The Contested Nature of Development and its Evolving Perspectives.edited.edited
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Politeknik Keuangan Negaran STAN**We aren't endorsed by this school
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Management
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Dec 21, 2024
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7
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1The Contested Nature of Development and its Evolving PerspectivesStudentInstitutionCourseInstructorDate
2The Contested Nature of Development and its Evolving PerspectivesIntroductionGrowth is latterly one of the most popular concepts connected with changes and advancement, most commonly through upgrading the economic status of societies and nations. Nevertheless, when analyzing various courses, it is possible to infer that the meaning of the term 'development' and its priorities varies depending on historical and cultural settings. This dialectical essay analyses how development has grown to encompass social justice and ecological aspects from a mere economic concept and how post-development critics question theexistence of development. Using the essential readings and videos, I can show how these perspectives have challenged and changed my thinking about development and why it is not a singular concept. Development is not a neutral, universally accepted concept; it encompassescomplex, often conflicting ideals and practices shaped by power dynamics, historical legacies, and differing visions of progress.Defining DevelopmentDevelopment has evolved from an economic growth focus to a multi-faceted concept thatincludes social equity and sustainability. First, development was considered a process in which "backward" societies could grow and "emulate the Western model" through quantitative indicators such as GDP and interventions like modernization. In "Geographies of Developing Areas: The Global South in a Changing World, " Glyn Williams notes that early development approaches embrace economic growth and modernization models. Presumptions made within theframework of these models envisaged that the developing world enjoyed conditions similar to those of the Western world before industrialization (Williams et al., 2014). Such approaches focused on economic instruments while sometimes paying little attention to social and cultural
3aspects. However, development has changed over time depending on criticisms, especially regarding inequality and the impacts of the growth models on the environment.Integrating sustainable development goals (SDGs) is a significant paradigm shift in development practices. The based concepts of the SDGs are also clearly distinct from GDP-oriented models and give equal importance to the economic, social, and environmental spheres, such as eradicating poverty, promoting gender equality, and addressing climate change (Shafer etal., 2021). This broader definition of development thus acknowledges the fact that growth is not development and that any development that is to be meaningful must address the issues of quality, equity and sustainability. This realization changed my conception of development from the economic process to a more liberal concept encompassing human welfare and environmental sustainability.The Contested Nature and Critique of DevelopmentThe contested nature of development emerges from conflicting views on what constitutes progress and who defines it. In her chapter "The History of an Idea," Maggie Black continues that narrative, displaying how development as a concept always entailed a forcible imposition of Western values on non-Western cultures. Black stated that in its history, development has eulogized the Western way of life, painting the 'others' as 'backward' societies that require enlightenment so they can be developed (Black, 2007). A typical example of this perspective canbe observed through different development projects that have affected many local cultures and regions in promoting economic development.One of the best examples of development being the source of various problems is in Romania, where a Canada-based company planned an open cast mine for gold that would have huge repercussions regarding the environmental and cultural impairment of Roșia Montană.
4What was presented as a development project raised concerns about its effects on the local population and their cultural assets (Black, 2007). This example shows that the development projects promoted by the outside world pursue the interests of the world economy rather than those of the local populations, which raises questions on the clash of development and post-development discourse. These cases have made me change my perspective on development in a way that it often seems that it gives more money than the local benefit.Post-Development and Alternatives to DevelopmentPost-development challenges the notion of development itself, advocating for alternative,locally-driven pathways to progress. In his chapter "Post-Development and Alternatives to Development," Aram Ziai presents a radical critique of post-development, stating that development as a concept is still flawed since it is of Western origin. Some critics, such as Gustavo Esteva and Wolfgang Sachs, postulated that development sustains inequalities by forcing numerous homogeneous societies to adopt imported and alien values that not only displace indigenous cultures and markets but are also unattainable by many societies (Ziai, 2021). They argue that development should not be reformed but reinvented to address the failures it asserts to optimize for the less fortunate.According to Ziai, post-development discusses alternatives to development that encourage people to depend on local solutions that acknowledge their culture and geographical location (Ziai, 2021). For instance, post-development prefers autochthonous and cooperative systems of organizing the economy other than market or state systems. This showed me that development as a concept was more relative than I had once believed and considerably widened my perspective of the world. It inspired me to think that people might have different views on
5what progress means and how it can be attained differently from what has been depicted in the Western view.Implications of Global Wealth InequalityGlobal wealth inequality underscores the uneven distribution of development’s benefits, complicating assumptions about progress. One of the more damning criticisms leveled against traditional development paradigms is the rising trend of the gap between the haves and have-notsat an international level, as depicted by TheRulesOrg on the YouTube video 'Global Wealth Inequality – What you never knew you never knew.' The video shows that 1% of people own more than all the world's resources, while a billion people do not have enough resources (TheRulesOrg, 2013). This draws a fundamental weakness of GDP-based measurements, pointing to national total value addition but concealing disparity between developed and developing countries.This extreme concentration of wealth questions the notion that everyone experiences development. According to post-development theorists, features like the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few elites are an offshoot of development paradigms that emphasize economic progress at the expense of equality. This has shifted my understanding of development profoundly, demonstrating that economic growth in a country does not enhance the well-being ofits population. Instead, it often deepens inequality, thus raising doubts over the efficacy and application of equity in traditional approaches to development.Measuring and Classifying DevelopmentConventional methods of measuring and categorizing development reveal inherent biases and limitations. Thomas Bennett's video, "GCSE Development 1 – How do we measure development," expresses the opinion against commonly known methods of measuring
6development, such as division into developed and undeveloped countries based on specific economic indicators. According to Bennett, they do not address inequalities within countries and blur influential cultural, environmental, and social aspects of development (Bennett, 2013). In addition, GDP does not capture inequality within countries; some nations may boast high economic productivity while half of their population lives in poverty-stricken rural regions.Bennett's explanation encapsulates one of the tenets of post-development that deems it essential to quantify/represent development concerning local considerations/realities. It invites usto refrain from dichotomous or one-dimensional thinking, which reflects the understanding that development is a complex and contextual process. These limitations have made me cautious in my judgment of people and have also made me more sensitive to quantification methods that address different types of human beings. Reviewing these materials, my perception of development as a mere economic process has evolved to a much more nuanced and politicized sense. 'Development' is not a homogenous or 'given' idea but an idea colored by history, power relations, and competing conceptions of what constitutes progress. As much as post-development critiques and appreciations of heterodoxdevelopment paradigms have been analyzed, I learned the value of culturally and geographically relevant strategies and community self-governance.ConclusionDevelopment should be perceived as a complex and diverse concept rather than a simple road to economic prosperity. Adopting other people's views and being receptive to their cultures and practices are critical to a more comprehensive and transformative view of development. Thisparadigm shift questions how progress is understood and how it is to be achieved in the directionof tangible equity and sustainability.
7ReferenceBlack, M. (2007). The History Of An Idea.Haslam, P. A., Schafer, J., & Beaudet, P. (2021). Introduction to international development: Approaches, actors, issues, and practice(4th ed.). Oxford University Press.TheRulesOrg. (2013). Global Wealth Inequality - What you never knew (See description for 2017 updates) [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWSxzjyMNpUThomas Bennett. (2013, January 8). GCSE Development 1 - How do we measure development? YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXT33rN5Lf0Williams, G., Meth, P., & Willis, K. (2014). Geographies of developing areas: the global South in a changing world. Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.Ziai, A. (2016). Post‐Development and Alternatives to Development.