Microsoft Powerpoint Alternative _development
ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT
SA64A-MODULE 3:WEEK 5
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ALTERNATIVE
DEVELOPMENT
A minimalist morally realist manifesto of what
“development should be”.
“Alternative development is a cry for visibility,
participation and justice” B. Hettne (1995) Development
Theory and the Three Worlds.
“ Justice thus involves equality of consideration, in which
basic needs are trumps, whoever’s they may be” R.
Attfield and B. Wilkins, (1992) International Justice and
the Third World, p. 5 quoted in in A. Dickson “
Development and International Relations”
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CAME ABOUT BECAUSE:
1.Growth of NGOs
2.Increasing importance of environmental
concerns and sustainability gave rise to ecological
economies
3.Glaring failures of the several development
decades and the rise of the basic needs paradigm
as an alternative to the development = growth
view
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CAME ABOUT BECAUSE
4.Political economy challenges from Bretton
Woods institutions. Bretton Woods(1944) which
saw 44 countries negotiating a new economic
order and the establishment of the IMF and the
International Bank for the Reconstruction and
Development
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TWO KEY
CHARACTERISTICS
Redefinition of development goals: the move
away from a utilitarian view of wellbeing
supporting a focus on income/growth and a shift to
a human rights based approach to wellbeing which
supports a focus on needs/capabilities/freedoms.
Shift of attention to civil society and organizations
‘outside of’ the formal political system and
corporate economy.
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Amartya Sen and the redefinition
of development goals
DEVELOPMENT AS FREEDOM-
Sen’s research has highlighted the idea that
in the final analysis, market outcomes and
government action should be judged in
terms of valuable human ends (ODI
Briefing Paper, November 2001)
.
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Sen
“Development can be seen…as a process of
expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy”
Sen (1999 p. 3) This is the motif for the Human
Development reports.
Development requires the removal of major
sources of unfreedom: Poverty as well as tyranny,
poor economic opportunities as well as systematic
social deprivation, neglect of public facilities as
well as intolerance or over activity of repressive
states” Sen (1999 p. 3)
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Basic Concepts (Sen)
Functioning: the things that a person may value
doing or being (ranges from being adequately
nourished to complex activities e.g. participating
and appearing without shame)
Capability – ability of a person to achieve
different combinations of functioning – the
opportunity or freedom to choose the life that one
values- close to Weber’s theory of life chances
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Sen
“Lack of substantive freedoms [sometimes
relates directly to economic poverty] which
robs people of the freedom to satisfy hunger
to achieve sufficient nutrition or to obtain
remedies for treatable illnesses or the
opportunity to be adequately clothed or
sheltered or to enjoy clean water or sanitary
facilities” (1999,4)
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Sen
Five distinct types of freedom (Joint importance):
Political freedom ( premise democratic states)
Economic facilities
Social opportunities
Transparency guarantees
Protective Security
“Each of these distinct types of rights and opportunities
helps to advance the general capability of a person” Sen
(1999, p10).
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DEVELOPMENT AS FREEDOM-
This has led to a focus on the quality of life of
individuals in development evaluations and has
supported, for example, the shift to alternative
development indicators, such as the HDI
It has also led to the focus on the individual being
the agent for his/her own development through
participating in policy decision making processes.
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DEVELOPMENT AS FREEDOM-
l
Finally, this paradigm has led to a concern
for the institutional mechanisms that
enhance ( or suppress) peoples’ range of
choices. For example mechanisms such as
the forms of discrimination in labor
markets, in access to land or public policy
on provisioning of social goods, e.g. health
education.
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Sen
His research has shown that economic growth and
income can be poor predictors of the capability to
live to a mature age without succumbing to
premature mortality.
Most cases of starvation and famines across the
world arise not from people being deprived of
things to which they are entitled, but from people
not being entitled in the prevailing legal system of
institutional rights to adequate means of survival.
Source: ODI Briefing November 2001p.2)
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The Right to Development
The Declaration on the “Right to
Development (adopted by the UN Assembly
in December 1986)” states that:
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"the right to development…
…is an inalienable human right by virtue of which
every human person and all peoples are entitled to
participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic,
social, cultural and political development, in
which all human rights and fundamental freedoms
can be fully realized."
(http://www.unhchr.ch/development/right.html)
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The right includes:
Full sovereignty over natural resources
Self-determination
Popular participation in development
Equality of opportunity
The creation of favourable conditions for the
enjoyment of other civil, political, economic,
social and Cultural Rights
(http://www.unhchr.ch/development/right-
01.html#develop
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Human Rights:Article 25 (1)
Everybody has the right to a standard of living
adequate for the health and well-being of himself
and of his family, including food, clothing,
housing and medical care and necessary social
services and the right to security in the event of
unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood,
old age or other lack of livelihood in
circumstances beyond his control.
http://www.hst.org.za/sahr/99/chap1.htm
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The Evolution of Development
indicators
HDI- (UNDP) captures 3 critical
capabilities ( achieving knowledge,
longevity and a decent standard of living)
Gender Related Development Index
captures the gender based inequalities in the
achievement of these capabilities
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Poverty
Poverty is the most common and serious
violation of human rights (South Africa
Health 1999p.2)
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Freedom of choice and
action
“The Rich is the one who says: I am going to do it
and does it. The poor in contrast do not fulfill
their wishes or develop their capacities.” A Poor
woman in Brazil.
Poverty is “like living in jail, under bondage,
waiting to be free (A young woman in Jamaica).
(World Bank- Voices of the Poor)
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Poverty Indicators
Human Poverty Index- captures deprivation:
standard of living characterized in terms of access
to safe water, health services and birth-weight
Gender Empowerment Measure- focuses on
women’s opportunities rather than their
capabilities (e.g. political participation, economic
participation (professional and technical positions,
earned income)
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Indicators, contd.
World Bank-
speaks of poverty as
vulnerability, lack of voice, power and
representation
Gender-Equity-Sensitive Indicator Xede
Equality versus equity
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Social development
Social development
http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/essd/essd.nsf/SocialDevelop
ment/HOME
Social development is development that is equitable,
socially inclusive and therefore sustainable.
It promotes local, national and global institutions that are
responsive accountable and inclusive and it empowers
poor and vulnerable people to participate effectively in
development processes.
The Social Development group is in the Environmentally
and Socially Sustainable Development (ESSD) network of
the World Bank.
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Chapter 3 of Agenda 21, & commitment 2 of the
Copenhagen Declaration on Soc
aration on Social Development.
Priority actions (UN): (1) improving access
to sustainable livelihoods, entrepreneurial
opportunities and productive resources; (2)
providing universal access to basic social
services; (3) progressively developing
social protection systems to support those
who cannot support themselves; (4)
empowering people living in poverty and
their organizations;
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Indicators of SOCIAL
Development
Beyond the commonly used economic
indicators of well-being, however, social,
environmental and institutional indicators
have to be taken into account as well to
arrive at a broader, more complete picture
of societal development:134 indicators
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/natlinfo/indi
cators/isd.htm
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Priority Action Areas(UN)
(5) addressing the disproportionate impact
of poverty on women; (6) working with
interested donors and recipients to allocate
increased shares of ODA to poverty
eradication; and (7) intensifying
international cooperation for poverty
eradication.- Poverty Related
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Social Exclusion is
A chronic scarcity of opportunities and
access to basic and quality services, labor
markets and credit, physical conditions and
adequate infrastructure, and the judicial
system.
http://198.186.239.120/sds/SOC/site_3094_e.
htm
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Social Exclusion
This isn’t simply a matter of people not
being able to access material goods, it is
also about the nature of the social
relationships they can engage in.
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Participation
“Very rudimentary levels of participation
between agency staff and community
members”
Welbourne (1991): “equal inclusion of all
sections of a typical stratified community:
women, men, older, younger, better off and
worse-off” in consultations.
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Empowerment
“enabling the poor to analyze their own
realities and thus influence development
priorities; they would have a greater ability
(more confidence end skills) to continue
acting in their own interests (Nelson and
Wright, 1995).
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Community
“Culturally, politically homogenous,
participatory local social system” Bryson
and Mowbray (1981):
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Community Resources
Land, Environment, Population, Housing
Local Economy, Services, Transport
Communications, Power Structures, Culture
e.g. Cultural Practices, Education/Skills of
the community members, Financial Ability
of the community members, Level of social
Capital (trust, bond)
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Advantages of Participatory
Methodologies
Considered superior to “top-down”
approaches
Community members gain empowerment if
their degree of participation is significant
Sense of “ownership” of projects and
programmes helps with sustainability.
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Advantages of Participatory
Methodologies
Policy formulators and implementers learn
more about the communities within which
they work
Can improve quality of life of the
community members and achieve cost
effectiveness
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Disadvantages of the
Participatory Methodologies
Can be used as a cloak to foster support for
top-level policies
Participation may be limited to the most
influential community members and the less
influential ones are never heard
Resistance to change from the top-level
policy makers
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Disadvantages of the
Participatory Methodologies
A successful participatory approach to
policy formulation is time-consuming.
Communities do not remain static and
cannot use the same voices of the members
for long period of time.
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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: An
APEX CONCEPT OF
ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT?
Definition of sustainable development (UN,
2001):
"Sustainable development is development that meets
the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own
needs."
Sustainable development implies economic and
social development plus environmental equity or
justice, both within and between generations.
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Development Models
contrasted
Growth Models and Social Transformation
(Alternative Development) compared- See
handouts.
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References
Economic Theory, Freedom and Human Rights: The work of Amartya
Sen, ODI Briefing Paper, November 2001.
Sen., A.K. (1999) Development as Freedom, Oxford OUP.
Pieterse, Jan Nederveen My Paradigm or Yours? Alternative
Development, Post Development, Reflexive Development in
Development and Change Vol.29 (1998) 343-373.
Martinussen, John (1997). State, Society and the Market: A guide to
competing theories of development. London: Zen books.
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References
Chambers, Robert (2000). Whose Reality Counts. Putting the First
Last. ITDG Publishing, London.
Hawtin et al (1994). Community Profiling: Auditing Social Needs.
Open University Press
Holland J. & Blackburn R. (1998). Whose Voice. Participatory
Research and Policy Change. Intermediate Technology Publications
Ltd. London.
Giujt I . & Kaul Shah (1999). The Myth of Community. Gender Issues
in Participatory Development. Intermediate Technology Publications
Ltd, London.
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