INTRODUCTION TO DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

Understanding development Studies

Development studies emerged as an academic discipline in the second half of the 20th century
and gained popularity in the early 1990s. It is most widely taught and studied in developing
countries and countries with colonial history, such as Great Britain, where the discipline
originated. Its emergence was largely due to the growing concern about the economic prospects
for the Third World after decolonization. In the immediate post-world war II period,
development economics, a branch of economics, emerged based on earlier studies of the
colonial economy. From the 1960s, however, a growing number of development economists
believed that economics alone could not fully solve problems such as political, socio and
cultural challenges that had hindered development in the Third world. As a result,
“Development Studies’ was born, which initially aimed to simultaneously integrating political,
social, cultural and economic ideas in understanding the development challenges of the Third
world. Since then, it has become an increasingly interdisciplinary field, spanning several areas
of social science. In recent years, as a means of explaining the success or failure of development
programs, the use of political economic analysis and economic analysis techniques to assess
and explain the political and social factors that promote or limit development has become
increasingly common.

The era of modern development is generally considered to have begun with Harry S. Truman's
inaugural address in 1949. In the fourth paragraph of his speech, referring to Latin America
and other poor countries, he said:

“More than half the people of the world are living in conditions approaching misery.
Their food is inadequate. They are victims of disease. Their economic life is primitive
and stagnant. Their poverty is a handicap and a threat both to them and to more
prosperous areas. For the first time in history, humanity possesses the knowledge and
the skill to relieve the suffering of these people.”

Development studies draws lessons from the development experiences of Western countries.
Recently, the emergence of human security, a new, people-centered approach to understanding
and addressing global security threats, has led to a growing recognition of the link between
security and development. Human security argues that inequality and insecurity in one country
or region has consequences for global security, and that it is therefore in the interest of all
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countries to address the underlying development challenges. This link with human security
studies is just one example of the multidisciplinary of development studies. Global research
collaboration between researchers from countries in the Global North and Global South, the
so-called North-South research partnerships, allows development research to consider more
diverse perspectives on development research and other strongly value-based issues. Thus, it
can bring new discoveries to the field of research.

Development Studies as a discipline

Development studies is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary field of study that aims to

understand the social, economic, political, technological and cultural aspects of social change,
especially in developing countries. Bjorn Hettne in his work Theory of Development and the
Three Worlds (1990) defined Development studies as a problem-oriented, applied and
interdisciplinary field that analyses social changes in a world of material differences, but takes
sufficient account of the specificities of different societies. It is a broad discipline that is
primarily united by a thematic focus, i.e. it includes and encompasses several topics such as
demography, development theories, economics, sociology, political science, human rights and
international relations.

Development studies is also characterized by normative and political concerns and seeks to
promote possible solutions to social problems that affect development, or the lack of it, can
create. To achieve these goals, development research is context sensitive. It looks at social
change from a historical, comparative and global perspective. It deals with the peculiarities of
different societies in terms of history, ecology, culture, technology, etc., and how these
differences can and often must translate into different "local" responses to regional or global
processes and different development strategies and methods.

Development Studies is a changing and evolving field of study that currently encompasses
topics and concerns such as poverty, environmental and socio-political sustainability; women's
empowerment and gender equality, globalization, sustainable development and human
development. However, the range of subjects it deals with is by no means fixed, as evidenced
by the development of the focus of the research field in recent decades and the appearance of
new subjects such as development issues and poverty in industrialized countries.

The Aims of Development Studies

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To produce citizens with critical knowledge and who are well informed about development
issues, developers at personal, local, regional and international levels and who are able to
contribute to the development of their society and the Global South.
Characteristics of Development Studies
a. Interdisciplinarity: One widely recognized tenet of "Development Studies" is that it
involves the integration of analytical approaches and insights from several
"disciplinary" fields. This raises the question, first, of the nature of the discipline and
whether "development studies" as a field of study which synthesizes several disciplines
can be considered a discipline. Most development scholars would probably not see it
as a discipline just like economics, sociology, political science, civil engineering, etc.
Instead, they view Development Studies more as an "umbrella" field of study that
encompasses several disciplines - rather than a discipline in its own right.
b. Problem-oriented field; Development Studies tends to be more "problem-oriented" than
"discipline-oriented." It's about bringing intellectual power to bear on solving big social
problems by choosing the right theories, techniques and methods to inform research
that increases our understanding.
c. Much of DS is normative: it is not only about the creation of knowledge for its own
sake, but more typically about the creation of knowledge as a means of improving
natural and social conditions.
d. The main focus of DS is to promote social transformation - changing the social order
of society including the social institutions, cultural belief systems, social
organizations/relationships or value systems.
Relevance of Development Studies
a) It explains various methods by which development can be achieved simultaneously in
any situation.
b) It also criticizes existing development methods and offers alternatives when mistakes
have been made.
c) The research it compiles helps development planners and decision makers make useful
decisions for their country.
d) It helps explain the determining forces of social change. In this way, it explains why
certain countries or regions prosper while others do not.
e) It helps a person learn more about people and their countries around the world and learn
to appreciate them. This is how prejudices are reduced in our society.

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 f) Helps us learn about the development issues, problems and approaches of other
societies than our own. DS concerns extend beyond developing countries. For example,
in every country there is poverty and wealth; and achieving the Sustainable
Development Goals remains a challenge for both developed and developing countries.
g) This helps us to make informed decisions for our own and the country's development,
because individual development leads to positive development of the country.

UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT OF DEVELOPMENT

Development is both a physical reality and a state of mind that means acquiring the means to
ensure a better life. This means an increase in wealth acquisition and spiritual enrichment, as
well as an improvement in people's quality of life. Development uses a combination of
economic and social and institutional resources to improve the quality of life. It is a broad term
that includes social, economic, political and personal life. The conceptualization of
development is based on human development, which assumes that development in its
meaningful sense begins with and for people, although most research focuses on personal and
social perspectives.

Gran (1983) defines development as a social and pragmatic process aimed at releasing human
potential so that they can achieve the maximum possible and practical control of the available
resources necessary for the satisfaction of basic human needs and security. Development must
ensure that the poor participate effectively and meaningfully in social, economic and political
interactions for economic progress and human empowerment. Seen in this way, development
means unleashing human potential so that they can manage and use available resources to meet
their basic needs.

According to a human-centered perspective, development can be understood as a process by

which members of society increase their personal and institutional capacity to mobilize and
manage resources to achieve a fairly distributed improvement in their quality of life that is
consistent with their life’s aspirations. People-centeredness can thus be understood as a process
where individuals and institutions try to improve their quality of life for themselves and by
themselves according to their desires, using sustainable resource mobilization and management
for the legal and fair distribution of benefits among society.

Burkey (1993), views development as a process by which people develop self-confidence and
become confident, independent, cooperative and tolerant of each other, recognizing their
limitations and potential for positive change. In this sense, the development process means

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cooperation with others, acquisition of new knowledge and active participation in the
economic, social and political development of society. Development as a process leads people
to become aware of their abilities, gain knowledge and cooperate with others to fulfill their
needs, including self-confidence and self-esteem. Development means not only the realization
of human potential, but also the improvement of human potential and the capacity of
institutional resource management. The emphasis is that the developmental diagnosis of
developmental problems and the determination of remedies should be in the hands of
community members, not outsiders. To achieve this, the ability of community members and
involved development partners to mobilize and manage resources for the benefit of community
members is essential. Therefore, it is a process of strengthening and developing institutional
capacity for sustainable improvement of the quality of life.

The social and economic perspective of development (Todaro and Smith, 2016) states that
development processes should ensure the social justice and economic transformation of society
through accelerated and increased economic growth and poverty eradication through
institutionalized social infrastructures and positive human attitudes. Development is therefore
a process of bringing about just social change through structural change and the sustainable use
of available resources.

UNDP (1990), defines development as the process of enlarging/ widening people’s choices by
increasing opportunities for being creative and productive, as well as to acquire self-
actualization and self-respect. Human beings are born with potential capabilities and
functionings. Functionings can be understood as what one can do e.g., participation, relative
the freedom of control and choice of one’s life. While capability herein refers to the freedom
of choice of functioning relative to one’s personal characteristics. Accordingly, development
is about activating people’s born abilities to actions for change in their lives. Development
should create an environment where people expand these capabilities.

The objective of development

a. To increase availability of and distribution of goods and services required for human
life sustenance e.g., food, shelter, security and health.
b. To improve the level of living in respect to social aspects such as household and
national income, education and human cultural values, for the enhancement of
individual and national material wellbeing and self-esteem.

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 c. To enhance the range of available individual and national economic and social choices
by freeing them from servitude imposed on them by forces of ignorance and human
misery on the one hand and dependence on other people or nation-states.
NB: Development is therefore concerned with human wealth with well-being as its end. It is
about livelihoods, security and sustenance. It is also dependent on what people are capable of
doing and being. Note that wealth is not well-being. Development is about wellbeing which
encompasses material, social and bodily wellbeing, security and freedom of choice to act. For
that reason, development is about people.

CORE VALUES OF DEVELOPMENT

Todaro (1997) argues that development consists of people's ability to increase the three core
values of human development, which were also introduced by human development theorist
Professor Denis Goulet of Notre University (1971). Dame, USA. Development is a process that
improves the quality of life for all people in three equally important ways. These are; Life
sustenance, self-esteem and freedom from servitude.

Life sustenance; Todaro (1997) argues that sustaining life means being able to take care of
basic needs such as food, shelter, health and safety. It follows the basic needs approach
promoted by the United Nations since the 1970s and the World Bank since the 1990s, which
normatively assumes that the satisfaction of people's basic needs must take priority over all
other development efforts. No country can be considered fully developed if it cannot provide
the basic necessities of life for the entire population. Citizens should have at least enough basic
needs. This can be achieved by increasing incomes, reducing extreme poverty and promoting
equality in society.

Self-esteem; It can be understood as a feeling of self-worth and respect and not being used s a
tool or a means to achieve others’ goals. It means the feeling of being a person in a society that
enjoys the basic social elements of identity, dignity, recognition and honour. It is the belief in
oneself and one's abilities to do things, as well as a sense of readiness and confidence to take
risks. The quality of life in society is good when there is respect, trust and self-esteem. Self-
respect, human dignity and good reputation are important developmental values that members
of society should achieve. The value of a person cannot be measured only by the possession of
material things, which are often prioritized by progressive capitalist countries.

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Freedom from slavery; It refers to the ability of people to decide their own destiny. This
freedom is achieved by freeing society from oppressive systems, poverty, slavery, ignorance
and lack of choice in culture, religion, etc. Development can be understood here as a process
during which people's freedom is increased by expanding the range of their choice variables,
e.g. different goods and services. In a more general sense, development has occurred when
people live comfortable lives and can exercise their rights as they wish. Countries or individuals
cannot be considered fully developed if they are exploited by others and cannot maintain equal
economic relations with others on equal terms.

DOMAINS OF DEVELOPMENT
a. Political Development
This involves changing the physical or structural and administrative events of the government.
It is the process through administrative setup passes and transforms becoming larger, stronger,
more impressive, soundly successful and advanced. A more common view of political
development is that it involves progress towards liberal democracy with governments
becoming more accountable and providing people with the opportunities to participate through
the exercise of their freedom of association and expression. Democracy is believed creates
conditions which are suitable for sustainable development in developing countries. In the view
of Marxists, political development in advanced industrial societies entails growth of class
consciousness and political organization of the proletariats leading to the ultimate overthrow
of capitalism and the approach to communism.

b. Economic growth and Development

Economic growth is the sustained quantitative increase in the output of goods and services
produced in an economy over an accounting period / financial year. It is the measure of
economic performance of an economy. Measured using the GDP and GNP both of which
represent the amount of money a nation makes from its final goods and services. GNP
represents the total value of income earned by residents of a country regardless of where the
income is earned. While the GDP is total value of production by resident producers within an
economic territory. Economic growth rate can reveal whether a country is in an upswing or
heading towards a downturn. Economic growth rate can be calculated for one or multiple
countries and the rates can be compared. Strong economic growth requires availability of
natural resources, technological innovations, foreign investments and a productive workforce.

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Economic development is an evolving concept with no single universally accepted definition.
The concept is broadly taken to denote the structural transformation of an economy by
introducing more mechanized and updated technologies to increase labor productivity,
employment, income and standards of living. It is the process through which simple, low
income economies are transformed into industrialized economies. On this account, economic
development should therefore be accompanied by improvement in infrastructures, as well as
social, political and institutional factors which facilitate transformation of the economy.
Economic development involves the improvement in the economic wellbeing as well as the
well as the quality of life of the nation, region, community and or individuals according to
targeted goals and objectives. Although the term economic development is sometimes used as
a synonym for economic growth, generally it is employed to describe a change in a country’s
economy involving qualitative as well as quantitative improvements. Whereas economic
development is a policy intervention aiming at improving the well-being of people, economic
growth is a phenomenon of market productivity and increases in GDP. Amartya Sen describes
economic growth as but "one aspect of the process of economic development".

Daphne Greenwood and Richard Holt distinguished economic development from economic
growth on the basis that economic development is a "broadly based and involves sustainable
increase in the overall standard of living for individuals within a community", and measures of
growth such as per capita income do not necessarily correlate with improvements in quality of
life. Economic development is a wider concept and has qualitative dimensions. It implies
economic growth plus progressive changes in certain important variables which determine
well-being of the people, e.g., health, education et al.
Historically, development policies focused on industrialization and infrastructures and since
the 1960s, it has focused on poverty eradication. An important goal of economic development
is poverty reduction by providing high income employment, improved goods and services and
the latest technologies of production.

c. Social Development
Social Development refers to many of the non-economic processes and outcomes of
development such as; reduced vulnerability; inclusion; wellbeing; accountability; people-
centered approaches; and freedom from violence. It is the process by which the society evolves
from traditional or primitive to modern and more advanced level of civilization. It encompasses
a commitment to individual well-being and volunteerism, and the opportunity for citizens to

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determine their own needs and to influence decisions that affect them. It incorporates public
concerns in developing social policy and economic initiatives and involves all levels of
institutions from national governments to diverse civil society organisation to build an
equitable and just society through appropriation of economic opportunities and social services
while addressing power imbalance. Social development utilizes or changes the process of
societal institutions and systems through policies and programmes which strengthen the
capacities and capabilities of individual, families and communities.

Social development integrates social goals in the development processes. The social analysis
lens to development emphasizes the issues of equity, and engagement of the countries and
among marginalized and vulnerable population. It is fundamentally concerned with human
rights, formal and informal power relations, inequality and possibilities for building greater
equality among individuals and groups within societies. It is equality of social opportunities
(Amartya Sen, 1995). It is about the promotion of a sustainable society that is worthy of human
dignity by empowering marginalized groups, women and men, to undertake their own
development, to improve their social and economic position and to acquire their rightful place
in society.
Until relatively recently, social development was conceived in terms of a set of desirable results
such as higher incomes, longer life expectancy, lower infant mortality, more education.
However, emphasis has shifted from the results to the enabling conditions, strategies and public
policies for achieving those results e.g., peace, democracy, good governance, social freedoms,
equal access, laws, institutions, markets, infrastructure, education and technology.
Development of individuals and societies results in increasing freedom of choice and
increasing capacity to fulfil its choices by its own capacity and initiative. It involves investing
in people and the removal of all barriers that limit the realization of their full potentials. It is
about providing them with the opportunity to grow, develop their skills to enable them to
participate meaningfully in development processes.

d. Human development

Human development can be understood as the process of enlarging people’s choices by

building their human capacity to enable them to live the lives they value. This involves the
capability to lead long and healthy lives, to be educated, to access resources and social
protection, and fair employment. As such, human development is also fundamentally

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concerned with human rights, including those to life, health and wellbeing. The most critical
choices that people should have, include a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and
income, assets and employment for a decent standard of living. It also concerns the use of these
capabilities.

Human development grew out of global discussions on the links between economic growth and
development during the second half of the 20th Century. By the early 1960s there were
increasingly loud calls to “dethrone” GDP. Economic growth had emerged as both a leading
objective, and indicator, of national progress in many countries, even though GDP was never
intended to be used as a measure of wellbeing. In the 1970s and 80s development debate
considered using alternative focuses to go beyond GDP, including putting greater emphasis on
employment, followed by redistribution with growth, and then whether people had their basic
needs met. These ideas helped pave the way for the human development approach, which is
about expanding the richness of human life, rather than simply the richness of the economy in
which human beings live. As an approach, Human development is focused on creating fair
opportunities and choices for all people. It focuses on improving the lives people lead rather
than assuming that economic growth will lead, automatically, to greater opportunities for all.
Income growth is an important means to development, rather than an end in itself. Human
development is about giving people more freedom and opportunities to live lives they value.
In effect this means developing people’s abilities and giving them a chance to use them. For
example, educating a girl would build her skills, but it is of little use if she is denied access to
jobs, or does not have the skills for the local labour market. It is about providing people with
more choices

Dimensions of Human Development

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 e. Sustainable development
The appeal for sustainable development has continued to gain momentum in the development
discourse translating into the adoption of the sustainable development goal which targets the
transformation of the global economies with goal 17 emphasizing environmental protection.
Prior to that the petition to protect the environment was also included in the Millennium
development goal 7. The major principle of the concept is that the natural resources should be
used in a manner which does not eliminate or degrade them, or otherwise diminish their
usefulness for future generations (Beckerman, 1992; Katsoulakos et al., 2016).

What is sustainable development?

Sustainable development (SD) can be defined as development that “meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” It has
vast human entreaty and has stood the test of time. It takes the environmental dimension
prompted by various debates and environmental movements in 1970s and 1980s regarding the
connection between environment and economic development (Caldwell, n.d.). Sustainable
development denoted the urgent need to protect the environment from broadly perceived
human activity, including those contributing to socioeconomic development (Kozień, 2021).
The concept of sustainable was formulated following reflections over the human impact of
development on the natural environment. It refers to many aspects of social, political, economic
and cultural life (Kozień, 2021) and seeks to reconcile human needs and the capacity of the
environment to cope with the consequences of economic systems by examining the
environmental consequences of resource exploitation and the relationship between
environment, poverty and economic change (Caldwell, n.d.). Sustainable development
proposes that the wealth of nation does not rest solely on its economic wealth but also on the
smart development and protection of its people and natural resources. It is indispensable with
the goal to curb or prevent the environmental degradation, ensure a safe human life, to check
the exploitative technology and find alternative sources and to check the over exploitation and
wastage of natural resources and lastly to regenerate renewable energy resources (A. Elliott,
2008). Therefore, Sustainable development is viewed as development which is pro-poor, pro-
jobs, pro-women and pro-environment. The mutually reinforcing pillars of Sustainable
development are social development, economic development, cultural diversity and
environmental protection (Antonov, 2018).

Pillars of sustainable development

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 a. Economic sustainability
System of production that satisfies the present consumption levels without compromising the
future needs. Holds that that natural resources are not infinite and not all of them can be
replenished or are renewable. Expansion of the economic system should not outstretch the
natural resources base thus promoting a rethink of the traditional economic postulations.
Economic sustainability involves making decisions which are most equitable in a fiscally sound
way while not forgetting other aspects of sustainability

b. Social sustainability
Incorporates the notion of equity, empowerment, accessibility, participation, cultural identity
and institutional stability. This can be achieved through reduction of poverty but without
destroying the environment or causing economic instability. It’s not just about meeting the
needs of the people but rather creating an enabling environment for very one to have the
capacity to meet their needs if they desire to. Cultural sustainability is an integral aspect of our
social sustainability. This involves the development of cultural sector which includes; Heritage,
creativity, cultural industries, crafts and cultural tourism. This can be ensured through public
policies particularly those related with education, the economy, science, communication,
environment, social cohesion, and international cooperation

c. Environmental sustainability
It is about ensuring that the natural environment remains productive and resilient to support
human life. Holds that natural resources should be sustainably used as a source of economic
input and a sink for waste.

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