How is Development Measured – Positives and Negatives of the Human Development Index (HDI)

Economic growth may not be sustainable when it results in negative impacts on the environment of has a destructive effect on society by encouraging levels of inequality. Other measures have been developed that take into account a wider range of factors so as to assess the levels of development within a countries and regions more accurately.

Social measures of development, unlike the strictly economic measures, reveals information about general living standards in each country.

Human Development Index (HDI)

• Produced by the United Nations Development Programme. The HDI consists of three aspects of development:
  • Levels of wealth within the country as measures by GDP per capita and adjusted in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP).
    • I.e., taking into account what a person is actually able to buy with a given income.
  • Education – measured by the percentage of the population in education at a particular age (Primary, secondary and tertiary) and literacy levels (educational attainment).
  • Health – life expectancy at birth.

• The HDI is expressed as a value between 0 and 1. The closer to 1 the score is, the higher level of human development.

Negatives

• Data from some developing countries may not be very reliable and may be difficult to confirm.
• The measures chosen may seem very arbitrary to some because there are other way of measuring relative qualities in health and education.
• Similar criticism of GDP, that it does not measure unequal distribution within the country.
• No indication in the education index about access to education for all groups in society
  • I.e. continuation of wealthy students through education can hide the fact that it I difficult for children of poorer families to enter primary education.

Positives

• There is widespread use of HDI to compare development levels and it does reveal clear global patterns.
  
• Does not solely concentrate on economic development, and takes into consideration that there are other, more social, ways to measure human development.
  
• Increase in education and health shows an improvement in a countries infrastructure.
  

Like my post on GDP, there will be numerous amounts of positives and negatives. Should you think I have missed out some out, then please message me. Otherwise, I’ll update as and when. I hope this helps.

‘Third World’ Terminology.

Below is a list of the terminology that is associated with ‘Third World’ countries, or related concepts, programs and classifications.

• ‘Backward’ nations – The term was used to describe some poor nations during the 19^th century. The term, however, is considered very embarrassing and is very rarely used.
  • The term portrays some prejudice on:
    • Race, Religion, Social Institutions.
• The term ‘Poor’ is often used to describe the state of the economy of a country.
  • Some people believe the term is too stark.
  • ‘Poor’ and ‘Rich’ are relative terms.
• Underdeveloped / Less Developed denotes ‘inferior’.
  • Widely used in the 1950s and 1960s.
  • Now replaced with less derogatory term Less Developed Country (LDC). This has been popular since the 1960s.
  • Rich countries are now described as ‘More Developed Countries’ (MDCs).
• All countries are ‘Developing’.
  • Although, this term of ‘developing’ is not true for some countries in Africa.
• The World Bank splits nations into three major class systems of:
  • High Income Countries (HICs).
  • Middle Income Countries (MICs) – The nations in this Middle class are divided into two further groups:
    • Upper Middle Income Countries (UMICs).
    • Lower Middle Income Countries (LMICs).
  • Lower Income Countries (LICs).

Further Development based Terminology for the ‘Less Developed Countries’ (LDCs).

• The Newly Industrialising Countries (NICs)
  • These are also called the Dynamic Asian Economies (DAEs)
• Low Income Countries (LICs)
• Severely Indebted Low Income Countries (SILICs)
• Moderately Indebted Middle Income Countries (MIMICs)
• Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPCs)
• The Third World was coined by the French Demographer Alfred Savry in 1952.
  • French Revolution: Third estate referred to the commoners as distinct from the nobles and the clergy. Now this word is used to describe the poorest one third in the world.
    • First World – Developed Countries.
    • Second World – Communist Countries.
    • Third World – Least Developed Countries. – Note, this term does cause resentment.

Additional Groupings.

• Group of 77 is currently used.
  • G77 is the LDC club in the United Nations (UN) – The number has risen to 127 from 77 LDCs that attended the original meeting of the UN Conference on Trade and Development in 1964.
  • A group of 24 influential LDCs serves as the representative for the larger assembly (the 127 nations.)
    • G24 consists of 8 countries each from Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
• G20. A group of countries consisting of 19 of the largest economies, together with the European Union.
  • Formed as a forum for cooperation and consultation on international financial system.
    • G5 – Britain, France, Germany, Japan and United States of America.
    • G7 – G5 + Italy and Canada.
    • G10 – G7 + Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden with Switzerland as an observer.

The ‘North and South’ Terminology.

• North – Developed Countries
• South – LDCs (Countries that are mostly located in the tropics.)
  • However, the South is not all poor, nor is the North all rich.
  • This two-world terminology oversimplifies the complex issue of development.
• Recently, the terms ‘Majority’ and ‘Minority’ worlds are frequently being used to describe the poorer and richer nations respectively.
  • These terms are considered, by some, as politically correct given that the majority of the world’s population remain relatively poor and that a minority continues to accumulate wealth.
  • However, controversy surrounding the use of these and other terms remain.
  • The terms ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ countries are still widely used by development experts.

Acknowledgments.

Franc Jegede – The knowledge for this blog came from his lecture.

Nina Henry – The foundations for all of this was built by you; and a lot of what has been written here!

Strengths and Weaknesses of Measuring Development. GDP / GNP

Continuing the A-Level, or Access course revision help, this blog continues on from one of my previous posts ‘What is Development?’ Below, I have listen the strengths and weaknesses of measuring economic development, in particular, by GDP and GNP. Should you think of any that I’ve missed, feel free to comment.

I’ve purposely tried to keep this as simple as possible, and as such, I have kept it to bullet points. I hope this helps!

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT (GDP) / GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT (GNP)

GDP is defined as: “The total monetary value of all goods and services produced by a nation during a year (excluding any income from foreign investments)”.

GNP is defined as: “The total value of goods and services which become available during a period of time (usually a year) for consumption or saving by citizens or enterprises of a county, plus income from foreign investments.”

STRENGHTS:

• It is easily calculated (compared to social indicators), qualitative method.
  
• GNP takes into account any income generated abroad by industry based in the home country, and so are usually seen as a more accurate measure of economic development than GDP.
  
• Highlights rising wealth within a country.
  

WEAKNESSES:

• GDP/GNP (as well as National Income (NI)) figures can be very misleading.
  
  • For example, is does not give any indication of the distribution. Furthermore, it tells us nothing about the quality of life experienced by the majority of the population.
    
  • As mentioned above, rising levels of GDP or GNP indicate increasing levels of wealth within a country, however, that does not necessarily result in improved social conditions, including education and healthcare.
    
• Output and income from unreported cash transactions and from illegal activities.
  
  • Example being, cash in hand work, such as baby sitting, helping a friend out with trade related jobs; or on the illegal side, drug sales and counterfeit goods.
    
• What is actually produced in the Less Developed Countries (LDC) does not always have a monetary value (informal economy)
  
  • Example, subsistence farming still constitutes a significant proportion of the productive activities in LDC countries.
    
• Reflects gender bias.
  
  • Unpaid domestic work of many women is not counted.
    

    
    

Practical measures required to eradicate or alleviate poverty in the developing world.

Another essay that I written. I got a 2:1 for this one. It HAS gone through Turn It In, so if you copy from it, then you are a fool. I got very little feedback for it, apart from that I should of included more examples of measures, and not some much detail. =/ Oh well! Enjoy

Dan

This essay is going to investigate what measures are required to eradicate or alleviate poverty in the developing world. It shall do this by: first, accessing the effects of measuring poverty and development by economic development and addressing if it has a positive effect on poverty. Then, it will explain the positive and negative sides to microfinance, a measure that has been hailed by some researches; and then finally, it will look at how aid can take away from sustainability and possible solutions around the problems.

Poverty is acknowledged to be a multidimensional concept, which include factors such as: lack of healthcare, sanitation, access to food and insufficient income, as well as others, depending on how you view poverty. However, as addressed over the next few paragraphs, how poverty is measured and defined, can effect on what measures are taken to alleviate poverty. Take the World Bank for example, it defines those in extreme poverty as individuals earning less than $1.25 per day (The World Bank. 2012 [online]). This will be further explained later in the essay, and policies created to eradicate poverty are developed to address insufficient income and essentially encourage economic growth (Gross Domestic Product, GDP) which is an underlining value of western development. However, linking poverty alleviation to capitalist ideology that dominates the western culture causes issues according to socialists who claim capitalist values such as greed force people into poverty. (Wilsdon, T. 2005. [online]). So it could be argued that measuring poverty, and more importantly, basing programmes according to this one dimension of poverty does not offer a comprehensive measure on how poverty can be eradicated.

There are other measurements of development such as Human Development Index (HDI) and the Human Poverty Index (HPI), which will be explained shortly, as well as many others, each highlighting and measuring different factors that they believe should be included in development. However, these, along with GDP are not really suited to measuring poverty. The most common indicator, the poverty line, which was mentioned earlier, is determined by the United Nations Development Programme. This is, however, still an economic measurement, which ultimately, reflects western values and interests. Furthermore, the measurement does have its limitations, as it does not give any indication how far people are below the poverty line, for example, 59.2% of the DR Congo population is below the UN set poverty line in 2008 (Baker, B. 2011. Page 10.)
But it does not show how many people are not earning anything, rather, it groups everyone in earning below $1.25. As well as this, it does not detect any increase in income of the poorest people should it still leave them below the poverty line. There are other less significant measures of measuring poverty, ( I say less significant measures of poverty, as how often do they argue about increasing a countries HDI in parliament, rather than GDP) such as the Human Development Index (HDI) which focuses on levels of wealth, education and health within a country, and the Human Poverty Index (HPI) established by the UN, it measures the percentage of people below the poverty line, adult literacy, access to clean water, mortality and percentage of people under five who are under weight. However, although it indicates that there are issues within a country, it still addresses poverty on a macro level and doesn’t acknowledge countries or communities have different needs. For example, in Nigeria, the people in urban area might have good access to water, however, those in the rural areas such as the Niger Delta, although have access to water, it is heavily polluted and not safe to drink (Allen, T, 2000. Page 155). HPI fails to acknowledge the different needs between communities due to the broad overview. There are alternatives though, in a more qualitative study conducted by The International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) on behalf of the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, regarding the companies influence on poverty. CIAT interviewed the people living in poverty themselves and selected indicators to measure poverty levels from these results (Müller, A. 2010 [online]). This process, although very time consuming and expensive, acknowledges the different dimensions of poverty and material or economic development is not necessarily the factor that is going to lift people out of poverty. The research conducted has led to Green Mountain Coffee Roasters funding around 20,000 projects and reaching out to more than 250,000 people, increasing their livelihoods and helping alleviate poverty through sustainable growth based on values that are close to them, rather than western development.

This doesn’t mean that looking at poverty in regards to GDP prevents poverty being alleviated, however, there is a strong argument suggesting that economic growth does not benefit everyone. Take America for example, comparing their GDP, where they are ranked first (Wikipedia. 2012. [online]) with their HPI, which has them as low as seventeenth (Wikipedia. 2013. [online]) shows that high levels of poverty can exist within more developed economies, which could suggest that primarily focusing on programs that encourage economic growth above all else are not necessary a practical measure to help alleviate poverty. This is highlighted in great detail by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett in the Sprit Level. (R, Wilkinson, 2010.)

As touched on earlier, the way development is measured and defined and what factors are acknowledged more than others can have an effect regarding the successfulness of the eradication of poverty. Due to the cultural values attached to the word development, the way development is defined could influence what the poverty eradication measures focus on. For example, the political left aligning magazine, The New Internationalist, acknowledge development as involving ‘health, democracy, human rights, income, well-being and sustainability’. (Baker, B. 2011. Page 6). Yet it also makes notes that ‘poverty is a key factor in development and measurements of poverty may vary from region to region’ (Baker, B. 2011. Page 6). To contrast this with an economics book that describes development as simply meaning ‘more’ (Sklair, L. 1994).

So, what methods are there to alleviate poverty? One of the popular programs current is the microfinance. Microfinance or microcredit is another potential in poverty alleviation in developing regions of countries. This involved the loan of a small amount of money that enabled poor people to develop small trades that covered there subsistence needs. This microfinance was hailed by McKee as a key anti – poverty strategy that provided the missing link to help the poor in markets that they had no way of entering. (McKee, K. 1989).
However, an article in New Internationalist highlighted a couple of major issues regarding microfinance. It highlights the lack of regulation for the companies involved, due to the inability of microfinance institutions to check whether borrowers already have a multiple of outstanding loans. The result of which can cause people to seek drastic action to maintain repayments and actually, increase the severity of the poverty, rather than alleviating it, such as Mohammad Akhtan Alam, who is now disabled due to a failed operation from selling his kidneys to meet the strict repayment deadlines. (Cousins, S. 2013)
To further highlight the complicated issue of poverty alleviation programs, there are many microfinance success stories, such as Joseph Ssesanga from the Ugandan village of Kkonkoma who accessed microfinance to buy mobile phone and a car battery to charge it. The family paid off their loan by charging other residents of the village to use the phone. They then went on to expand into six other villages as well as taking on employees. (Baker, B. 2011. Page 80). Which can suggest that microfinance, can help alleviate poverty.

Finally, it must also be noted that there are various NGO’s that try and tackle poverty, such as Oxfam, save the children as well as numerous amounts of others. Although, offering help to those who need it in the short term, what are the long term effects of the aid that they give? The indirect effects of aid can also push people into poverty. Damdisa Moyo explains of a mosquito net manufacture who employed ten people, was promptly put out of business when western governments distributed 100,000 foreign produced mosquito nets in their local area to combat malaria. This is an example where aid has taken away from sustainable development. That said, since the 2005 Food Aid conference in Kansas City, an effort has tried to push aid in a new direction. The proposal would encourage a large percentage (around twenty-five percent) of food aid to be used to buy local products to encourage sustainable growth and allow people to work their way out of poverty rather than flooding local markets with cheap, subsided foreign imports. (Dambisa, M. 2010. Page 44) However, limiting this only to food aid does have obvious floors, as people, such as the employees of the mosquito net business, make their livelihoods from trades that would not be covered under this proposal.

In conclusion, it could be argued that one of the main obstacles to eradicating is the western influence on first measuring poverty and defining what poverty is, and then the programs that are developed to eradicate poverty are based on these values. Ultimately, this values help the western economies grow; and a prime example is mentioned above with the mosquito net manufacture. Progress is being made though; the proposal made in Kansas City is a start but would require further progress that is based on the needs of the communities it intends to help, rather than western interest. And furthermore, the rise of microfinance could be a positive when it is properly regulated. However, with poverty levels still rising, work needs to continue and people need to listen to the communities and understand what they want, rather than forcing western values of development upon them, and only then would there be sustainable development that successfully eradicates poverty.

Word Count: 1635

Reference

Allen, T, 2000. Poverty and Development into the 21st Century. 1st ed. Oxford: The Open University.

Baker, B, 2011. World Development: an essential text. 1st ed. Oxford: New Internationalist Publications Ltd.

Cousins, S, 2013. Desperate Measures. New Internationalist, 467, 42.

Dambisa Moyo, 2010. Dead Aid: Why Aid Makes Things Worse and How There Is Another Way for Africa. Edition. Penguin Books.

McKee, K. (1989) ‘Microlevel strategies for supporting livelihoods, employment, and income generation for poor women in the Third World: the challenge of significance’, World Development, 77(7), pp.993-1006.

Müller, A . 2010. Does Fair Trade Coffee Eliminate Poverty?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.conducivemag.com/2010/11/does-fair-trade-coffee-eliminate-poverty/. [Accessed 03 November 13].

Richard G. Wilkinson, 2010. The Spirit Level: Why Equality Is Better for Everyone. Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett. Edition. Penguin Books

Sklair, L, 1914. Capitalism and Development. 1st ed. London: Routledge.

The World Bank. 2012. Poverty. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty. [Accessed 03 November 13].

Wikipedia. 2012. List of countries by GDP (nominal). [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal). [Accessed 03 November 13].

Wikipedia. 2013. Human Poverty Index. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Poverty_Index. [Accessed 03 November 13].

Wilsdon, T. 2005. How Capitalism Breeds Poverty. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.socialistalternative.org/literature/katrina/logic.html. [Accessed 03 November 13].

Bibliography

Dearden, N, 2013. All Together Now!. New Internationalist, 464, 24.

Nhampossa, D, 2013. Invest in small farmers. New Internationalist, 462, 18.

Godrej, D, 2013. Debt – a global scam. New Internationalist, 464, 12.

Hallward, P. 2010. Our role in Haiti’s plight. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jan/13/our-role-in-haitis-plight. [Accessed 17 October 13].

Hanlon, J, 2013. The eye of the farmer fattens the beast. New Internationalist, 462, 26.

United Nations Development Programme. 2013. Fast Facts: Poverty Reduction. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/results/fast_facts/poverty-reduction/. [Accessed 07 October 13].

http://www.ntwk.esaanet.com. 2007. The East and southern Africa Agribusiness network.. [ONLINE] Available at:http://ntwk.esaanet.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=170:food-security-in-zambia&catid=48:articles&directory=131. [Accessed 03 November 13].

Is global industrial development desirable and inevitable? – Essay

This is an essay that I did at college on Industrial development last year. It has gone through Turn It In, so I wouldn’t recommend copying it! However, I did get distinction in it, so I thought I’d upload it as it might provide someone an alternative way of explaining things. I hope it helps.

Dan.

Is global industrial development desirable and inevitable?

Development is defined in terms of economic and social progression, from a countries agricultural society to an industrial one. This essay will take three sociological approaches: modernisation theory, dependency theory and neoliberalism and evaluate how a country develops and what is preventing development. It will also address the issues regarding transnational corporations and trade, and by doing so, the question of is global industrial development desirable and inevitable can be answered.

At Modernisation theory’s core, is functionalist ideology which argues that industrial development is not only inevitable, but also desirable. Walt Rostow (1960) argued that all countries will develop by processing in the same way as the More Economic Developed Countries (MEDCs) have (Moore. 2006). This took them through five stages, starting with traditional societies and progressing through them until the age of mass consumption. However, with some countries not developing, modernisation theory suggests it is because they have not got the correct ingredients to progress to the next stage. These are called the motors for change, and include: trickle-down, meritocratic education, mass media and urbanisation. By adopting these and with the help of the MEDCs, the Less Economic Developed Countries (LEDCs) can progress with their drive to maturity.

Marxist influenced dependency theory challenges modernisation theory in assuming all countries will develop. Although traditional Marxists see capitalist industrial development as desirable, as it is a necessary phase before reaching communism, Neo-Marxists, such as dependency theory, say evidence suggests that society will not reach communism, and therefore is critical of industrial capitalism and does not see it as desirable. In explaining underdevelopment, dependency theorists challenge the motors for change and argue that underdevelopment is the result of capitalist exploitation rather than not implementing the motors for change. They further the traditional Marxist argument of the bourgeoisie exploiting the working class by applying it on a larger scale. Transnational corporations (TNCs) and MEDCs now benefit from the exploitation of the LEDCs for their cheap labour and raw materials. This exploitation, according to dependency theorist Andre Gunder Frank, originates from a countries colonial past. Imperial countries wiped out the self-sufficient regions like Africa and transformed it into a source of raw materials for western industry. Although these colonies have now achieved political independence today, dependency theorists argue that their exploitation continues via neo-colonialism (Moore. 2006). It is the benefits gained from this exploitation that could suggest that it is not desired by the MEDCs for the LEDCs to industrialise, thus, providing an argument that industrialisation is not inevitable. However, they are criticised for not explaining how former British colonies, Canada and Australia have industrialised. This is furthered by Historian Niall Ferguson who argues that colonialism was a positive influence on the economies of LEDCs (Skidelsky. 2011. [online]). The Human Development Index is investigated next, this provides evidence that economic development is not necessarily desired by their citizens

Western governments and agencies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund argue that the most effective way to measure development of a country is through economic wellbeing, this is why Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is most commonly used; this measures products by location. However, this is criticised for being based on Western values and ignoring the inequalities caused, as wealth is concentrated in the hands of the elite. There are alternative measurements of development that focus on social wellbeing. In 1990, the United Nations developed the HDI. This focuses on life expectancy, education and wealth. It highlights that deprivation exists even in developed countries. For example, GDP has China as the second largest economy (IMF. 2012. [online]). However, according to HDI they are one-hundred and first (UNDP. 2012. [online]).which could suggest that economic development is not beneficial or desired to all citizens of that nation. Further to this is the Happy Planet Index (HPI). This takes into account self-reported happiness and a countries environmental impact. When applying this to China again, we can see HPI ranks them 60th (HPI. 2013. [online]). largely due to their environmental footprint, which will be discussed later when addressing environmentalism.

It has been argued by dependency theory that the main beneficiaries of industrial development are the rich elite of the TNCs. While their technological innovations help improve some aspects of life for a few, the majority continue to be exploited by the capitalists. However, modernisation theory argues that these developments potentially benefit all. e.g. through the use of the media, which, modernisation theory state as one of the motors for change, individuals become aspirational and motivated to follow the model of western societies; industrial capitalism. Western values dictate that consumption is to be desired, which is also a measure of the final stage of development according to modernisation theory. Dependency theory identifies serious problems with this argument, to maintain this lifestyle, it requires the continued exploitation of developing countries resources and therefore capitalists cannot allow developing nations to progress through to the fifth stage. This could suggest that although industrial development is a desired western goal, it is not desired by them for the LEDCs to industrialise, thus industrial development would not be inevitable.

For Western countries to consume in the quantity that they do, they require, and encourage, LEDCs to produce a surplus of cash crops which can be traded with the MEDCs. Neoliberals and modernisation theorists differ on how to access the benefits of this trade. Modernisation theorists emphasise industrialisation as key, as it brings down the cost of production. Whereas neoliberals argue that the free market is central, as it allows products to be bought and sold without restrictions. In 1994, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was established as the agency to oversee and regulate world trade. At its core are neoliberal policies aimed at reducing the barriers that hinder free-trade (BBC. 2012 [online]). By using these policies and opening up the markets, Neoliberal theorists claim that this will encourage TNC investment, which is essential for economic and industrial development, the effects of which will be discussed in the Haiti example. Modernisation theorists further this by suggesting that this will encourage the motors for change such as trickle-down and urbanisation. However, dependency theorists argue that as the main value of capitalism is greed, and TNCs will act immorally and illegally in their pursuit of profits (Moore. 2006). An example of the TNCs exploitation can be seen in Nigeria, as Shell ruthlessly exploit the Niger Deltas natural resources without being accountable for the environmental damage caused. They have even had indigenous peoples, who oppose their actions, removed at gun point by the Nigerian army on their behalf (Anon. 2013. [online]). This is not an isolated case, Nestle (Denny. 2002. [online]) and Rio Tinto, (Corporate Watch. 2013. [online]) are both guilty of putting profits before the wellbeing of the people. It is this continued exploitation, which, according to dependency theory, prevents the economic development of LEDCs, which makes capitalist development not inevitable. This is challenged by the modernisation theorists, who argue that the corrupt Nigerian government has increased national debt and prevented foreign aid trickling down and this is the reason for underdevelopment (BBC. 2005. [online]).

As mentioned earlier, the effects of neoliberal policies can be seen in the former French colony of Haiti. After gaining independence, France imposed a heavy fine in exchange for not reinvading. This burdened the country with huge debts, which, dependency theorists believe is at the root of their underdevelopment (Macdonald. 2010. [online]). Modernisation theorists explain Haiti’s underdevelopment on corruption within the government, which has prevented economic capital ‘trickling-down’. This is furthered by neoliberals who argue that economic mismanagement and trade restrictions have prevented industrial development; both argue that it is the Haitians fault. To stimulate economic growth, modernisation theorists advocate the use of aid (Cameron ET_AL. 2008). This aid can come with a pre-condition of adopting neoliberal ideology that will remove tariffs and trade barriers that prevent the donor countries exports. Haiti required American military assistance and financial support in the form of loans from the World Bank and the IMF to overthrown their corrupt government. In return, Haiti was required to reduce its tariffs on imported rice, its intention, according to neoliberals, was to create conditions which attract outside investment from TNCs (Cameron ET_AL. 2008), and allow Haitians access cheaper rice. This resulted with seventy-five-percent of the rice consumed, being subsidised, American rice. With cheap rice flooding the market, the country’s economy struggled as local farmers failed to sell their produce in the competitive markets. This left the farmers unable to maintain their farm and move towards urbanised areas in search for stability (BBC. 2013 [online]). According to dependency theory, this is evidence to suggest that not only is industrial development not inevitable, but also challenges neoliberals who say that adopting a free market is the answer to economic growth as the Haitian economy continued to struggle since adopting the policies.

Finally, there are counter-industrial movements that do not see western industrial development as desirable (Cameron ET_AL. 2008). Environmentalism, who argue that the planet cannot sustain the extraction of raw materials necessary for industrial development; and neo-populism, who state that the urbanisation caused by industrialisation causes wide-spread social problems and eventually the loss of employment as increasing mechanisation requires fewer jobs (Cameron ET_AL. 2008). As the majority of people do not fully see the benefits of industrial development, for example, both America and China have lower HDI ranks than they do GDP, it could suggest that it is not seen as desirable amongst the majority of civilians.

In conclusion, the main beneficiaries of industrial development are the rich elite or political figures. Although, it has brought technological innovation that has improved the quality of lives, the social and environmental cost of this means the quality of lives for the majority have not improved significantly. It is for this reason that I conclude, that, as there is not a majority consensus supporting industrial development is not seen as desirable, or inevitable.

Word Count: 1650

References

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BBC. 2005. Nigeria to get $18bn. [ONLINE] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4637395.stm. [Accessed 11 May 13].

BBC. 2013. Haitian Rice. [ONLINE] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/2823009.stm. [Accessed 14 April 13]

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Cameron ET_AL, J, 2008. AQA Sociology. 1st ed. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes LTD.

Charlotte Denny. 2002. Nestle claims £3.7m from famine-hit Ethiopia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/dec/19/marketingandpr.famine. [Accessed 18 April 13]

Corporate Watch. 2013. Corporate crimes. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=3594. [Accessed 18 April 13].

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Macdonald. 2010. Ads by CouponDropDown France’s debt of dishonour to Haiti. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/aug/16/haiti-france. [Accessed 11 May 13].

Moore, S, 2006. Sociology A2. 2nd ed. London: HarperCollins.

Skidelsky. 2011. Niall Ferguson: ‘Westerners don’t understand how vulnerable freedom is’. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/feb/20/niall-ferguson-interview-civilization. [Accessed 18 April 13].

United Nations Development Program (UNDP). 2012. Human Development Report 2013. [ONLINE] Available at: http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR2013_EN_Summary.pdf. [Accessed 11 May 13].

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Development – What is it?

Developments been thrown around a lot in the media, but what actually does it mean. When we use it in a sentence, it usually implies an improvement, for example, taking a city and developing it; improving on the existing infrastructure. But when you start to explore what development actually is, how is it defined by different: nations, cultures, societies, and people; and also if the same definition remains the same over time, it becomes increasingly clear as to how cloudy, and complicated word it actually is, and how it can be confused with growth.

For example, here are a few definitions of development.

“Development is the acquisition by society of industrial techniques and technology” – Hutchinson Pocket Dictionary of Environment (1994)

Development is “The process by which people in the poorer countries are to reach the levels of material life achieved in the countries of advanced industrial capitalism”. – Peter L Berger, the Capitalist Revolution.

“Defining the word precisely is more difficult because it is a value – laden term. For some people it means increasing levels of wealth in order to combat poverty while for others the term relates much more to improved social conditions, another group sees the idea of continuous development, or growth as representing the unsustainable use of resources, environmental degradation and threats to social cohesion.” – World Development, an Essential Text, Barry Baker.

“Development is not only economic growth, but also conditions in which people in a country have adequate food and jobs and the income among them is greatly reduced.” – Dudley Seer (1969)

“Development simply means ‘more'”. – Capitalist view.

Development can also be defined differently in different areas, moreover, it is a culturally bound word. For example, a subsistence community might define development in regards to improvement in tools to help them farm, or store their food; where as an industrialise city in a Western country, might define development as economic development, as described below.

Although the definitions above give a multiple of dimensions within development, the early definitions were based upon economic growth and tend to emphasise economic variables. Furthermore, those living within western industrialised society, economic development tends to be synonymous with wealth. I.e. A countries standard of living. And I believe this common misconception is continued today; let me explain. In the current recession, in order to maintain economic growth; in order to continue developing if you will, we (the government) are willing to deprive essential institutions, such as: education (school and colleges) and health (hospitals and access to GPs), of the finances to allow them to operate at their most effective. Basically, institutions, that allow the social infrastructure to develop, things that will improve everyone’s lives, are prevented doing so, to allow the economy to develop. Thus, if you want to bring in the Marxist argument, allowing the economy to develop, to benefit the top 1%.

To expand on the above point; it is possible to have economic growth, without development. For example, Liberia has an increasing GDP and GNP (These terms will be explained in later posts), yet this has very little, or no impact on the majority of the population. Additionally, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett in there 2008 book, the Spirit Level, put forward the argument that western ‘developed’ nations have reached the end of what economic development can actually achieve. Instead, countries should now be concentration on increasing equality, through improving institutions, such as education and health, and services to the general population.

Below is a short clip on the Spirit Level.

When development is measured in terms of aggregate growth rates – the annual growth rate of a company’s revenue, then development has been an outstanding success, after all, Apple posted profits that are up 124% year-on-year. However, if development is measured in terms of: employment, justice and the elimination of poverty, as well as numerous of other variables it has been a failure. There has also been the assumption that development, in the sense of industrialisation, such as Western Europe, America ETC, is inherently good. This however, has been questioned since the 1960’s, and continues to be today.

For all countries, territories, cultures, societies, cities, towns, villages and people to benefit from development must be redefined as an attack on the main evils of the world today.

• Malnutrition,
• Disease,
• Illiteracy,
• Unemployment,
• Inequalities.

Development also needs to consider: human welfare, environmental consideration and encouraging equality. Additionally, development needs to ensure that current achievements are not attained at the expense of future generations; and put people at the centre of development, look at their needs, rather than the bottom line of major corporations.

So when you hear on the news the word development question what it actually means, the context in which they are saying it, and who is the development helping. It is not always as clear cut as what the media make out it is.

References

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/jul/20/apple-profits-up-iphone-sales

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Spirit-Level-Societies-Almost/dp/1846140390

Also, Franc Jegede (2013), as it was his lecture that has helped me produce this.