© STATECRAFT

Under the deliberation of the fundamentals

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 Numbers and Dates
• 1952: Alfred Sauvy uses the expression "third world" for the first time.

• 1955: Bandoeng conference (Indonesia): emergence of the Third World as an international

political force.

• 1960: creation of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) by Saudi

Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait and Venezuela.

• 1961: Belgrade conference or “Summit of non-aligned countries”.

• 1964: creation of the United Nations Commission for Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

• 1965: creation of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

• 1971: creation of the acronym of the least developed countries (LDCs) by the UN.

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 • 1974: demand by third world countries at the UN for a new international economic order
(NOEI).

• 1990: creation of the human development indicator (HDI) by the UNDP.

• 1944: Bretton Woods agreements giving birth to two international institutions, the

International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and
development (BIRD, now World Bank).

• 1960: the UN, as part of the declaration "The 1960s: a decade for development", adopts the
principle of official development assistance corresponding to at least 1% of the national
income of each industrialized country. This objective will never be achieved by the most of
the rich countries.

• 1961: creation of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) to coordinate the action of
developed countries in favor of developing countries.

• 1972: United Nations conference on the human environment in Stockholm. Proposal of a

new path for development reconciling economic growth, social progress and preservation of
the environment: ecodevelopment.

• 1982: Mexico declares itself insolvent. It is followed by Brazil and Argentina. Beginning of
the "debt crisis" which calls into question the development process that these countries had
experienced the previous decades. Later, we will speak of "the lost decade for development”
for the years 1982-1992.

• 1985: Baker plan which provides for the refinancing of the debt of developing countries.

• 1987: popularization of the notion of “sustainable development” in the Brundtland report,

which takes up on other bases the reflection initiated in Stockholm in 1972.

• 1992: Earth Summit in Rio (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development):
adoption by 110 heads of state and government of the "Rio Declaration" and
recommendations for implementing sustainable development (Rio Agenda 21).

• 1995: financial crisis in Mexico.

• 1996: beginning of the process of cancellation of the debt of very poor countries by the
institutions international (procedure of “heavily indebted poor countries” - HIPC - which must
see their debt canceled up to 80%).

• 1997: financial crisis in South-East Asia (questioning of the “Asian miracle”).

• 1999: financial crisis in Brazil.

• 1999: adoption of the objective of combating poverty by the Bretton Woods institutions.

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 • 2000: UN "Millennium Summit" in New York, which defines the millennium development
goals and recalls the target of 0.7% of gross national income in developed countries devoted
to official development assistance.

• 2001: Launch of the "development round" in Doha by the WTO. The political opposition on
the virtues and organization of international trade between emerging countries and developed
countries exploded there, under the impetus of large emerging countries such as Brazil and
India.

• 2002: financial crisis in Argentina.

• 2005: confirmation of the cancellation of the debt of 19 developing countries by the IMF.

BIOGRAPHIES

• Amin, Samir (born in 1931). Egyptian neo-Marxist economist, theorist of the school of
dependence, he considers that the underdevelopment of the countries of the South (the
periphery) is produced by the capitalist accumulation of the countries of the North (the
center). He then advocates initially the disconnection, namely the pursuit of an autonomous
and independent development strategy of the capitalist international economy, before
breaking away from it thereafter. Main works: Le Développement unequal (1973), La
Déconnexion (1986).

• Emmanuel, Arghiri (1911-2001). Greek neo-Marxist economist, he shows with the theory of
the unequal exchange that commercial relations between the center and the periphery can be
unequal due to the differences between wages entering into the composition of the value of
goods.

Main work: The Unequal Exchange (1972).

• Lewis, Arthur (1915-1991). British economist born in the West Indies, Nobel Prize in 1979,
it is at the origin of the dualist analysis as an explanation of underdevelopment. He insists on
the non-economic factors of underdevelopment. He considers that the development will
happen through the outflow of labor from the traditional sector into the modern sector.

Main works: Economic development with an unlimited supply of work (1955), The
International Economic Order (1978).

• Myrdal, Gunnar (1898-1987). Swedish Keynesian economist, Nobel Prize winner in

economics in 1974, he is in favor of an institutionalist approach to underdevelopment:
considering that traditional institutions in poor countries favor the vicious circle of under-
industrialization, he pleads for strong state interventionism to get out of under-development.

Main work: Asian Drama (1968).

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 • Perroux, François (1903-1987). An unclassifiable French economist (even if he recognizes a
fidelity to the work of Schumpeter), he considers that underdevelopment is the product of
structure of international relations which establish situations of domination and dependence.
He will advocate industrialization strategies by creating "growth poles" bringing together
heavy industries that can have spillover effects throughout the economy.

Main works: Economy and society: exchange, constraint and gift (1960), The economy of the
twentieth century (1961), Power and generalized economy (1973).

• Prebisch, Raul (1901-1987). Argentine economist, figurehead of the structuralist school

Latin American, observer of poverty in Latin America, he shows that underdevelopment is
caused by the deterioration of the terms of trade of the countries of the South, linked to a
specialization in primary products. He will plead for self-centered development. He will be
the first secretary-general of UNCTAD, created in 1964. Main work: Le Développement
economy of Latin America and its main problems (1950).

• Sauvy, Alfred (1898-1990). French economist and demographer, he is at the origin of the
theory of the demographic transition and the notion of the third world that he developed in
1952 to qualify the group of developing countries marginalized in the logic of the two blocks
of the cold war and which will constitute itself in the third way of development.

• Sachs, Ignacy (born 1927). Franco-Polish development economist highly influenced by

anthropology and socio-economic attempts, a specialist in Brazil and India, he was director of
studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris (EHESS) from 1968, then
creates and directs the International Center for Research on Environment and Development
(CIRED). He participates in the preparation of the United Nations conferences in Stockholm
(1972) and Rio (1992), and works on the construction of the theory of ecodevelopment.

Main works in French: Strategies for Ecodevelopment (1980), Ecodevelopment: transition

strategies to the 21st century (1993).

• Sen, Amartya (born 1933). Indian economist, Nobel Prize winner in economics in 1998, he
is interested in problems of collective choice and justice in economics. He develops the theory
that development involves increasing the "capabilities" of economic agents, that is to say the
extension of their possibilities of using the resources at their disposal. Main works in French:

Ethics and economics (1993), The economy is a moral science (collection of articles, 1999).

• Stiglitz, Joseph (born 1943). American New Keynesian economist, Nobel laureate in
economics in 2001 for his work on imperfect competition, he became known to the general
public in 2000 when he resigned from his post as vice president and chief economist of the

World Bank, to protest against the liberal orientation of development policies of this
institution and the IMF, which he considers dogmatic and counterproductive. He pleads for a
new development paradigm, taking into account local specificities and framing the
international opening of economies through mixed, public and market regulation.

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 Main works in French: La Grande Désillusion (2002), Another world. Against Market
Fanaticism (2006).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Assidon, Elsa. Economic Theories of Development, La Découverte, coll. " Landmarks ",
1992. A clear, little formalized and synthetic presentation of the economic debates on causes
of underdevelopment.

• Brunel, Sylvie. The Under-Development, PUF, coll. "What do I know? », 1996. A clear
synthesis by a specialist in the issue, engaged both from an academic and activist point of
view in development.

• Treillet, Stéphanie. Development Economics, Nathan, coll. "Circa", 2002. A general

synthesis very clear, with extracts of texts to deepen and go to the source of the theories.

• Bairoch, Paul. Myths and Paradoxes of Economic History, La Découverte, 1994. To

enlighten various debates in economic history on growth processes or international trade.

• Cahiers français, “Mondialisation et inequalités”, n ° 305, La Documentation française,

November-December 2001. Very enlightening data and summaries on global inequalities.

• French notebooks, “Développement et mondialisation”, n ° 310, La Documentation

française, September-October 2002. A series of articles to answer the question of the role of
globalization in development.

• French notebooks, “Mondialisation et commerce international”, n ° 341, La Documentation

French, November-December 2007. An update of recent theories and facts on international
trade.

• Economic Analysis Council, "Development", No. 25, 2000 (report available at

www.cae.gouv.fr). In-depth articles, sometimes technical, to go further on the issues
contemporary development.

• UNDP, annual human development reports (available at www.undp.org/french). An

essential database of data and facts by the international institution specializing in
development.

• Rist, Gilbert. Development, the story of a Western belief, Presses de Sciences Po, 2007. A
critical analysis of the concept of development and therefore of the characteristics of
underdevelopment.

• Assidon, Elsa. Economic Theories of Development, La Découverte, coll. " Landmarks ",
1992. A clear, little formalized and synthetic presentation of the economic debates on the
development.

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 • Treillet, Stéphanie. Development Economics, Nathan, coll. "Circa", 2002. A very good
general synthesis with extracts from enlightening texts.

• Boidin, Bruno. “Human development, sustainable development and“developing countries ”:

how to articulate and measure the different dimensions? », Sustainable development and
territory, File 3: the human and social dimensions of sustainable development, February 2004
(available at http://developpementdurable.revues.org). A reflection on the challenges of the
requirement of sustainable development concerning the specific situation of developing
countries. This online scientific journal engages in a multidisciplinary reflection on the
various issues of sustainable development (water, ecological inequalities, etc.).

• French notebooks, “Développement et mondialisation”, n ° 310, La Documentation

française, September_October 2002. A series of articles to answer the question of the role of
globalization in development.

• French notebooks, “Mondialisation et environnement”, n ° 337, La Documentation

française, March-April 2007. A series of articles that shed light on key environmental issues
in the context of globalization and development.

• French notebooks, “Mondialisation et commerce international”, n ° 341, La Documentation

French, November-December 2007. An update of recent theories and facts on international
trade.

• Economic Analysis Council. “Développement”, n ° 25, 2000 (report available at

www.cae.gouv.fr). In-depth articles, sometimes technical, to go further on the reform of plans
structural adjustment, for example.

• Sachs, Ignacy. Ecodevelopment: strategies for the transition to the 21st century, Syros /
Alternatives economic, 1996. A short synthesis on the current of ecodevelopment, precursor
of sustainable development (which some perceive as a euphemization of ecodevelopment
more compatible with the capitalist system).

• Sen, Amartya. Economy is a moral science, La Découverte, 1999. A selection of articles

accessible to understand the basics of Amartya Sen's business ethics.

• Stiglitz, Joseph. La Grande Désillusion, Fayard, 2002. A radical critique of the structural
adjustment plans of the IMF and the World Bank, which aggravate underdevelopment instead.
to fight it according to him.

• Stiglitz, Joseph. Another world. Against the fanaticism of the market, Fayard, 2006. The
proposition of a new development model, alternative to the liberal model advocated by
international institutions.

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