s view is an ambiguous and a multi-layered concept,
underlying both substantial/functional capabilities and constitutive/
instrumental value.
c) Sen has derived his understanding of substantive freedom from
Aristotle’s notions of ‘flourishing’ and ‘capacity’ regarding quality of
life and Adam Smith’s analysis of ‘necessities’ and conditions of living.
d) Sen, identifies five distinct types of instrumental freedoms as
fundamental
e) Sen views entitlement as a kind of capability which allows an individual
to establish ownership and command over certain commodities through
certain rules of legitimacy
Check Your Progress 3
i) Discuss positive implications of agency and entitlement for women?
(elaborate briefly)
Sen focuses on agency and entitlements of women in having positive
implications on their bargaining power both within the household and in
society at large. Women’s entitlement as ownership of resources (land or
property), participation in labour force, access to education are significantly
connected both to her ability to survive outside household and bargaining
power or decision-making agency within the household. These entitlements
endow her with economic empowerment giving her not merely decision-
making agency but greater share in well-being as nutrition and health-care.
Women’s agency is likely to have noteworthy implications on other
capability indexes as reduction in fertility, child mortality and girl child
school dropout rates etc. Women’s access to entitlements and agency thus
may play a significant role in promoting social-well being and development.
163
Developmental Regimes in Check Your Progress 4
India
i) List out the names of the valuational indexes and measures which reflect on
Sen’s understanding of Development and Freedom? (state in a sentence)
HDI, GDI GEM, GII and IHDI the valuational indexes and measures which
reflect on Sen’s understanding of Development and Freedom.
ii) What is HDI? (explain in 2 sentences)
Human Development Index (HDI) is a distribution-sensitive measure
formulated by the economist, Mahbub ul Haq in collaboration with Sen
and others commissioned by UNDP. It offered a critique to the global human
development throwing light on the persisting inequality, capabilities
deprivation and poverty despite high level of growth rates visible in terms
of GNP and GDP.

REFERENCES
Evans, Peter. 2002. “Collective Capabilities, Culture and Amartya Sen’s
Development as Freedom.” Studies in Comparative International Development,
Vol. 37, No. 2, pp.54-60. T
Fukuda-Parr, Sakikao.2003. “The human development paradigm: operationalizing
Sen’s ideas on capabilities”. Feminist Economics. Vol. 9, No. 2–3, pp.301–317.
Sen, Amartya. 1999. Development as Freedom. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Devereux, Stephen. 2001.”Sen’s Entitlement Approach: Critiques and Counter-
critiques.” Oxford Development Studies, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp.245-63.

164
 Development as Freedom

BLOCK 4
ISSUES IN DEVELOPMENT PRAXIS

165
Issues in Development Praxis

166
 Development, Migration and
UNIT12 DEVELOPMENT, MIGRATION AND Displacement

DISPLACEMENT*
Structure
12.0 Objective
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Migration: Concept and Forms
12.3 Migration and Development
12.3.1 Causes and Consequences
12.4 Displacement
12.4.1 Internally displaced persons
12.4.2 Displacement and Development
12.5 Development, Migration and Displacement: Interlinkages
12.6 Let Us Sum Up
12.7 Key Words
12.8 Further Readings
12.9 Specimen Answers to Check Your Progress

12.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit you will be able to:
Describe migration and its forms;
Outline the relationship between migration and development;
Discuss the causes and consequences of migration related to development;
Understand the displacement and its implication;
Describe the relationship between displacement and migration;
Discuss the linkages between migration, displacement and development;
and
Discuss the linkages between Migration, Displacement and Development.

12.1 INTRODUCTION
Development, migration and displacement are interrelated. Therefore, in this
unit we will discuss the concept of migration and its forms, relationship with
migration and development and its causes and consequences. Then we will discuss
displacement and its relations with development. Last section of this unit will
discuss the linkages between migration, displacement and development. Now
let us discuss the concept of migration and its forms.

12.2 MIGRATION: CONCEPT AND FORMS

The word ‘migration’ refers to the movements of the people from one place to
another. According to Demographic Dictionary, “migration is a form of

* Written by Dr. Omprakash Manjhi, Independent Researcher, Delhi 167

Issues in Development Praxis geographical mobility or spatial mobility between one geographical unit and
another, generally involving a change in residence from the place of origin or
place of departure to the place of destination or place of arrival.” Such migration
is called permanent migration, and should be distinguished from other forms of
movement, which do not involve a permanent change of residence. Everett Lee
defines migration broadly “as a permanent or semi-permanent change of
residence”. No restriction is placed upon the distance of the move or upon the
voluntary and involuntary nature of the act. Migration, according to Eisenstadt,
refers to “the physical transition of an individual or a group from one society to
another. This transition usually involves abandoning one social-setting and
entering another and different one.” Mangalam also stresses the permanent
shifting of people in his definition and considers migration as a relatively
permanent moving away of a collectivity, called the migrants, from one
geographical location to another. It is preceded by decision-making on the part
of the migrants. They weigh and consider sets of values in two comparative
situations, resulting in changes in the interactional system of the migrants. Holiday
trips or sailor’s occupations are not included in it. Mehta, in his study of Rajasthan,
treats migration as an act of movement or spatial mobility. A perusal of all these
definitions indicates that almost all scholars emphasis time and space, and define
migration as a movement from one place to another, permanently or semi-
permanently. In brief, when a person leaves his native place or village, comes to
an urban area, takes up a job, and starts living there, he is known as a migrant
and his move is referred to as migration.

Forms
People may move within a country between different states or between different
districts of the same state or they may move between different countries.
Therefore, different terms are used for internal and external migration. Internal
migration refers to migration from one place to another with a country, while
external migration or international migration refers to migration from one country
to another.

a) Immigration and Emigration: ‘Immigration’ refers to migration into a

country from another country and ‘emigration’ refers to migration out of
the country. These terms are used only in connection with international
migration. For example migrants leaving India to settle down in the United
States or Canada are immigrants to the United States or Canada and
emigrants from India.

b) Immigration and Outmigration: These are used only in connection with

internal migration. ‘Inmigration’ refers to migration into a particular area
while ‘outmigration’ refers to movements out of a particular area. Thus,
migrants who come from Bihar or Uttar Pradesh to Punjab are considered
to be immigrants for Punjab and outmigrants for Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
The term ‘inmigration’ is used with reference to the area of destination of
the migrants and the term ‘outmigration’ is used with reference to the area
of origin or place of departure of the migrant. The main forms of migration
can be summarised in a chart.

168
 Chart 1 Development, Migration and
Displacement
MIGRATION

 
INTERNAL EXTERNAL
 
   
INMIGRATION OUTMIGRATION IMMIGRATION EMIGRATION
There are three important sources of information on internal migration in a country.
These are national census, population registers and sample surveys. In India, the
most important sources of data on internal migration are national census and
sample surveys.
c) Forms of Internal Migration in India: Information on migration for India,
as a whole, and its different parts is obtained through the use of the Census.
Better and more detailed questions have been asked in recent census counts.
They show improvements in the studies on migration. Indian census gives
information regarding migration streams made from ‘birth place’ statistics
from 1872 onwards. However, in 1961, the birth place was classified as
rural or urban, and put into four categories of space migration (i) within the
district of enumeration, (ii) outside the district but within the state of
enumeration, (iii) outside the state of enumeration, i.e., inter-state, and (iv)
outside India. The 1971 Census defined these statistics by including a
question on place of last residence, and 1981 Census included a question
on reasons for migration. In India, the migrants are classified into four
migration streams, namely, rural to rural, rural to urban, urban to urban and
urban to rural. Rural to rural migration has formed the dominant migration
stream since 1961. There have been substantial increases in the proportion
of rural to urban, and urban to urban migration with the passage of time.
Another important point is that the proportion of the females is much higher
in rural to rural migration, while in the other three streams the proportion
of the males is comparatively much higher. This is simply because the
females change their residence on getting married, and new places could
be in the neighbouring districts.
Researchers have, from time to time, suggested various types of migration
while taking into account space, time, volume and direction. On the basis
of space, there are four important streams of internal migration. These are:
i) Rural to rural
ii) Rural to urban
iii) Urban to urban
iv) Urban to rural
Indian census gives this fourfold typology. However, in some developed
and highly urbanized countries there have also been migrations from cities
to the suburbs.
Characteristics
There are some important characteristics of the migrants and migration. An
important characteristic is the age selectivity of the migrants. Generally, young
people are more mobile. Most migration studies, especially in developing
countries, have found that rural-urban migrants are predominantly young adults
and relatively better educated than those who remain at the place of origin. It is 169
Issues in Development Praxis obvious that migration for employment takes place mostly at the young adult
ages. Also a major part of the female migration consequential to marriage occurs
at the young adult ages. Thus people have a tendency to move when they are
between their teens and their mid-thirties (15-35 years) than at other ages. Another
important characteristic is that the migrants have a tendency to move to those
places where they have contracts and where the previous migrants sere as links
for the new migrants, and this chain is thus formed in the process, and is usually
called chain migration. Various studies show that people do not blindly go to a
new place. They usually have kinship chains and networks of relatives and friends
who help them in different ways. In some cases, the migrants not only tend to
have the same destination but also tend to have the same occupation. For example,
research reveals that in certain hotels in Jaipur almost all the workers belong to
one particular sub-region of Kumaon. The agricultural labourers in Punjab and
Haryana are mainly from Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh.(ESO 16,Block 2,Unit5)
Check Your Progress 1
1) Classify the following types of migration:
a) From Kerala to the Gulf-countries.
b) From Kerala to Delhi.
c) From Bihar to the West Indies.
d) Arrival of people from Bangladesh to India
e) Arrival of people to Rajasthan from Karnataka.

12.3 MIGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Migration may be temporary, with the intention of returning to the country of
origin in the future, or permanent or migrants may not have decided between
these alternatives at the time of migration. India has become a very prominent
source of skilled labour migration. The flow of Indian professionals is towards
the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and many other similar
destinations. In 2010, India with an estimated stock of 11.4 million emigrants
was the second emigration country in the world, behind Mexico (11.9 million).
An important place in the flows of well-trained Indian migrants is taken by Indian
students. India, for example, accounts for 5.5% of the 2.8 million students studying
outside their home-country. After China (421,100), the country sends the greatest
number of students abroad 153,300.

Remittances are the main benefit of external migration, providing scarce foreign
exchange and scope for higher levels of savings and investments. Remittances
over the past 30 years have financed much of India’s balance of trade deficit and
have thus reduced the current account deficit. Remittances have had a considerable
impact on regional economies. The most striking case is that of Kerala, where
remittances made up 21% of state income in the 1990s. This flow appears to
have increased wealth: although the average per capita consumption in Kerala
was below the national average until 1978–79, by 1999–2000 consumer
expenditure in Kerala exceeded the national average by around 41%. International
migration has also had considerable impacts on demographic structures,
expenditure patterns, social structures and poverty levels. In recent times, a sudden
increase in migration to the Middle East has resulted in steep rise in the remittances
of foreign money in our country. In 1979, it was found that the annual remittances
170
to the tiny state of Kerala were estimated to Rs.4000 million. The rising inflow Development, Migration and
Displacement
of money from the Gulf countries has resulted in the building of houses and
buying of agricultural land, and even investments in business and industry. This
has also resulted in the rise in the levels of consumption in the family. Money is
also being spent on children’s education. On the other hand, the outflow of men
has caused labour shortages and has pushed wages upwards. In recent times, a
sudden increase in migration to the Middle East has resulted in steep rise in the
remittances of foreign money in our country. In 1979, it was found that the annual
remittances to the tiny state of Kerala were estimated to Rs.4000 million. The
rising inflow of money from the Gulf countries has resulted in the building of
houses and buying of agricultural land, and even investments in business and
industry. This has also resulted in the rise in the levels of consumption in the
family. Money is also being spent on children’s education. On the other hand,
the outflow of men has caused labour shortages and has pushed wages upwards

Industrialisation widens the gap between rural and urban areas, inducing a shift
of the workforce towards industrialising areas. There is extensive debate on the
factors that cause populations to shift, from those that emphasize individual
rationality and household behaviour to those that cite the structural logic of
capitalist development (cf. de Haan and Rogaly, 2002). Moreover, numerous
studies show that the process of migration is influenced by social, cultural and
economic factors and outcomes can be vastly different for men and women, for
different groups and different locations (ibid.). Given the diversity in the nature
of migration in India, the causes are also bound to vary. Migration is influenced
both by the pattern of development (NCRL, 1991), and the social structure (Mosse
et al, 2002). The National Commission on Rural Labour, focusing on seasonal
migration, concluded that uneven development was the main cause of seasonal
migration. Along with inter regional disparity, disparity between different
socioeconomic classes and the development policy adopted since independence
of India has accelerated the process of seasonal migration. In tribal regions,
intrusion of outsiders, the patterns of settlement, displacement and deforestation,
also have played a significant role.

12.3.1 Causes and Consequences

The major reason of voluntary migration is economic. In most of the developing
countries, low agricultural income, agricultural unemployment and under
employment are the major factors pushing the migrants towards areas with greater
job opportunities. Even the pressure of population resulting in a high man-land
ratio has been widely recognised as one of the important causes of poverty and
rural outmigration. Thus, almost all studies indicate that most of the migrants
have moved in search of better economic opportunities. This is true of both internal
as well as international migration. The most important economic factors that
motivate migration may be termed as ‘Push Factors’ and ‘Pull Factors’. In other
words it is to see whether people migrate because of the compelling circumstances
at the place of origin which pushed them out, or whether they are lured by the
attractive conditions in the new place. Now we shall discuss these factors.

i) Push Factors: The push factors are those that compel or force a person, due
to various reasons, to leave that place and go to some other place. For
example, adverse economic conditions caused by poverty, low productivity,
unemployment, exhaustion of natural resources and natural calamities may
171
Issues in Development Praxis compel people to leave their native place in search of better economic
opportunities. An ILO study reveals that the main push factor causing the
worker to leave agriculture is the lower levels of income, as income in
agriculture is generally lower than the other sectors of the economy. Due to
rapid increase in population, the per capita availability of cultivable land
has declined, and the numbers of the unemployed and the underemployed
in the rural areas have significantly increased with the result that the rural
people are being pushed to the urban areas. The non-availability of alternative
sources of income in the rural area is also another factor for migration. In
addition to this, the existence of the joint family system and laws of
inheritance, which do not permit the division of property, may also cause
many young men to migrate to cities in search of jobs. Even sub division of
holdings leads to migration, as the holdings become too small to support a
family.

ii) Pull Factors: It refer to those factors which attract the migrants to an area,
such as, opportunities for better employment, higher wages, better working
conditions and better amenities of life, etc. There is generally cityward
migration, when rapid expansion of industry, commerce and business takes
place. In recent years, the high rate of movement of people from India as
well as from other developing countries to the USA, Canada and now to the
Middle-East is due to the better employment opportunities, higher wages
and better amenities of life, variety of occupations to choose from and the
possibility of attaining higher standard of living. Sometimes the migrants
are also attracted to cities in search of better cultural and entertainment
activities or bright city lights. However, pull factors operate not only in the
rural-urban migration, but also in other types of internal as well as
international migration

iii) Push Back Factors: In India, and in some other developing countries also,
another important factor which plays crucial role in migration is ‘push back
factor’. In India, according to Asish Bose, the urban labour force is sizeable,
and the urban unemployment rates are high, and there also exist pools of
underemployed persons. All these factors acts in combination as deterrents
to the fresh flow of migration from the rural to urban areas. He calls this as
a ‘push back factor’. He further adds that if new employment opportunities
are created in the urban areas, the first persons to offer themselves for
employment are the marginally employed already residing in those areas,
unless of course special skills are required.

Migration from a region characterised by labour surplus helps to increase the

average productivity of labour in that region, as this encourages labour-saving
devices and/or greater work participation by the remaining family workers. On
the other hand, there is a view that migration negatively affects the emigrating
region and favours the immigrating region, and that migration would widen the
development disparity between the regions, because of the drain of the resourceful
persons from the relatively underdeveloped region to the more developed region.
But the exodus of the more enterprising members of a community cannot be
considered a loss, if there is lack of alternative opportunities in the rural areas.
As long as migration draws upon the surplus labour, it would help the emigrating
region. It will have adverse effects only if human resources are drained away at
the cost of the development of the region. Another important point is that when
172
migration draws away the unemployed or underemployed, it would enable the Development, Migration and
Displacement
remaining population of the region to improve their living conditions as this
would enable the remaining population to increase the per capita consumption,
since the total number of mouths to be fed into is reduced as a result of emigration.
However, the labour-sending regions may gain economically by the money
brought in by the emigrants. In India, the influx of the rural migrants to cities
and towns has resulted in a steady outflow of cash from the urban to rural areas.
Most migrants are single males, who after securing urban employment generally
send a portion of their income to their village homes to supplement the meagre
incomes of their families. At the same time, it also affects the savings of the
family as sometimes the migrants take money (family savings) with them, which
is necessary for their travel and stay in a new place. It is also found that the
return migrants to rural areas had doubled from 6.5 per cent (in 1993-94) to 12
per cent (2007-08), while in urban areas return migrants had doubled too from
5.4 per cent to 11 per cent in the same time period. However the rate of return
migrants is higher for males than females both in rural and urban areas. Moreover,
for rural areas it as higher as 24 per cent for males and 11 per cent to females
while for urban areas there is not much male female difference.(49th and 64th
NSSO)
Check Your Progress 2
1) Tick mark the correct answer :

i) One of the important reasons for the out migration of the rural people
is:
a) growing pressure of population,
b) rural poverty
c) rural unemployment
d) all of the above.
ii) Factors which attract the migrants for migration are known as:
a) Push factors,
b) Pull factors,
c) Push back factors,
d) All of the above.
iii) Which one of the following is not a type of migration:
a) Rural to Rural.
b) Rural to Urban
c) Urban to urban
d) None of the above.
2) How is the labour-sending region benefited by the process of migration?
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................... 173
Issues in Development Praxis
12.4 DISPLACEMENT
Displacement is more than physical dislocation. It is being uprooted and
dismemberment of the socio-economic webs of life with traumatic experiences.
It results into a spiral of impoverishment. Displacement threatens the existence
and identity of people. There is a process of dispossession in displacement.
Displaced populations leave their homes in groups, usually due to a sudden impact,
such as an earthquake or a flood, threat or conflict. There is usually an intention
to return home. There are two types of displacement resulting from development
projects:

1) Direct displacement: It leads to actual displacement of people from their

locations.

2) Indirect Displacement: It leads to a loss of livelihood. It forced to leave

the home region to which they are attached and for which they have the
knowledge to make a living most effectively .This displaced populations
often become impoverished .The displacement of people as a result of
development projects, policies and processes, therefore, constitutes a social
cost for development.

12.4.1 Internally Displaced persons

An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to flee from his
or her home but who remains within his or her country’s borders. They are often
referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a
refugee. The 50% of internally displaced people and the refugees were thought
to be in urban areas in 2010, many of them in protracted displacement with little
likelihood of ever returning home. A 2013 study found that these protracted urban
displacements had not been given due weight by international aid and governance
as historically they had focused on rural camp displacement responses. The study
argues that this protracted urban displacement needs a fundamental change in
the approach to those who are displaced and their host societies. They note that
re-framing responses to urban displacement will also involve human rights and
development actors and local and national governments. They call for a change
in the narrative around the issue is needed to reflect ingenuity and fortitude
displayed by displaced populations, the opportunities for self-sufficiency and
safety represented by urban areas, and that the displaced can make a contribution
to their host societies.

12.4.2 Displacement and Development

The issue of internal displacement became more prominent too because of the
realization that peace and reconstruction in war-torn societies depended on the
effective reintegration of displaced persons. Many of the countries devastated
by civil war—such as Mozambique, Angola and Liberia—had anywhere from
one-third to three-quarters of their population forcibly uprooted. It thus became
impossible to talk about reconstruction and development without taking into
account the return and reintegration of IDPs.

Unlike wars between nations, civil wars, particularly when they divide countries
along racial, ethnic, linguistic, or religious lines, do not resolve themselves easily.
174 When states are monopolized by or identified with one ethnic group to the
exclusion or marginalization of others, displaced persons easily fall into a vacuum Development, Migration and
Displacement
of responsibility in the state. In Burundi, for example, the Tutsi-dominated army
does not provide protection for internally displaced Hutu. In the Sudan, the Arab,
Muslim government of the north is directly engaged in persecuting the non-
Arab, non-Muslim population of the south, 4 million of whom have become
displaced.

The developmental projects like large dam, mining, power projects and nature
conservations have displaced the people from their habitat. These were considered
as a symbols of modern progressive world. The issue ,which is equally important
and often overlooked is as to what is the type of society that was and is sought to
be ‘displaced’ is by this modern vision of progress and development. The people
and communities who are displaced through development projects live on the
margins of society such as tribes, pastoralists and subsistence agriculturalist. It
is important to ask ‘what’ and ‘how’ of displacement, but more important is the
question ‘why’ and ‘whose’. Displacement is a process where poorer sections
are ‘pushed’ out of their own habitat. It is a situation where the marginalized
people have no other choice but move from their own village or place of origin
to another place. The local inhabitants lose their command over the resources.
The plight suffered by the displaced, many are now asking: whose nation is it?
Whose good is being served? Is it for the planners, administrators, implementing
agencies or upper middle class or marginalized sections of the society? (Fernandes
1997) Planners and administrators invariably capitalize on and manipulate the
relatively weaker socio-economic and political position of the Displaced Persons
(DPs). Their numbers are underestimated. They are treated indifferently and only
minimal cash compensation, if at all, is paid to them. They are rarely granted
security of tenure or alternative developed land. Often after a painful and traumatic
period of establishing a new lifestyle, they are again informed, they must move
again to make way for yet another project. Apart from the immediate economic
loss, displacement also brings about social, cultural and psychological dislocation.
The physical displacement of the people leads to their uprooting from their socio-
cultural base which is no less pathetic than the dispossession of land. They lose
their traditional mechanism of social control, and as a result social tensions
increase among them (Fernandes, 1997).

Land is sacred to the tribals because that is the only resource they have for their
sustenance. About 70 per cent of India’s population, most of whom are tribals,
primarily depends on land related work and agricultural production. Thus, land
for them is a means of livelihood and the basis of socio-economic relationship.
Alienation from land and displacement have threatened the livelihood of millions.
People are displaced without any consultation or participation in the development
process. Furthermore, they are denied their rightful share in the gains of the
development project that displaces them. A very large number of the displaced
belong to the 4 Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and women are the worst
sufferers. Moreover, rehabilitation is still not an integral part of any displacement
plan (Ibid.:v)

The notion of ‘development’ by dispossessing tribals of their land is contradictory

in terms. The Government is aware of the “traumatic psychological and socio-
cultural consequences” besides deprivation and displacement of their lands,
livelihoods and resource-base. The stress, however, seems to be on “compulsory
acquisition of land for public purpose” and the inevitability of displacement. It is
175
Issues in Development Praxis also noted that the landless agricultural workers, forest dwellers, tenants and
artisans, etc., those dependent of the “acquired assets”, though severely affected,
are not eligible for cash compensation, but offers mighty little for them.
Check Your Progress 3
1) What is the displacement?
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

12.5 DEVELOPMENT, MIGRATION AND

DISPLACEMENT: INTERLIKAGES
Development, migration and displacement are interrelated. Migration can help
advance the development of the community if the community can live with the
changes migration brings to it. For some time now there has been a growing
debate on the relationship between migration and development that has originated
from the discussion on relationship between refugees and development assistance.
The debate has largely been developed with a ‘northern’ (European, North
American) perspective with core concepts largely representing ideas commonly
accepted in Europe and North America. For instance, it is a common assumption
that migration can be significantly reduced once the origin countries reach a
higher level of development. However, empirical evidence suggests that the
relationship between migration and development is much more complex and
that development often leads to more rather than less migration. There is an
inter-relation between displacement and migration.Migration is not a new
phenomenon and it is not going to end in the near future. Ever since the existence
of humanity, human beings have been and are still migrating. Existing
anthropological and archaeological literature indicates that the early human beings
migrated from one place to another for security, sustenance and stability. In various
periods in the history of mankind, ranging from the Vedic period through the
colonial period to the contemporary times, migrations in varying degrees has
been taking place. In the contemporary world the phenomenon of migration has
been quite common.
The history of Indian economic and industrial development is a never ending
story of displacement of people. The available reports indicated that many people
were internally displaced due to development projects in India. Although they
only make up eight percent of the total population, more than 50 per cent of the
displaced were tribal peoples (HRW, January 2006). Until 1990, about 85.39
lakhs tribals had reportedly been displaced due to industrialization and
development projects like dams, power projects, nature conservation, etc., but
their rehabilitation and resettlement always remained a neglected subject. For
example, tribals constituted 8.2 per cent of the total population of India, according
to the 2001 Census. But they also constituted 55.1 per cent of the total displaced
persons as a result of so-called development projects (ACHR Weekly Review,
176 December 2006).
Thus, displacement is a process where poorer sections are ‘pushed’ out of their Development, Migration and
Displacement
own habitat. It is a situation where the marginalized people have no other choice
but move from their own village or place of origin to another place. The local
inhabitants lose their command over the resources. Their numbers are
underestimated. They are treated indifferently and only minimal cash
compensation, if at all, is paid to them. They are rarely granted security of tenure
or alternative developed land. Often after a painful and traumatic period of
establishing a new lifestyle, they are again informed, they must move again to
make way for yet another project. Apart from the immediate economic loss,
displacement also brings about social, cultural and psychological dislocation.
The physical displacement of the people leads to their uprooting from their socio-
cultural base which is no less pathetic than the dispossession of land. They lose
their traditional mechanism of social control, and as a result social tensions
increase among them (Fernandes, 1997).

About 70 per cent of India’s population, most of who are tribals, primarily depends
on land related work and agricultural production. Thus, land for them is a means
of livelihood and the basis of socio-economic relationship. Alienation from land
and displacement have threatened the livelihood of millions. People are displaced
without any consultation or participation in the development process. Furthermore,
they are denied their rightful share in the gains of the development project that
displaces them. A very large number of the displaced belong to the Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes and women are the worst sufferers. Moreover,
rehabilitation is still not an integral part of any displacement plan (Ibid.:v).

12.6 LET US SUM UP

In this unit we discussed the concept of migration and its forms, relationship
with migration and development and its causes and consequences. Then we
discussed displacement and its relations with development. Last section of this
unit discussed the linkages between migration, displacement and development.

12.7 KEY WORDS

Industrialization: The process of socio-economic transformation of a human
group from an agrarian society to an industrial one.

Rehabilitation: The process of restoration of the earlier state of displaced/affected

persons/families in a new habitation.

Migration: A process of movement of the population from one place to another

for a considerable period of time.

12.8 FURTHER READINGS

Sinha and Ataullah, 1987. Migration: An Interdisciplinary Approach, Seema
Publishers, Delhi.

Premi, M.K. 1980. Urban Out-Migration : A Study of its Nature, Causes and
Consequences, Sterling Publishers, New Delhi

177
Issues in Development Praxis
12.9 SPECIMEN ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR
PROGRESS
Check Your Progress 1
1) a) Emigration
b) Out-migration
c) Emigration
d) Immigration
e) Inmigration
Check Your Progress 2
1) i) d) ii) b) iii) d)
2) It helps increase the average productivity of the labour in that region, since
migration encourages the labour-saving devices and greater work
participation by the remaining labourers. This region also gains economically
by the money brought in by the emigrants. It results in the level of rise in
the levels of consumption, education, technology of production as well.
Check Your Progress 3
1) Displacement is a particular form of migration, in which individuals are
forced to move against their will.

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Arjan de Haan (2006) ‘’Migration in the development studies literature ‘’ UNU-
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Balbo. M.,( 2008), International Migration and Right to the City, UNESCO
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Bell, Martin (2003),”Comparing Internal Migration between countries: Measures,
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Biplab Das gupta (1975) ‘’Migration from villages ‘’EPW (October18, 1975) Development, Migration and
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Issues in Development Praxis Fernandes Walter & Paranjpye. Ed. “Hundred Years of Involuntary Displacement
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HRW, January 2006. http://migration.ucdavis.edu /mn/index.php

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 Development, Migration and
UNIT 13 LIVELIHOOD AND Displacement

SUSTAINABILITY*
Structure
13.0 Objectives
13.1 Introduction
13.2 Livelihood and Sustainability: Issues in Development Praxis
13.2.1 Livelihood and Sustainability: Concepts
13.2.2 Livelihood Approach and Sustainability
13.3 Livelihood Opportunities and Issues: In Rural/Urban areas
13.4 Sustainability and Livelihoods as Policy Priority
13.5 Let Us Sum Up
13.6 Key Words
13.7 Further Readings
13.8 Specimen Answers to Check Your Progress

13.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit you will be able to:
Discuss livelihood as a subject in the process of development;
Describe the problem of sustainability with regard to development;
Examine the various opportunities for livelihood and issues in rural and
urban areas.; and

Explain the role that state plays with schemes and policy with regard to
livelihood and sustainability.

13.1 INTRODUCTION
In this block on Issues in Development Praxis, we have already discussed
Development, Migration and Displacement in depth in the previous unit. In the
present unit, we will be looking at the issues of Livelihood and Sustainability.
The debate on development is incomplete without discussing the basic issues of
livelihood and sustainability. The following sub-sections will specify the various
related aspects and how they are relevant as issues in the development praxis.

Before we look at the concepts of livelihood and sustainability, let us first discuss
development as a process.

The institutional and organizational structure of a society which includes its

attitudes, values, power structure and traditions can be referred to as social system.
Development as Michael Todaro (2015) defines is not just purely an economic
phenomenon but rather a multi-dimensional process involving reorganization
and reorientation of entire economic and social system. It is a process of improving
the quality of all human lives with three important aspects:

* Written by Dr.Uzma Azhar, Independent Researcher, Delhi

181
Issues in Development Praxis 1) Raising peoples’ living levels, i.e. incomes and consumption, levels of food,
medical services, education through relevant growth processes

2) Creating conditions conducive to the growth of peoples’ self-esteem through

the establishment of social, political and economic systems and institutions
which promote human dignity and respect

3) Increasing peoples’ freedom to choose by enlarging the range of their choice

variables, e.g. varieties of goods and services

In the 1950s and 1960s, development debate focused on the economic aspect of
development. Development of the country was assessed through GDP (gross
domestic product) / GNP(gross national product). Higher GDP/ GNP meant higher
per capita income for its citizens. The first UN Development Decade was launched
by the General Assembly in December 1961 and it ended in 1970, which called
on all its member states to intensify their efforts to mobilize support for measures
required to accelerate progress toward self-sustaining economic growth and social
advancement in the developing countries.

Thus, much of the concern of development is to bring about visible and significant
change in people’s circumstances. The implication here is that development
‘entails high degrees of capacity, equity, empowerment, sustainability, and
interdependence.’ (Bryant and White, 1982). The larger debates on development
focused on the sustainability aspect in the 1980s as the effects of unchecked
economic growth resulting in environmental problems became evident.

13.2 LIVELIHOOD AND SUSTAINABILITY:

ISSUES IN DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
Now let us look at the concepts of livelihood and sustainability in detail, their
meaning and how they are interconnected with the larger issues of development.

13.2.1 Livelihood and Sustainability: Concepts

Livelihoods can be simply defined as earning means to sustain life in the society.
People take up different skills to support their lives and their families. It refers to
earning an income as well as capability (which can be both, meaning as it enables
a livelihood and an end, as it supports exercise and improvement of ability to
gain livelihood).

“A livelihood system comprises the capabilities, assets (including both material

and social resources) and activities required for a means of living. A livelihood
is sustainable when it can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks and
maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets both now and in the future, while
not undermining the natural resource base” (Carney 1998, 2). Livelihood does
not refer to a single activity as it also includes “complex, contextual, diverse and
dynamic strategies developed by the households to meet their needs” (Gaillard
et al. 2009, 121).

Livelihood is securing resources to live in the society, which can include tangible
assets (e.g. food stocks, valuables such as gold, jewellery, cash savings) and
resources (e.g. land, water, trees, livestock, farm equipment) as well as intangible
182
assets such as claims (i.e. appeals or demands which can be made for material, Livelihood and Sustainability
moral or other practical support) and accessibility to opportunity (to use resource/
store/service/to obtain information/material/technology/ employment/food/
income).

The term “sustainable” in accordance with development came into popular use
after the 1987 report of the World Commission on Environment and Development,
popularly known as the Brundtland Report (or the Brundtland Commission),
this report was largely in response to the international environmental and
ecological interests’ and their apprehensions. It defined sustainable development
as ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs´ (WCED 1987, p. 43).

Sustainability refers to the enhancement or maintenance of productivity of

resources on a long-term basis. A single household can be enabled to gain
sustainable livelihood in many ways:

a) through ownership of assets like land/ livestock ; b) rights to grazing, fishing,

hunting and gathering; c) through stable employment with adequate remuneration;
or d) through varied repertoires of activities.

The social indicators of sustainable development as framed by the United Nations

Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) in 1995 are broadly categorised
as: i) Poverty ii) Governance, iii) Health, iv) Education and v) Demography.
Check Your Progress 1
1) Define Livelihood.
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2) What is sustainability?
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3) Explain development as a multi-dimensional process.

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Issues in Development Praxis 13.2.2 Livelihood Approach and Sustainability
The availability of adequate stocks and flow of food and cash to meet basic
needs would refer to the essentials of livelihood. The maintenance or enhancement
of resource productivity on a long-term basis would mean a sustainable livelihood.
Sustainable livelihood by a household can be secured in many ways: ownership
of land/ livestock / trees; rights to grazing/ fishing/ hunting and gathering; through
stable employment with adequate remuneration; or through varied repertoires of
activities. Any definition of livelihood sustainability has to include the ability to
avoid, or more usually to withstand and recover from, any kind of stresses and
shocks that may occur due to natural or any other calamity.

Many research studies on different regions, specify how prehistoric cultures

actually reflected effects of the environmental conditions and human adjustment
to these conditions over time reflecting in their livelihoods’ as well. For instance,
climate changes led to-
i) Patterned movements or migration to and from human settlements,
ii) Formation of sedentary (agrarian/settled) cultures,
iii) Alteration in the population size,
iv) Scheduling of activities as per different seasons.
v) Large populated societies adapted their cultural lifestyles to the changing
landscape through changes in agriculture.

In the sociological and anthropological studies, ‘livelihoods’ have always been

an essential component of the society. In the early 1940s,Evans-Pritchard,
described the Nuer’s way of “making a living” in Sudan (Evans-Pritchard 1940).
Karl Polanyi, through his posthumous book ‘The Livelihood of Man’ (1977),
gave the concept of livelihood a more ‘theoretical’ perspective by considering
the economy as socially, culturally and historically embedded, as opposed to
mainstream economics that is merely concerned with the individual maximizing
behavior.

Livelihood studies have to be understood in terms of policy initiates in for

example, poverty alleviation programmes which aim at opportunities and
constraints in thearrangements that either prevent or enable the poor from
organizing effective livelihood strategies. The effectiveness would lead to more
well-being and more sustainability and less vulnerability for the poor.

For example, to address the issue of craft women in the rural part of Gujarat and
to organise rural poor for their livelihood security, SEWA (Self Employed
Women’s Association, organization set up by Ela Bhatt in 1972 for poor, women’s
self-employment) has adopted the strategy of ‘livelihood finance’. SEWA used
an integrated approach for capacity building, capital formation and social security
as this was the only means of livelihood for women, they started production-
cum-training centers to make crafts by women self-sustainable and commercially
viable.

184
Check Your Progress 2 Livelihood and Sustainability

1) What does livelihood sustainability entail?

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13.3 LIVELIHOOD OPPORTUNITIES AND ISSUES

IN RURAL/URBAN AREAS
Let us look at the available livelihood opportunities in India’s rural areas and the
issues of sustainability with regard to those opportunities.

Agriculture: Majority of population in India are directly or indirectly dependent

upon primitive agricultural practices. According to 2011 Census, more than 60%
in rural India are involved in subsistence agriculture. The farmers get less income
despite such a huge proportion of the rural population engaged in agriculture,
due to smaller investments in agricultural assets and low access to agricultural
technology and lack of inputs from the state or private sector machinery. And,
since the land available to each family has remained the same and the number of
family members has grown, supporting all of them through agriculture alone has
become difficult. Migration to towns and cities in search of jobs is a reality, but
these are also not always available partly because they lack the qualifications
and then join the informal sector in the cities.

Livestock: In India especially in rural areas, livestock is an economic asset, and

symbolizes investment and insurance for the poor. Although the products (such
as milk, eggs), or services (such as work, transport) or the live animals themselves
can be used for domestic consumption and/or regular cash income, the livestock
can also be sold in the event that a household faces a major expenditure or
unexpected event.

Forests: The main source of energy in rural areas is still non-commercial fuel
wood and animal waste. Women often go to forest areas in search of fuel wood.
Additionally, tribal populations living in or near forest areas have an important
relationship with forests as they depend on forest resources to meet their
subsistence needs throughout the year. India’s tribal communities also share
synergetic relationship with the forests, there is a religious veneration and grateful
recognition of the forests as their economy, culture and tradition are inextricably
linked to the forests. In the recent past, the introduction of several forestrelated
decrees have legally enabled government to expropriate forest land to maximize
profits, encourage conservation and discourage forest dwellers from using forest
resources. This led to the systematic marginalization of forest dwellers as they
were deprived from using the forests, causing severe displacement and leading
to the extreme poverty. As a result of social movements by tribals, the Forest
Rights Act (FRA) was passed in December 2006 and enacted in January 2008.
The act holds precedence over all other forest and wildlife-related laws, allowing
185
Issues in Development Praxis forest -dependent communities to access forests. It allows cropping cultivated
land in forested landscapes; collecting dry and fallen fuel wood and fodder for
households; and collecting medical plants (by non-destructive ways) for sale.

Migration : Majority of people depending on rain-fed agriculture do not find

work throughout the year in many rural villages. Under such circumstances,
while some inhabitants depend on other livelihoods strategies such as labour
jobs within the villages, and forest-based activities, some inhabitants migrate
during off-seasons.

Enterprises: In rural areas, many households have a diversity of livelihood

activities, small and micro enterprises being one of them, which provide additional
income and employment to the households. For example, in Bastar (Chhattisgarh),
a small proportion of households (16%) reportedly have an enterprise, primarily
local liquor brewing and petty shops (Deepti KC and Samik, 2015). Majority of
enterprises sold their products in the local market within villages across the
districts. Presence of middlemen, lack of capital, and raw materials were some
key difficulties that a majority of entrepreneurs face across regions. In Sirohi
(Rajasthan), where many entrepreneurs are involved in livestock enterprises,
their biggest problem is wild animals eating their livestock(Deepti KC and Samik,
2015).

Livelihood related Problems in Rural Areas: Many households with no or

very little land (marginal farmers) work as labourers in villages. Small percentage
of people engaged in public and private sector, majority of workers are engaged
as wage labourers in an unorganized markets. Unorganized market casual
labourers are also the most vulnerable as they are deprived of the benefits of
labour laws and receive erratic and lower wages. In order to have a uniform
wage structure and to reduce disparity in minimum wages across the country, the
Government of India has set National Floor Level Minimum Wage at ¹ 115/day.
There is also a significant gender disparity in wages across the regions as women
received less wages as compared to men for similar work. After government
introduced MNREGA in 2005, rural households became entitled to 100 days of
employment on public works at the statutory minimum wage, and any job card
holding rural household can apply for employment if they are willing to do
unskilled manual work. Employment is provided within 15 days, and if not, a
daily unemployment allowance in cash has to be paid, once the Gram Panchayat
issues a dated receipt of the written application for employment. MNREGA
however, has its own problems as not all job card holders get 100 days of work,
get less, inconsistent and delayed payments.

Urban Livelihoods’ Sustainability Problems: Lewis Mumford in his 1961

published book, The City in History: Its Origins, Its Transformations, and Its
Prospects explored the development of urban civilizations. According to Mumford
urban planning should put emphasis on an organic relationship between people
and their living spaces. Urban areas offer a large range of activities and
employment opportunities from public to private to industry based to unorganized
to entrepreneurship to various skill and creative work based employments.

Due to an increase in population in the cities, there is pressure on the existing

urban water supplies and sanitation facilities, which have resulted in
environmental problems posing extreme health hazards. Bad living conditions
create circumstances for epidemics and national health crises. Congestion,
186
vehicular and industrial emissions leading to air and water pollution, lead to Livelihood and Sustainability
decrease in productivity of sick workers, contamination of existing water sources,
and pressure on the city’s infrastructure make for poor urban living conditions
Check Your Progress 3
1) Why do farmers’ earn less income in agriculture in India?
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2) What is Forest Rights Act (2008)?

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3) Describe MNREGA scheme’s main features.

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Major Government Livelihood based schemes in India :
Following are some schemes for the farmers–

Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana

Seed Village Scheme&National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed

Areas (NWDPRA)
For the Livestock:
Livestock Health in rural areas
National Project for Cattle and Buffalo Breeding
Assistance for Modernisation of Slaughter Houses and Carcass Utilization
Plants
Assistance to States for Feed and Fodder Development
Livestock Insurance
187
Issues in Development Praxis Establishment/Modernisation of Rural Slaughterhouses
Integrated Sample Survey Scheme for Estimation of Major Livestock
Products
Central Poultry Development Organisation
Regional Stations For Forage Production & Demonstration
Dairy Development
Intensive Dairy Development Programme (IDDP)
Strengthening infrastructure for quality & clean milk production
Dairy/Poultry venture capital funds
Fisheries
Centrally Sponsored Scheme on “Development of Inland Fisheries and
Aquaculture”
Centrally Sponsored Scheme on “Fisheries Training And Extension”
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is
the apex bank tasked for providing financial support for agriculture and
other development activities in rural India.

In the Urban areas, DeenDayalAntyodayaYojana or National Urban Livelihoods

Mission (NULM) for skill training for the urban poor.

Sustainable development can be studied using long-standing concepts of economic

analysis, according to Todaro and Smith (2015). These include three tools: using
an appropriate valuation of future social benefits (generally placing more weight
on the future than does the market); paying proper attention to market failures
(focusing on externalities and public goods); and explicitly valuing natural
resources as a form of capital stock rather than just a stream of consumption.
Future growth and overall quality of life are critically dependent on the quality
of the environment. The natural resource base of a country and the quality of its
air, water, and land represent a common heritage for all generations. To destroy
that gift indiscriminately in the pursuit of short-term economic goals penalizes
both present and, especially, future generations. It is therefore important that
policymakers incorporate some form of environmental accounting into their
decisions. For example, the preservation or loss of valuable environmental
resources should be factored into estimates of economic growth and human well-
being. (pg492, 2015)

Environmental challenges, caused by poverty include health hazards created by

lack of access to clean water and sanitation, indoor air pollution from biomass
stoves, and deforestation and severe soil degradation, all most common where
households lack economic alternatives to unsustainable patterns of living. The
principal health and productivity consequences of environmental damage include
water pollution and scarcity, air pollution, solid and hazardous wastes, soil
degradation, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and global warming caused climate
change.

In order to meet the expanded food needs of rapidly growing populations, it is

estimated that food production will have to increase. And, because land in many
188 areas of the world is being unsustainably overexploited by existing populations,
meeting this output target will require essential changes in the distribution, use, Livelihood and Sustainability
and quantity of resources available to the agricultural sector.

The caretakers of rural resources such as forests and water supplies are provided
mostly by women, along with agricultural labor. Hence, it is of primary importance
that environmental programs be designed around their role. To reduce their
dependence on unsustainable methods of production, poverty alleviation efforts
must also target women’s economic status. The increased accessibility of
agricultural inputs to small farmers and the introduction of sustainable methods
of farming will help create attractive alternatives to current environmentally
destructive patterns of resource use. Capital and technology investments can
greatly increase the yields from cultivated land and help ensure future food self-
sufficiency.

More than half of India’s population depends on agriculture, hunting, fishing, or

forestry. Access to the benefits of environmental resources is often highly
inequitable and in some cases, the poor have been losing control of some of their
traditional natural resource commons, including forests, fields, and fishing areas,
to new private property rights arrangements or to corrupt public land management.

Often rural poor lack access to adequate farmland or to resources for earning
adequate livelihoods from nature, such as access to forests, cattle to graze, or
boats and equipment for fishing, natural resource extraction has been locally
unsustainable and has occurred in a manner and on a scale that often bypasses
the poor. In many areas, common village lands or water are privatized and given
to big corporations for logging, fishing, and mining without regard to the people
who depend on these lands and resources for their livelihoods and way of life.
Even common lands used by the poor are declared as “protected” areas (corruption
and poaching may negate any ecological gains although)—affecting the livelihood
and way of life of the poor, giving them no incentive to take part in protection.
The genuine empowerment of poor people and their communities to assert their
rights comes with ‘pro-poor governance’, where local efforts are required to
reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

Check Your Progress 4

1) What is growth without development?

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2) Mention two ways in which government policy can encourage livelihood

sustainability.
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189
Issues in Development Praxis
Legal Framework in Livelihood Planning
Besides resettlement policy as the main legal framework, the following
regulations and Acts should be considered as the legal bindings for instituting
the livelihood plan.

The Minimum Wages Act, 1948: The employer is supposed to pay not less
than the minimum wages fixed by appropriate government as per provisions
of the Act.

The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961: The Act provides for leave and some
other benefits to women employees in case of confinement or miscarriage,
etc.

The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976: The Act provides for payment of equal
wages for equal work without discriminating on gender basis.

The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986: The Act
prohibits employment of children below 14 years of age in certain occupations
and processes and provides for regulation of employment of children in all
other occupations and processes. Employment of child labour is prohibited
in building and construction industry.

The Building and Other Construction Workers’ (Regulation of

Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996: All the establishments
who carry on any building or other construction work and employs 10 or
more workers are covered under this Act; the employer of the establishment
is required to provide safety and other welfare measures, such as canteens,
first-aid facilities, ambulance, housing accommodation for workers near the
workplace, etc.

Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972: Gratuity is payable to an employee under

the Act on satisfaction of certain conditions on separation if an employee has
completed 5 years.

Payment of Bonus Act, 1965: The Act provides for payments of annual
bonus subject to a minimum of 8.33% of wages and maximum of 20% of
wages.

Trade Unions Act, 1926: The Act lays down the procedure for registration
of trade unions of workers and employers. The trade unions registered under
the Act have been given certain protection from civil and criminal liabilities.

Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970: The Act provides
for certain welfare measures to be provided by the contractor to contract
labour.

Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923: The Act provides for compensation

in case of injury by accident arising out of and during the course of
employment.

Factories Act, 1948: The Act lays down the procedure for approval of plans
before setting up a factory, health and safety provisions, welfare provisions,
working hours and rendering information regarding accidents or dangerous
occurrences to designated authorities.
190
 Livelihood and Sustainability
Industrial Disputes Act, 1947: The Act lays down the machinery and
procedure for resolution of industrial disputes, for e.g. in what situations a
strike or lock-out becomes illegal and what are the requirements for laying
off or retrenching the employees or closing down the establishment.

Industrial Employment Act, 1946: The Act provides for laying down rules
governing the conditions of employment. ¾ Employees’ Provident Funds
and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952: The Act provides for monthly
contributions by the employer plus workers.

In addition, the regulations and Acts governing usage of natural resources in

case of alternative livelihoods creation have to be considered for Livelihood
Planning.

13.5 LET US SUM UP

In this unit, we discussed livelihood and sustainability as topics in the process of
development. We examined livelihood and sustainability as concepts in detail
and debated the livelihood opportunities and issues of sustainability with regard
to rural and urban areas. Lastly, we looked at the role of the state with its schemes
and policy interventions, how it could ensure inclusive development through
livelihood sustainability by keeping women and poor as its focus

13.6 KEY WORDS

Social System: The institutional and organizational structure of a society which
includes its attitudes, values, power structure and traditions.

Development: A multi-dimensional process involving reorganization and

reorientation of entire economic andsocial system. It is a process of improving
the quality of all human lives.
Livelihood: Earning means to sustain life in the society.
Sustainability: The enhancement or maintenance of productivity of resources
on a long-term basis.

Livelihood Sustainability : It includes the ability to avoid, or more usually to

withstand and recover from, any kind of stresses and shocks that may occur due
to natural or any other calamity.

13.7 FURTHER READING

Todaro Michael P and Smith Stephen C (2015) Economic Development 12th
Edition, Pearson, New York.

De Haan Leo. J. (2012) The Livelihood Approach: A Critical Exploration,

ErdkundeBd. 66, H. 4 (October - December 2012), pp. 345-357: https://
www.jstor.org/stable/41759104 Accessed on 20-03-2020

Bryant Coralie& White Loise G (1982) Managing Development in the Third

World, Boulder, Co: Westview.
191
Issues in Development Praxis
http://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/6752/3/Unit-24.pdf
Deepti KC&AdhikariSamik (2015) Socio Economic and Gender analysis of Tribal
Population in India, IFMR LEAD.

13.8 SPECIMEN ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR

PROGRESS
Check Your Progress I
1) Livelihood can be simply defined as earning means to sustain life in the
society.

2) Sustainability refers to the enhancement or maintenance of productivity of

resources on a long-term basis.

3) Development is a process of improving the quality of all human lives with

three important aspects: 1. Raising peoples’ living levels, i.e. incomes and
consumption, levels of food, medical services, education through relevant
growth processes, 2. Creating conditions conducive to the growth of peoples’
self-esteem through the establishment of social, political and economic
systems and institutions which promote human dignity and respect, &3.
Increasing peoples’ freedom to choose by enlarging the range of their choice
variables, e.g. varieties of goods and services
Check Your Progress II
1) Livelihood sustainability includes the ability to avoid, or more usually to
withstand and recover from, any kind of stresses and shocks that may occur
due to natural or any other calamity.
Check Your Progress III
1) The farmers get less income despite such a huge proportion of the rural
population engaged in agriculture, due to smaller investments in agricultural
assets and low access to agricultural technology and lack of inputs from the
state or private sector machinery.

2) Forest Rights Act (FRA) enacted in January 2008, holds precedence over
all other forest and wildlife-related laws, allowing forest -dependent
communities to access forests. It allows cropping cultivated land in forested
landscapes; collecting dry and fallen fuel wood and fodder for households;
and collecting medical plants (by non-destructive ways) for sale.

3) Government introduced MNREGA in 2005, rural households became

entitled to 100 days of employment on public works at the statutory
minimum wage, and any job card holding rural household could apply for
employment if they were willing to do unskilled manual work. Within 15
days, employment is provided and if not then a daily unemployment
allowance in cash has to be paid.
Check Your Progress IV
1) Growth without development, meaning social and income disparities, unjust
treatment of minorities, lack of access of the poor to welfare schemes,
192
 indicate somewhere that social inclusion and human development along Livelihood and Sustainability
with ecological sustainability should be top priorities for every country
and their governments worldwide along with economic growth figures.
Social and economic development are not possible without corresponding
changes in the social, political, legal and economic institutions of a country.

2) a) To reduce their dependence on unsustainable methods of production,

poverty alleviation efforts must also target women’s economic
status.The caretakers of rural resources such as forests and water
supplies are provided mostly by women, along with agricultural labor.
Hence, it is of primary importance that environmental programs be
designed around their role.b) The genuine empowerment of poor people
and their communities to assert their rights with”pro-poor governance”,
where local efforts are required to reduce poverty through the
conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

REFERENCES
Todaro Michael P and Smith Stephen C (2015) Economic Development 12th
Edition, Pearson, New York.

De Haan Leo. J. (2012) The Livelihood Approach: A Critical Exploration,

ErdkundeBd. 66, H. 4 (October - December 2012), pp. 345-357: https://
www.jstor.org/stable/41759104 Accessed on 20-03-2020

Bryant Coralie& White Loise G (1982) Managing Development in the Third

World, Boulder, Co: Westview.
http://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/6752/3/Unit-24.pdf
Deepti KC&AdhikariSamik (2015) Socio Economic and Gender analysis of Tribal
Population in India, IFMR LEAD.

http://www.ifmrlead.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Tribal%20Report-
Design_March2015_After%20Book%20Edit.pdf accessed on 2nd April,2020

ht tps:/ /www.in di a.gov.in /p eop le-grou ps /co mm uni ty/ru ral-ind ian/
livelihoodaccessedon 2nd April,2020

http://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/9867/1/Unit%202.pdfaccessed on
2nd March,2020

http://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/39206/3/Unit-1.pdfaccessed on
2ndMarch, 2020

193
Issues in Development Praxis
UNIT 14 GRASSROOTS INITIATIVES*
Structure
14.0 Objectives
14.1 Introduction
14.2 Inclusive Development and Grassroots Initiatives
14.3 Institutions and Grassroots Initiatives’
14.4 Grassroots’ Initiatives
14.4.1 Nazdeek
14.4.2 SEWA
14.4.3 SAHAYOG
14.4.4 MNREGA
14.4.5 MSME Schemes
14.4.5.1 MSME Sampark
14.4.5.2 MSME Samadhaan
14.4.5.3 Technology Centre Systems Program (TCSP)
14.5 Let Us Sum Up
14.6 Key Words
14.7 Specimen Answers to Check Your Progress
14.8 Further Readings

14.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit you should be able to:

Discuss grassroots initiatives and their relationship with the process of

inclusive development;

Describe different aspects of grassroots innovations and their relationship

with institutions; and

Examine the various grassroots initiative programs’ by various groups and

government.

14.1 INTRODUCTION
We have already discussed Livelihood and Sustainability in the previous unit, in
this unit we will be looking at the grassroots initiatives and their relevance in the
process of development.

To meet hopes and aspirations of people in the post- Second World War era,
development was a primary concern for most nations, especially the newly
independent Afro-Asian countries. Since per capita income in these newly
independent nations was low, they opted for programs which could provide them
a high growth rate in little time. There were many other listed priorities but
assumption was that once high growth rate is achieved the trickle-down effect
would ensure everyone getting benefit out of it. The policy makers relied on the
growth enhancement programs which would also lead to less unemployment,
194 * Written by Dr.Uzma Azhar, Independent Researcher, Delhi
poverty alleviation and other problems getting resolved. Economic growth and Grassroots Initiatives
economic development were used interchangeably. The reality soon became
manifest and in the post 1960s era economists from the developing world like
Amartya Sen, Samir Amin and Andre Gunder Frank criticized the Western world
dominated economic growth model which led to further growth of economic
inequalities in the society. Problems like poverty, unemployment, literacy, health
issues, etc. for the developing and underdeveloped world especially for their
marginalized population became huge challenges to deal with. The concept of
‘development’ itself has gone through lots of changes, now development means
along with economic growth, improvement in the social sectors (education, health,
literacy, gender equality, less conflicts on cultural issues, etc.), human
development (measures for all around growth of human personality) and
sustainable development (nature or environment friendly growth). For Gunnar
Myrdal (1960) development is an upward movement of the whole social system
by providing better living condition, viz. adequate food, better housing, improved
facilities for health, education and training, and the general improvement of
cultural facilities, which are all desirable.

Let us now see how grassroots initiatives are an important component of inclusive
development.

14.2 INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT AND

GRASSROOTS INITIATIVES
According to Amartya Sen (1999), a country can grow rapidly but still do badly
in terms of literacy, health and life expectancy. Sen interprets development as a
process that expands what he terms, the entitlements and capabilities, of the
people. He opined that instead of concentrating on national product or aggregate
income, development economists should concentrate on the entitlements of people
and the capabilities these entitlements generate.

Social indicators such as education, health, women’s empowerment and

participation by the socio-economically backward people in the development
process promote faster development. Therefore, social inclusion is, today,
considered as one of the important factors of growth and development.
Development cannot just be about utilities and growth in income.

Development should include ‘….several distinct but interrelated components,

such as economic facilities, political freedoms, social opportunities, transparency
guarantees and protective security… The process of development is influenced
by these interconnections. Corresponding to multiple interconnected freedoms
there is a need to develop and support plurality of institutions, including
democratic systems, legal mechanisms, market structures, education and health
provisions, media and other communication facilities. The institutions can
incorporate private initiatives as well as public arrangements and also more mixed
structures such as non-governmental organisations and corporate entities. (Sen,
1999, pg. 53)

As we try and understand Indian informal sector which dominates the grassroots
initiatives mostly. We also need to know the section of population that comprises
it.

195
Issues in Development Praxis NSS 55th Round Survey on Employment-Unemployment identified close to half
a billion people involved in the informal sector, with over 90% unregulated jobs.
According to a 2010 Oxfam report on “Social discrimination in India” Dalits
and Adivasis constitute the highest proportion of the population” in the informal
sector workforce, with 89% of them distributed across four poverty groups: the
extremely poor, poor, marginal, and vulnerable. Also, the report says, 85% of
Muslims in the informal sector “find themselves in lowest four income groups”.
The informal sector also includes 95%women working in it.

We are going to discuss Inclusive growth now which, by very definition, implies
an equitable allocation of resources with benefits accruing to every section of
the society.For inclusive growth and development we have to understand
initiatives from the lower strata of society creating innovations due to
necessity,hardships and challenges in their lives. Grassroots innovation may refer
to an informal environment where individuals may innovate to solve local
problems, produce and transform with indigenously available materials. They
may also involve non-banking and micro financing institutions which may include
helping with local products like bamboo, coconut, arecanut cocoa, spices’
plantations and their harvesting, processing, packaging, sales, etc.

Grassroots innovations can also include socially inclusive processes which may
be innovative at their source.

The institutionalization of grassroots initiatives’from their emergence in the

informal environment in India has had specific features:

The process of institutionalization in India is built on ‘bottom-up’ principle,

completely conditioned by reality(based on locally available resources) and
demand based, maintaining efficiency and utilization of resources.

Grassroots’ initiatives’supporting and promoting local organizations are

horizontal, based on networking principles(not hierarchical). It is also a
way to save time and resources hence cooperation becomes faster and more
effective.

For local people working in the informal environment,formalization by

organizations within this institutional architecture is to provide internal
(within the informal environment) and external (with the formal sector)
communication to enable innovative product development (scouting,
verification, validation, testing, prototyping, IPR protection,
commercialization, technology transfer, social diffusion) and decreases
transaction cost at all stages.

The institutionalization of grassroots initiatives makes it possible to scale it

on the regional, national and international levels leading to economic growth
and development as entrepreneurs and creativity promoters.
Check Your Progress I
1) Define development.
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

196 .......................................................................................................................
2) What does inclusive growth imply? Grassroots Initiatives

.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
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.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

3) What are grassroots’ innovations?

.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

4) Mention two features of institutionalization of grassroots initiatives’ from

their emergence in the informal environment in India.
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.......................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................

14.3 INSTITUTIONS AND GRASSROOTS

INITIATIVES
In India, the institutionalization of innovations from the grassroots’ based informal
environment has been awareness of the imaginative and inventive capacity of
the informal sector and appreciation of the population who were generally
considered as much useful for the national economy.As equal participants, the
formal sector integrated national innovation system with the ability of grassroots
innovators.

The one who is at the local (bottom level) must be given freedom and means to
exercise their power and plans with less bureaucratic interventions from the
top.The ‘bottom’ up’ approach has been found to be a more successful approach
to facilitate faster development leading to decentralization of power.With regard
to grassroots innovations,the centralized top-down approach is less participatory,
more instructive and too bureaucratic in nature.

Figure: 1: The Top Down approach showing power and authority flowing from
the Central /National government to state to district to panchayat level
(centralization). Bottom’Up approach shows power and authority flowing from
local panchayat/district to state to national government (decentralization) 197
Issues in Development Praxis
National Government

State Government

Local Self Government

Recent years have seen the shift from the highly centralized system towards the
decentralized system. Besides outlining their functional activities,Constitution’s
(73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 provided constitutional status to the local bodies
in rural areas. In Article 243(6) of the Constitution, the entrustment of functions
to the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) are mentioned, that the area of
development and planning would be the primary role of Panchayats, and
implementation of economic development and social justice programs are to be
the focal points of all their activities.

It is through decentralized planning which incorporates the needs at the level of

micro-unit, be it the area of a Gram panchayat or a cluster of villages. It is the
most desirable system to promote the expression of the citizens’ views in shaping
official policy.

National government works as a facilitator and encourages convergence of

technologies and facilitates functioning of rural knowledge centers without having
to go through governmental clearances, in the scenario of decentralization. Local
rural knowledge centers’functioning at the grassroots is strengthened by
community-based organizations, Panchayati Raj institutions, NGOs and self-
help groups which function as ‘knowledge centers’ at the village level.

At village level, ‘knowledge centers’ are where generic information to local

specific knowledge where new internet medium, with other usual mediums like
television, radio, vernacular newspapers are used by men and women trained to
process information for their and community’s benefit. For example, knowledge
regarding availability of financial resources with government agencies, CSR
(corporate social responsibility) funds, other donations from international NGOs
and government schemes and related information.

Lately, Government of India has been making efforts for promoting cash-less
economy and to provide the facility of seamless digital payment to all citizens of
India, especially the poor covered under various schemes in a convenient, easy,
affordable, quick and secure manner.

And since, we are taking about micro enterprises’ here, if we look at the
distribution of enterprises’ categories through urban and rural through data
released by Government of India in its Micro, Medium and Small enterprises
(2018-19), we see micro enterprises dominating in both urban and rural areas.
198
 Grassroots Initiatives
Distribution of Enterprises Category Wise (Numbers in lakh)*

Sector Micro Small Medium Total Share (%)

Rural 324.09 0.78 0.01 324.88 51

Urban 306.43 2.53 0.04 309.00 49

All 630.52 3.31 0.05 633.88 100

*Source: Government of India Micro, Medium and Small Enterprises Annual Report 2018-19

The numbers across urban and rural show how the informal sector through micro
enterprises’ is at the core of grassroots’ initiatives’.
Check Your Progress II
1) What is top-down approach?
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2) Mention two main functions of Panchayat.

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14.4 GRASSROOTS INITIATIVES

Let us now look at some of the grassroots’ initiatives in detail. We had talked
about the idea of inclusive growth and development, i.e. marginalized groups
should be given opportunities for their skill enhancement so they become self-
sufficient on their own.

According to estimates 90 percent of all women workers are self-employed in

India. They are generally skilled in traditional crafts or occupations, are usually
very poor, and have little to no assets. It was the UN Decade of Women (1975-
85) that had put the focus on pay equity, gendered violence, land holding and
other human rights of women in India as well.Despite their productivity until the
1980s, women’s contributions to the informal sector remained unrecorded. Even
today,self-employed women have no job security and are not protected by any
effective legislation.

199
Issues in Development Praxis Largely engaged in the agricultural and tertiary sectors, self-employed women
can be grouped as: (a) home-based producers: those who weave fabric etc., make
pottery, bidi, agarbati, papad and produce ready-made garments, spin yarn and
do embroidery work; (b) small vendors and hawkers, selling vegetables, fruits,
and other household items from their carts or makeshift stores; and (c) providers
of services’: manual laborers such as agricultural laborers, construction workers,
contract laborers, laundry and domestic workers. They also include rag pickers
and workers who gather forest products (SEWA, 1995, p. 1,quoted in Datta 2003).

Against the overall backdrop of women’s labor in India, the case of self-employed
women has to be examined. According to an estimate there are 314 million people
in the workforce, ninety million of whom are women. Most, i.e. almost 90 per
cent of these women are employed in agriculture and related activities, which
include work in informal household industries, petty trades and services, and
construction. There are no government agencies or procedures to determine wage
structure, working hours, working conditions, grievance management, or
retirement and other benefits for self-employed women in the informal sector.
Employers are at liberty to set parameters in the informal sector, there are no
standards, contracts or recourse for women workers when they are mistreated or
wages promised them are unpaid. (Datta 2003)

With regard to support for women’ we have a lot of women’s groups working on
the grassroots’ initiatives’ promoted under Development of Women and Child in
Rural Areas (DWCRA), Womens’ Development Programs (WDP), Mahila
Samakhya, Water and Sanitation Board, Bank Credits (self-help groups), Dairy
projects, Forestry,Handicrafts, etc. mainly at government initiatives, etc.

There are large number of village-based groups mobilized by a registered women’s

cooperative/ society located elsewhere around credit, non-formal education,
income generating activities etc. having informal affiliation to the latter.The
awareness generation program of the Central Social Welfare Board and the Mahila
Samakhya Programme of the Ministry of Education are other examples of the
government attempts grassroots’initiatives’ and empowerment. While the first
programme was almost totally dependent on NGO intermediaries, the second
programme involves both government and NGO intermediaries.

Maharashtra faced its worst drought in more than 40 years last year. While nothing
can ultimately wring water from desiccated land, Swayam Shikshan Prayog
ensured that more than 72,000 women were empowered to effectively navigate
the conditions. For years, the organization has promoted sustainable agriculture,
enabling women to obtain land and engage in a form of mixed-crop, organic
farming that uses little water. For many women, it gave them economic
independence and allowed them to build cooperatives with like-minded women.

14.4.1 Nazdeek
Formed in 2012, Nazdeek is a legal empowerment organization for Adivasi (tribal)
womenvolunteers, who identified and reported cases of maternaland infant health
care violations occurring in teaplantation areas in Sonitpur District, Assam (as
part of their End Maternal Mortality Now Project). Through this initiative, women
could report violations through text message, using numeric codes corresponding
to specific locations and types of violations. Like the CEGSS project,the cases
200
 Grassroots Initiatives
were mapped onto a publicly accessibleUshahidi platform (endmmnow.org).
Locations included facilities run by tea plantation managers,which are legally
required to provide basic healthcare to their workers; as well as public
facilities,such as hospitals; Anganwadi centers (communitycenters providing
health and food services to womenand children); and ration shops. To
implementthe project, Nazdeek worked with a local organizationand an
international partner.

14.4.2 SEWA
The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) was formed in 1972 in
Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Its membership has grown rapidly from 30,000 in 1996 to
318,527 in 2000 (SEWA, 2000) since its inception. Membership stands at 205,985
in the state of Gujarat alone.

Two-thirds of SEWA’s members are based in the rural areas. The organization
crosses lines of religion and caste, as one-third of the members are Muslim and
another third are scheduled castes. SEWA organizes women into cooperatives
and operates like a trade union. Apart from the work,it also provides various
services such as banking, child-care, legal aid, and vocational instruction. SEWA
defines self-employed women to include workers who earn a living through their
own small businesses or wage labor and do not receive regular salaries like formal
sector workers.

SEWA set up by Ela Bhatt (since 1972), has transformed itself from a trade
organization of poor, self-employed workers to a labor, cooperative and women’s
movement, which has contributed significantly to the economic and social well-
being of large numbers of women and households. SEWA focuses on women’s
struggle to address these issues. Its support to self-employed women is geared
toward achieving remuneration, career prospects, and skill development in sectors
where these are marginal or nonexistent (Varma et al., 1996, p. xxv). Focusing
on the idea of self-help, SEWA also strengthens women’s bargaining power, offers
new alternatives, and succeeds in organizing women to enter the mainstream of
the economy

14.4.3 SAHAYOG
In 1992, SAHAYOG was established, awomen’s health and rights organization
based in Uttar Pradesh (UP). SAHAYOG is composed of approximately12,000
poor, rural women leaders from Dalit,Muslim, and tribal communitieshas a long-
standingcollaboration with community-based organizations(CBOs) throughout
UP and with a grassroots women’s forum (MahilaSwasthyaAdhikarManchor
MSAM). In 2011, the government initiated a scheme to ensure free comprehensive
maternity care, and the UP state government requested that civil society
organizations monitor its implementation independently. In 2012, SAHAYOG
launched a project to use interactive voice response to document health
providerdemands that women make informal payments for maternal health care
services they were entitled to receive free of charge. A two-district pilot version
of the project was evaluated in 2013, and then the project was refined and scaled
up to four districts in 2014.

201
Issues in Development Praxis 14.4.4 MNREGA
Government led grassroots’ initiative, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is the world’s largest works-based
social protection scheme which has covered all of India since 2006 and aims at
enhancing livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of
guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult
members volunteer to do unskilled manual work (Kaur et al., 2017). The scheme
ensures social inclusion and strengthens Panchayati Raj (local government)
institutions,it also provides improved productive assets and livelihood resources
in rural areas, proactively. The assigned projects may include public works linked
to natural resource management (mostly watershed-related projects), improving
conditions of assets for vulnerable sections of society, and building common and
rural infrastructure.
MNREGA’s key characteristics of the program are:
employment for all rural households (one member per household) who are
willing to work (100 days/year),
free registration with a job guaranteed within 15 days of application,
fixed minimum wage with weekly payments,
at least a third of employees must be women.
MNREGA implementation program in a country with over 833 million people
living in rural areas requires a massive effort. It comes under Ministry of Rural
Development (MoRD) which is responsible for ensuring the adequate and timely
delivery of resources and funds to the states and for reviewing, monitoring and
evaluating the use of these resources.

In the recent past, 2020 migration of laborers due to pandemic has led to renewed
interest in MNREGA for ensuring rural employment for the marginalized poor.

14.4.5 MSME Schemes

We had discussed about the Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs)
above, let us look at a few grassroots’ initiatives for promotion of MSMEs.

14.4.5.1 MSME SAMPARK

A job portal launched on 27.06.2018, is a digital platform wherein jobseekers
(i.e. passed out trainees / students of MSME Technology Centres and recruiters
can register themselves for mutually beneficial interaction.

14.4.5.2 MSME SAMADHAAN

To address the issue of Delayed Payment to MSEs Sections 15-24 of The Micro,
Small and Medium Enterprises Development (MSMED) Act, 2006 deals with
Delayed Payments to Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) by the buyers to the
MSE supplier.
Beyond 45 days delay in payment gives MSEs suppliers the option of approaching
the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council (MSEFC) constituted under
the Act in all States/UTs. Under Section 16 of the MSMED Act, delayed payment
202 to supplier units, attracts compound interest with monthly interests at three times
of the bank rate notified by the Reserve Bank. To further the objectives of MSMED Grassroots Initiatives
Act, 2006 Ministry of MSME launched a portal (http:// samadhaan.msme.gov.in/
) on 30th October, 2017. The portal gives information about individual CPSEs/
Central Ministries, State Governments etc. and other buyers regarding the
payments pending with them in respect of the MSEs.The portal also facilitates
MSEs to file their delayed payments related complaints online. After 15 days of
online filing of the case, it is automatically registered with the MSEFC concerned.

MSME SAMADHAAN portal, since its launch on i.e. 30th October 2017, MSEs
have filed 18509 applications related to delayed payments. Apart from cases
where delayed payments were settled mutually between seller and buyers, 4682
applications were converted to cases by 11.6.2019.

14.4.5.3 Technology Centre Systems Program (TCSP)

Ministry of MSME is implementing Technology Centre Systems Program (TCSP)
to expand and upgrade the network of Technology Centres (Tool Rooms and
Technology Development Centres) in the country.Its objectives’ are :

1. Establishment of Physical Infrastructure: This includes establishment of 15

New Technology Centers. 2. upgradation/ modernization of existing Technology
Centers. 3. Engaging the services of world class Technology Cluster Manager
(TCM) to help enhance the technical capabilities of sector specific TCs and
thereby helping them in linkages with the MSMEs and institutions.
Check Your Progress III
1) Discuss the different categories of self employed women.
.......................................................................................................................
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.......................................................................................................................

2) What is Nazdeek program? When was it started and for whom?

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3) Discuss SEWA’s work model.

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203
Issues in Development Praxis 4) Howdoes MNREGA lead to livelihood security for the poor?
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14.5 LET US SUM UP

In this unit, we started with the discussion on the process of inclusive development
and the relevance the grassroots initiatives have in the process of development.
We looked at different aspects of grassroots innovations and their relationship
with institutions of the state. Then, we learnt about the various grassroots initiative
programs’ like, NAZDEEK, SEWA, SAHAYOG and MNREGA, MSME
schemes, in detail being run by various groups/ organizations and by the
government for various marginalized categories and groups of people.

14.6 KEY WORDS

Development: Development is a process that expands the entitlements and
capabilities of the people.

Inclusive growth: It implies an equitable allocation of resources with benefits

accruing to every section of the society.

Grassroots innovations: It may refer to an informal environment where

individuals may innovate to solve local problems, produce and transform with
indigenously available materials.

14.7 FURTHER READING

Banerjee N.K. (2016) Grassroot Empowerment(1975-1990):A Discussion
P a p e r h t t p s : / / w w w. c w d s . a c . i n / w p - c o n t e n t / u p l o a d s / 2 0 1 6 / 0 9 /
GrassrootEmpowerment.pdfaccessed on 18th April,2020

Datta,Rekha(2003)From Development to Empowerment: The Self-Employed

Women’s Association in India, International Journal of Politics, Culture, and
Society, Vol. 16, No. 3, Toward Gender Equity: Policies and Strategies pp. 351-
368

Ustyuzhantseva Olga V. (2015)Institutionalization of grassroots innovation in

India, Current Science Association, Vol. 108, No. 8, pp. 1476-1482 .

Porras Ina and Kaur, Nanki (2018) India’s Mahatma Gandhi Guaranteed
Employment programme, International Institute for Environment and
Development, London.

Sen,Amrtya (1999) Development as Freedom, Oxford University Press, New

Delhi.
204
 Grassroots Initiatives
14.8 SPECIMEN ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR
PROGRESS
Check Your Progress I
1) Sen interprets development as a process that expands what he terms, the
entitlements and capabilities, of the people. He opined that instead of
concentrating on national product or aggregate income, development
economists should concentrate on the entitlements of people and the
capabilities these entitlements generate.

2) Inclusive growth implies an equitable allocation of resources with benefits

accruing to every section of the society.For inclusive growth and
development we have to understand initiatives from the lower strata of
society creating innovations due to necessity, hardships and challenges in
their lives.

3) Grassroots innovation may refer to an informal environment where

individuals may innovate to solve local problems, produce and transform
with indigenously available materials. They may also involve non-banking
and micro financing institutions which may include helping with local
products like bamboo, coconut, arecanut cocoa, spices’ plantations and their
harvesting, processing, packaging, sales, etc.

4) a) The process of institutionalization in India is built on ‘bottom-up’

principle, completely conditioned by reality (based on locally available
resources) and demand based, maintaining efficiency and utilization of
resources.

b) Grassroots’ initiatives’ supporting and promoting local organizations

are horizontal, based on networking principles (not hierarchical). It is
also a way to save time and resources hence cooperation becomes faster
and more effective.
Check Your Progress II
1) Top down approach means the shift from highly centralized system towards
the decentralized system where the local (bottom level) must be given
freedom and means to exercise their power and plans with less bureaucratic
interventions from the top. The ‘bottom’ up’ approach has been found to be
a more successful approach to facilitate faster developmentleading to
decentralization of power.

2) Panchayat Functions: the primary role of Panchayatsis in the the area of

development and planning, implementation of economic development and
social justice programs.
Check Your Progress III
1) Self-employed women can be grouped as: (a) home-based producers: those
who weave fabric etc., make pottery, bidi, agarbati, papad and produce
ready-made garments, spin yarn and do embroidery work; (b) small vendors
and hawkers, selling vegetables, fruits, and other household items from
their carts or makeshift stores; and (c) providers of services’: manual laborers
205
Issues in Development Praxis such as agricultural laborers, construction workers, contract laborers, laundry
and domestic workers. They also include rag pickers and workers who gather
forest products.

2) Formed in 2012, Nazdeek is a legal empowerment organization for Adivasi

(tribal) women volunteers, who identified and reported cases of maternal
land infant health care violations occurring in tea plantation areas in Sonitpur
District, Assam (as part of their End Maternal Mortality Now Project).
Through this initiative, women could report violations through text message,
using numeric codes corresponding to specific locationsand types of
violations.

3) SEWA organizes women into cooperatives and operates like a trade union.
Apart from the work, it also provides various services such as banking,
child-care, legal aid, and vocational instruction. SEWA defines self-
employed women to include workers who earn a living through their own
small businesses or wage labor and do not receive regular salaries like formal
sector workers.

4) MGNREGA(2006) is the world’s largest works-based social protection

scheme which aims at enhancing livelihood security in rural areas by
providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial
year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled
manual work. The scheme ensures social inclusion and strengthens
Panchayat Raj (local government) institutions, it also provides improved
productive assets and livelihood resources in rural areas.

REFERENCES
Banerjee N.K.(2016) Grassroot Empowerment(1975-1990):A Discussion
P a p e r h t t p s : / / w w w. c w d s . a c . i n / w p - c o n t e n t / u p l o a d s / 2 0 1 6 / 0 9 /
GrassrootEmpowerment.pdf accessed on 18th April,2020

Datta,Rekha(2003)From Development to Empowerment: The Self-Employed

Women’s Association in India, International Journal of Politics, Culture, and
Society, Vol. 16, No. 3, Toward Gender Equity: Policies and Strategies pp. 351-
368

Ustyuzhantseva Olga V. (2015)Institutionalization of grassroots innovation in

India, Current Science Association, Vol. 108, No. 8, pp. 1476-1482 .

https://www.jstor.org/stable/24905392?Search=yes&resultItemClick=accessed
on 11th June, 2020

Porras Ina and Kaur, Nanki (2018) India’s Mahatma Gandhi Guaranteed
Employment programme, International Institute for Environment and
Development, London.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep 16742? Search = yes & result Item Click = &

seq = 1 # metadata_info_tab_contents accessed on 11th June, 2020.

Sen,Amrtya(1999)Development as Freedom, Oxford University Press, New

Delhi.
206
Schaaf Marta, Chhabra Shruti, Flores Walter, Feruglio Francesa, Dasgupta Grassroots Initiatives
Jashodhara and Ruano Ana Lorena (2018),Does Information and Communication
Technology Add Value to Citizen-Led Accountability Initiatives in Health?
Experiences from India and Guatemala

Health and Human Rights ,Vol. 20, No. 2, SPECIAL SECTION: Human Rights
and the Social Determinants of Health pp. 169-184 .
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26542069 accessed on 13th May, 2020
http://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/39239/1/Unit-1.pdfaccessed on 13th
May, 2020.
https://msme.gov.in/sites/default/files/Annualrprt.pdfaccessed on 12th June, 2020.

207