Development is very controversial issue

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1. Introduction:
Great ideas are usually simple ideas, the fundamental concept which underline powerful
paradigm of thought are usually relatively straightforward and easy to grasp. Such is the
concept of development. Prior to second half of the twentieth century, the idea of
development originated. The second half of the twentieth century has been called the era of
development. The origins of this era have been attributed to:
o The need for reconstruction in the immediate aftermath of World War II
o The evaluation of colonialisminto Globalization and the establishment of new free trade
polices between so-called developed and underdeveloped nations
o Te start of the cold war
Over time Development has carried very different meanings. The term development in its
present sense dates from the postwar era of modern development thinking. Development is
not purely an economic phenomenon but rather a multi-dimensional process involving
reorganization and reorientation of entire economic and social system.
2. History and development
The origins of development are often traced back to the arrival of development economics in
the post war era. The late 1940s and early 1950s witnessed a rapid expansion in development
economics, as the concepts, methods and tools of mainstream economics were applied to the
problems of post-war reconstruction and development in Europe. Economists were not the
only ones to make significant contributions to development thinking in the 1950s and
1960s.The World War II-1960 somehow marked a new beginning of development thinking. The
birth of UN system, The Cold War, Decolonization was the inception of international
development cooperation was also significant criteria in concept of development changing
pattern over the years. The rapidly expanding literature on economic growth and development
was complemented with social, political and psychological studies of modernization. In essence
these theories argued that development depends on displacing traditional ‘values, attitudes
and norms’ with modern ones. It has been argued that this era was launched on January 20,

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1949, when Harry S. Truman made these remarks in his inaugural speech after his re-election;
the famous Point Four Program was presented. The last of his four points concerned the
developing world and promoted a substantial increase of international development assistance.
Truman concluded:
“We must embark on a bold new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances
and industrial process available for the improvement and growth of under developed areas.
The old imperialism- exploitation of foreign profit- as no place in our plans. What we envisage is
a program of Development based on the concept of democratic fair dealing“
--- Harry S. Truman, 1949
3. Traditional Aspects of Development:
Developments in the conventional sense considered development as economic development
only, where development means rise in per capita income and growth in the economy. It takes
into account the quantitative aspect of development such as national income, per capita
income, GDP. It doesn’t take into account the qualitative aspect that development also implies
leading a good quality of life where individuals develop themselves to the fullest. The
‘traditional’ approach to development has been to see economic growth as a proxy for
development: policies that led to growth where necessarily seen as pro-development and
inherently good.
In strictly economic terms, development as traditionally meant the capacity of a national
economy, whose initial economic condition as been more or less static for a long time, to
generate and sustain an annual increase in its gross national product (GNP) at rates of perhaps
5% to 7% or more. Economic development in the past has also been typically seen in terms of
the planned alternation of stricter of production and employment so that agricultures’ share of
both declines and that of the manufacturing and service industries increases.
4. The NewEconomic Aspects of Development:
Over the time the meaning of development has been changed. During the 1970s, economic
development came to be redefined in terms of the reduction or elimination of poverty,

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inequality and unemployment within the context of a growing economy. Redistribution of
growth became a common slogan.
Dudley Seers
posed the basic question about the meaning of development, this are-
 What has been happening to poverty
 What has been happening to unemployment
 What has been happening to inequality
If all three of these have declined from high levels, then beyond doubt this has been a period of
development for the country concerned. If one or two of these problems have been growing
worse, especially if all three have, it would be strange to call the result development even if per
capita income doubled.
In the View of Robert Chambers: To Chambers therefore development refers to all efforts to
offer welfare programs, aids, and resources toward the alleviating poverty, transforming rural
areas, and provision of the basic needs of the poor to ensure continuous survival of their race
through posterity.
World Bank, which during the 1980s, championed economic growth as the goal of
development, joined the chorus of observers taking a broader perspective when in its 1991
World Development Report, it asserted:
The challenges of development are to improve the quality of life. Development encompasses as
ends in sometimes better education, higher standard of health and nutrition, less poverty, a
cleaner environment, more quality of opportunity, greater individual freedom, and a richer
cultural life.
5. Evaluationof ModernNotionof Development:
Amartya Sen, the 1998 Nobel laureate in economics, argues that the capability to function is
what really matters for status as a poor or nonpoor person. Sen put it Economic growth cannot

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be sensibly treated as an end in itself. Development as to be more concerned with enhancing
the lives we lead and the freedoms we enjoy. Amartay Sen emphasized that,
DevelopmentasDistributive Justice- view development as improving basic needs Interest in social
justice which has raised three issues:
 1.Nature of goods and services provided by governments
 2. Matter of access of these public goods to different social classes
 3. How burden of development can be shared among these classes
 Target groups include small farmers, landless, urban under-employed and unemployed
Development as Economic Growth- Too often commodity output as opposed to people is
emphasized-measures of growth in GNP. Note here the persistence of a dual economy where
the export sector contains small number of workers but draws technology as opposed to
traditional sector where most people work and is dominated by inefficient technology.
DevelopmentasModernization- emphasizes process of social change which is required to
produce economic advancement; examines changes in social, psychological and political
processes;
 How to develop wealth oriented behavior and values in individuals; profit seeking rather
than subsistence and self sufficiency
 Shift from commodity to human approach with investment in education and skill
training
Three Core Values of Development:
Developmentisprocessof improvingthe qualityof all humanliveswiththree equallyimportantaspects.
These are:
 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-esteemthrough the
establishment of social, political and economic systems and institutions which promote
human dignity and respect

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 3. Increasing peoples’ freedom to choose by enlarging the range of their choice
variables, e.g. varieties of goods and services
Sustainable development:
The term sustainable development came into popular use after the 1987 report of the World
Commission on Environment and Development, popularly known as the Brundtland Report and
the Brundtland Commission, respectively. The report was largely a response to the growing
international environmental and ecological lobby. 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.”
Figure 1: Sustainable Development
According to UNDP, Development is to lead long and healthy lives, to be knowledgeable, to
have access to the resources needed for a decent standard of living and to be able to
participate in the life of the community.
6. Conclusion:
Development is a complex issue, with many different and sometimes contentious definitions.
The concept of development as encompassed several separate ideas in the past sixty years. So
the term development encompasses tree fundamental elements: Change, Improvement,
Sustainability
Change, i.e. something new or different is introduced. Examples:

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 Changes in the quantity of goods and services available in society (increased Production)
 Changes in access to goods, opportunities, and resources.
Improvement, i.e., the change is for the better examples:
 Improved health, nutrition, and physical fitness
 Increased life expectancy
 Increased family income
Sustainability, i.e. the cane or improvement in onion, not one time occurrence. Examples:
 Regular allocation of resources that support the improvement
 Improved capacity of supporting structures and institutions
One of the greatest challenges of development work is how to achieve all three aspects of
development- Change, improvement and sustainability.

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7.References:
 The companion to Development- Vandana Deshai & Robert B. Potter (2014)
 Economic Development; Todaro Smith (11t Edition)
 [Clark_D.A]._Te Elgar_Companion_to_Development_Studies
 The evolution of the concept of development: from economic growth to human
development; by Matthias Sant’Ana
 THE WORLD BANK. WHAT IS DEVELOPMENT? 23 October 2010
<www.worldbank.org/depweb/english/beyond/beyondco/beg_01.pdf>.
 WORLD BANK. WORLD BANK DEVELOPMENT REPORT. OXFORD: OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1993.