Population and Development - Lecture 1 - Historical & Conceptual Foundations Development Is it ... · A process · A project · A discourse A historical process . Those 18th and 19th century scholars interested in understanding the origins and consequences of industrialisation introduced the idea of 'historical' processes in human societies . E.g. Adam Smith - The Wealth of Nations (by reflecting upon the economics at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the book touches upon such broad topics as the division of labour, productivity, and free markets) (1776) · Marx's theory of history/stages of material progress (communal->feudal->capitalist->socialist) (1867) From ... Agrarian economy to an industrial economy ? Rural to urban ways of life ? 'Rule of man' to rule of law ? Superstition/religion to reason and science ? Communal to individualistic modes of social organisation Development came to be seen as a disruptive process involving qualitative and quantitative changes in the social, economic and political organisation of human societies which are associated with profound changes in material conditions. A project · E.A. Brett (2009) - A "conscious and collective enterprise" to improve the human condition . Origins began in the 18th and 19th century social reform movements that aimed to improve the conditions and prospects of the 'poor' through charity and public policy . Also from the 'civilising mission' of colonial powers and explicit concerns to prepare colonial subjects for self-rule · Emerged as a global project after WWII ? The creation of the UN system to promote peace, facilitate economic cooperation and help reconstruction efforts ? The Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe - first example of large scale foreign aid for development ? Decolonisation of Africa, Asia and Latin America
Millennium Development Goals (2000) · Agreed by 189 countries and 23 international organisations · 8 goals & 21 targets to be reached by 2015 - primary effort was to focus minds and funding agendas Sustainable Development Goals (2015) · Agreed by 193 countries and 23 international organisations · 17 goals and 169 targets A discourse . The vocabulary, concepts and theories of development constitute a discourse that shapes the way we think about different peoples and areas of the world · Some view 'development' as a problematic, pernicious, value-laden discourse that divides, dehumanises and serves as a tool of psychological repression Arturo Escobar (1992) · [Development has been] "a mechanism for the production and management of the Third World" · [the discourse and strategy of development has produced] "massive underdevelopment and impoverishment, untold exploitation and oppression" · [development was] "a top down, ethnocentric, and technocratic approach, which treated people and cultures as abstract concept, statistical figures to be moved up and down in charts of progress" Alvares (1992) · "Development is a label for plunder and violence, a mechanism of triage" Rahnema (1997) . "Poverty is a myth, a construct and the invention of a particular civilisation" Critiques . Deconstructing the discourse does not change the fact that there is poverty in the world · From a