THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT

What is theory?

A theory is a set of ideas offering an explanation about something.

A development theory is a set of ideas that tries to explain a process of how the improvement in the
quality of human life can be achieved

What is Successful Development?

 When people are able to satisfy all their basic needs

 When people are able to find employment.
 When there are equal opportunities for all regardless of colour , class, religion or sex.
 When the people participate fully in decision making at all levels of society e.g. elections.
 When there are equal opportunities for all regardless of colour, class, religion or sex.
 When there are adequate social services.
 When there are improved standards of living.
 When there are high levels of education/ literacy.
 When there is increased productivity and wealth.
 Sustainable use of resources to meet the requirements of booth the present and future
generations.

A Development Theory

It tries to explain the following;

 The stages of development
 Factors that promote development.
 Factors that slow down development.
 Why some countries achieved more development than others.

THE MODERNISATION THEORY

Modernisation theory is an idea that emphasis that for countries of the South to develop they should
follow the path of development that most countries of the North followed.
 Also known as Rostow’s model of growth or the stages of growth theory
 It is based on how Europe and the USA developed.
 It assumes that all countries of the world should follow this path of development in order to
have a desirable development.
 The theory suggests that a country goes through the following stages of development

Stage 1: Traditional Society

 Dependence on subsistence agriculture.

 Technology is still simple or rudimentary
 A simple life, therefore low living standards

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  Barter trading
 Few towns

Stage 2: Pre Conditions for take off

 Improvement of transport network e.g. roads, Canals, railways.

 Agricultural revolution e.g. changes from subsistence to commercial farming.
 Introduction of fertilizers, hybrids, pesticides etc
 Specialization of work begins
 Improved technology that raises productivity.
 Urbanization starts

Stage 3 Take –Off

 Industry stimulates city growth,

 rapid urbanisation
 Investment in capital goods rises and quickens economic growth
 Some people become rich

Stage 4:Drive to Maturity

 Rapid increase in manufacturing and service industries, have more exports and fewer imports
 More people dependent on paid employment and wages generally improve
 Agriculture now fully mechanized with very few people engaged in it, more people in
industries
 Demand for consumer goods increases

Stage 5 : The Age of High Consumption

 High production of consumer goods.

 Large services sector that employs the majority of the people.
 High standards of living as wages are good for most people

Implications of this theory

 Invest in industry and infrastructure.

 Apply or borrow ideas from the Capitalist countries of the North,
 Emphasize the importance of education and training
 Encourage people to accept change
 Establish democracy
 Change subsistence agriculture into commercial farming.
 People should exercise patience and sacrifice because the fruits of development will be very
slow in coming.

Strengths of the Theory

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  The richest countries of the world followed this path of development e.g. USA, UK etc
 The Newly Industrialised Countries have also successfully followed this pattern of
development. e.g. South Korea
 Shows the importance of capital investments as a fuel for economic development.
 Stresses the need for sacrifice e.g. working for low wages so as to enjoy full benefits later.
 It acknowledges that change can be unpleasant and that certain groups will suffer in the
process.

Weaknesses of the theory

 Emphasizes economic growth at the expense of social, political and environmental

development and sustainability.
 It ignores the fact that Europe and the USA exploited the LDC’s during
colonialism/imperialism in order to develop or industrialize.
 Capitalism is not the only way to achieve development, USSR and China developed under
the Socialist mode of production
 LDC’s are unable follow the pattern because the western countries control their economies
and determine trade terms.
 Globalization, MNC’s, Free trade all make it difficult for LDC’s to develop
 Unfair international trading terms that favor the developed at the expense of the LDC’s, the
trade terms are set or determined by the developed countries
 In many countries the wealth has never trickled down
 In some countries industrialization is slow with the economy trapped by dependence on
producing primary products

B. DEPENDENCY THEORY

Dependency theory is a counter idea to modernization which states that countries of the South can
only develop if they break links with the North which has exploited them in achieving their
development
 Was developed in the 1960’s to try and explain why the LDC’s were failing to develop.
 Europe and North America became rich and developed through exploiting the poor countries
during colonialism.
 They exploited the resources of LDC’s and neglected their economies by not developing any
industries or infrastructure.
 Exploitation is still continuing today in the form of Neo-colonialism, that is the control of the
economies of LDC’s by developed countries through:

Trans- National Corporations or Multi National Companies

International loans (the debt trap)
Foreign Aid Control
International trade.
Dependency theorists argue that the LDC’s would be better off if they break off economic relations
with the developed countries and develop on their own.

Policies that should be followed

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-Break-off all economic ties with the developed counties.
-Become self-sufficient/reliant.
-Save and invest instead of borrowing.
-Spend very little on consumer goods but spend more on capital goods (i.e. machinery).
-Encourage local inventions (i.e. development of local technology).
-Encourages people to be patient and sacrifice for a better future.

Strengths of the theory

-Focuses on Social, political economic and environmental development.

-Acknowledges the inter-linkage of countries globally.
-Explains the crippling effect of colonialism.
-Emphasizes the need for self reliance in capital and technology.

Weaknesses

-It is atmosphere impossible for the poor countries to raise investment capital on their own.
-Countries will lose on all the benefits of international trade.
-It is impossible to cut off all international links because the World is linked up in so many ways
-Most LDC’s lack the capacity to develop the industrial technology on their own.
-Governments will face a lot of opposition if they stop importing western goods e.g. TV’s cars etc.
which most people aspire to have and find the North way of development as desirable.
-Some countries which have links with the North developed successfully without cutting links with
the North e.g. NIC’s
- Some countries which tried to break off the link and make their own way failed to achieve a
desirable development e.g Cuba, Tanzania etc

C. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THEORY

Sustainable development theory is a set of ideas that tries to explain how and why resources
should be used carefully to enable future generations to benefit from such resources.
Sustainable Development is the careful use of resources to enable future generations to also benefit
from them.

-Was developed in the 1970’s as a response to the damage to the environment by the developed
countries, for example pollution, depletion of species and resources, soil erosion, desertification and
rapidly rising global population.
-There was also concern with the unequal sharing of the world‘s resources e.g.80% are consumed by
the developed countries and 20% by LDC’s.
-It calls for both equitable sharing and the caring for the environment.

Policies that should be followed

- Stabilize population growth e.g. contraception, family planning.
- International environmental agreements i.e. Environmental laws against destruction and
pollution be put in place

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 - Use of appropriate technology to conserve resources and limit pollution
- More equal distribution of the world’s resources between the North and the South
- Recycling and reuse to prevent depletion.

Strengths

- Makes the world aware of the need for conservation.

- Highlights the dangers facing the world e.g. global warming, ozone layer destruction etc.
- Makes the world realize the need for cooperation in solving environmental problem.
- Alerts the world to the unfair distribution of the global resources.

Weaknesses

-New sources of minerals and energy may be discovered e.g. on other planets.
-New technology can be discovered to increase food production, reduce pollution or find mineral
substitutes.
-Alternatives for natural resources are being discovered all the time.
-Large populations force people to be resourceful and come up with new ideas (i.e. necessity is the
mother of invention)

ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPMENT

GENDER DEVELOPMENT

There has been a realization that women, despite being the majority population, have been excluded
from most areas such as;
 Politicals rights –few women in leadership positions.
 Legal rights- no laws protecting women against oppression or abuse.
 Access to education and training-most girls are uneducated because they are regarded as
being less important.
 Access to property –most societies prohibit women from owning property e.g. land livestock
 Unequal treatments at the work place-women are given low paying jobs even if they have
same qualifications as men ,i.e managerial positions are held by men mostly

Gender Equality in Development

The move to include women in development started in the 1970’s and 1980’s as a result of the
pressure from human and women’s rights groups. There was a realization that sidelining women had
serious negative implications.

Problems of sidelining women

 More than half of the human resources are underutilized.

 Large population families because women are ignorant of birth control-illiteracy
 Poor health for families and consequently an unhealthy unproductive nation.
 Less skilled manpower.

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  Fewer enterprises since women have less access to credit.

Policies that will allow women to participate in development

 Giving women full access to credit capital

 Giving women property rights.
 Giving women access to education e.g. Universal education (compulsory and free)
 Affirmative action for women that is programmes that deliberately accelerates the promotion
of women over men in education, Politics, business and the workplace
 Promoting women’s organizations that fight for their rights e.g. Emang Basadi, Metlhaetsile
 Including gender studies in the school curriculum to remove prejudice among the young
population.
 Legislation/ passing laws that gives equal rights to both men and women.

GLOBALISATION

Definition: This is the integration of the world’s economic, social and political systems into one
entity.
It involves interaction and interdependence of all the countries in the world – The Global village.
Globalization came about after the collapse of the Communist block in the 1980’s. Capitalism
became the dominant political and economic system.

The elements of Globalisation

 Improving technology and production: use of automated machines, information technology
and technology transfers to the LDC’s
 Integrated global communication network: i.e. Satellite radio, TV and radio networks, the
internet and global media publications ( newspapers, magazines)
 Trade liberalization: removal of trade barriers to facilitate the free movement of goods and
services across international borders
 Rise of Trans-National Corporations: Global business empires with subsidiaries all over.
They are far much more powerful economically than national governments.
 Decline of the Sovereign state: Independent nation states will cease to exist and to be
replaced by regional and international economic groupings e.g. The European Union

Problems created by globalization

 Increase in poverty and inequalities between the developed and LDC’s

 Concentration of capital and wealth in the developed countries
 Emergence of TNC’s that are difficult to control and monitor
 Marginalisation of the LDC’s from the global village because they lack capital, technology,
skills and have weak economies that are unable compete.
 Environmental degradation by Trans National Corporations

Globalisation challenges for Africa

- Education and training to produce competitive people who can work anywhere in world

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 - Regional integration and continental Union to enable African economies to compete on the
international market
- Controlling the repatriation of profits by TNC’s
- Controlling the brain drain i.e. the flight of skilled and professional labour to the developed
countries
- Shifting from Primary to secondary production
- Controlling the HIV/ AIDS pandemic
- Building a stable political climate in order to be able to attract investment.
- Changing the African mindset from consumerism to saving, investment and production.
- Respect for human rights and upholding their dignity and pride.

POPULISM

-It emphasizes on people being agents of their own development i.e. they should solve their own
problems with the help on non-Governmental Organizations
-Populism theorist believe that in today’s societies human development is obstructed by
 Concentration of power in government and private companies.
 Rigid government rules and regulations (i.e. bureaucracy) that prevent people from solving
problems immediately.
 Laws, decisions and actions that ignores the plight of the majority of the poor people.
 Emphasis on large-scale projects that benefit locals less.

Populism believes in small scale and community-oriented development project in industry and
agriculture particularly in the LDC’s.

Arguments for small scale projects

 They address people’s specific needs and wants

 Easy to finance and manage
 Can be operated by individuals since simple skills are required
 They are environmentally friendly
 They make use of local skills and resources
 Employment creation

Examples: Malaysia, and Indonesia: Their development was largely based on small scale business.
Cottage activities controlled by large companies and on a few large private companies