Global Development

Development = economic growth, industrialisation, and high living standards.

MEDC's -  LEEDC's , First world and Third World, North And south - all ethnocentric.

Capitalists argue economic indicators such as GDP are only effective for definging the potential of a countries development.

GDP doesnt tell you how wealth is distributed.

Economic indicators also ignore effects on third parties caused by economic progress, such as pollution.

some claim development is better measured by social factors, by measuring using lists of basic human needs.e.g. Huan development indec HDI , Human poverty index HPI and physical quality of life index PQLI.

unlike economic indicators, these show there is deprivation, even in 'develped' countries.

Marx - capitalism and industrialisation were about obtaining max amount of profit.capitalists in MEDC's exploit LEDC's to get raw materials, and a wide market for goods produced by capatilism. He thought capitalism would give way to communism.

Durkheim - argued societies would progress through industrialisation and that MEDC's were those which had industrialised first. He saw west as the most advanced society, and believed underdevelped countries could improve their progression, by taking on the characteristics of western countries.

Webber - Argued, society was becoming more rational and bureauratic - people need to make more choices and come up with new, scientific ideas to solve social problems like deprivation. less developed societies would need to copy western attitudes in order to allow progress and economic development.

All countries move towards lberal capitalism. undeveloped countries are seen as inferior to developed ones.

Rostow - 1971 - 5 - STAGE PROCESS OF DEVELOPMET

1. basic agriculture society
2. transition  (prepare for take -off) - farmers produce a surplus and make money from selling cash crops. small towns develp, with some industry on a small scale.
3. industrialisation - (taek off) - rapid growth of manufacturing. people move from rural to urban areas.
4. Drive to maturity - lots of investment, the right social conditions for growth. Large cities develop.
5. Mass consumption - 'developed economy' wealth spreads, people buy more and the service sector grows

The explanation for poverty and underdevelopment is insufficient agricultural surplus to fund investment. insufficient investment in technology, and not enough hard working business people to createopportunities.

Belives in using free trade to help countries develop.

They state, government intervention distorts the natural economic processes of the free marker.

Friedman 1962  - free market trade can be used to help countries develop.

organisations such as; international monetary fund, and world bank favour neo - liberalism. they state NICs such as the ' tiger economies' prove that removing tarriffs and encouraging free trade can lead to development.

'tiger economies' are south east asian countries, that have experienced a period of growth over the last 20 years.

seen as ethnocentric

both neo lib and modernisation theorists argue that western methods of development are easily imitated and likely to succeed - not necessarilly true.

Developed countries exploit undevelopes ones.

dependancy theory was a reaction against modernisation theory. Key theorist - Frank 1967

says developd countries exploited undeveloped nations during colonial times when they controlled them as part of an empire, and prevented them from industrialising.

when underdeveloped nations got political independence, they were still economically dependent on former rulers. pooer nations still trade with former colonial power, where richer developed nations organise trading relationships in their favour. they set the price for goods.

Marxist approach - argues workers and exploted, theyre paid low wages, so profits made go to the ruling class. developed nations pay a low market price for the goods, and goods are sold in the developed nation for a profit.

profits pass from workers in satellite areas to ruling class in metropolis and out to developed nations.

doesnt give a true definition for development or suggestions or how to resolve them.it also doesnt explain why socialism also exploited and created dependency.

Giddens - notes technical change has transformed the way people live - global communications and travel = now easy. good = transported across the world, and information can be passed instantaniously.

1. Globalists - argues international trade and investments have caused national economies to blend together into a global economy.
2. Transnational corporations (TNC's) - operate across national boundaries. tend to have their headquarters in MEDC's and set up production inc ountries with cheap labour, to max profits.
3. frobel et al 1980 - reffered to new international division of labour - manufacturing to developing countries. different stages of production can be doen in different countries.
4. TNC's = positive effect - bring jobs and investment to developing countries, also benefit international customers - cheap consumer goods.
5. some argue it is a new form of exploitation. neo - marxists critics of globalisation MEDC's turned into 'wage slaves' for capitalist system.
6. TNC's aim to creat global markets for the goods they manufactur.
7. TNC's also have an effect on business culture, catergorised into 3 types, ethnocentric, geocentric and polycentric.

weberian sociologist Ritzer 1993 - global standardisation and 'rationalisation'

1. refers to 'McDonalsation' production across the world. products made witht the same value as fast food, made in an assembly line, must be inexpensive to make and must be standardised across all countries where its made and sold.
2. 5 themes within this mcdonaldisation - efficiency, calculabidity, predictability, control, and the replacement of human workers by machines.

Postmodernists - allows people to consume plurality of cultures, think globalisation leads to hybridity (pick n mix) rather than one culture being imposed over another.

Fear TNC's will replace traditional cultures with western culture creating new markets for western culture goods.

also refer to cultural globalisation as cultural imperialism.

thos who believe in positibe effects = two way system.

dependency theory puts debt down to colonialism, corruption and greed.

1. they argue many countries are poor dure to colonialism restricting their economic development. coutnries which gained independance were forced to borrow money to fund development.
2. they also argue, aid doesnt go to the right place - much of the monry thats donated disappears, either because governmetns embezle it or invest it in products that dont help a country to develop (weapons). this leads an investment gap that has to be filled with loans.
3. 1980 and 1990's - richest nations and internationlending organisations significantly raised levels of interest paid on loans. countries had to borrow more to meet interest payments. this theory believe it rather suited the west as they saw an increase in debt owed to them - they were suddenly looking atr ecieving a lot more money in debt replayments from the poorer nations.

1. Bilateral aid = where govenment gives direct financial support to another government that needs help.
2. Multilateral aid - from international bodies such as UNESCO, the world health organisation, the international monetary fund and world bank. multilateral aid can be either grants or loans. The IMF and world bank give loans, and charge interest on the loans.
3. Non - governmental organisations (NGO's) - give logistical support and direct financial donations. they get their money from the public. examples = oxfam and christian aid.

AID helps LEDC's 'westernise'

modernisation theory believes developed countries should give aid to countries that are prepared to axcept western styles of development i.e. industrial capitalism.

they see aid as having a 'tricle - down effect'. aid goes to the elites of LEDC's and the elites create wealth and prosperity. Associated factors such as employment and increased standards of living should filter down to local economies and local people.

modernisation theoriests were largely justified in the mid 20th centuary, as many poor countries recieved aid and experienced growth success. However, growth stalled later, and in some countries the poverty gap increased ratehr than decreased.

theorists see aid as a tool to serve capitalism

aid is often tied. a common condition in the local markets should be opened up to free trade, allowing foreign companies to import and export goods without trade or customs levies. they view this very negatively, believing LEDC's are often exploited economically led by TNC's.

Bilateral aid often requires the recipient nation to buy goods from the donor nation, or employ technical experts from the donor nation. these requirements help the donor nation.

critics of western aid such as Teresa Hayter 1971,1981,1989 see it as a tool for the richest countries to politically influence LEDC's. western countries tended to give aid to countries with right - wing governments rather than to countries with socialist or communist governments.(happened alot during cold war)

to get a loan from the world bank or IMF,LEDC's have often industrial - capitalist in nature. evidence shows that some of these programmes havnt succeeded in developing poor nations.

aid creates dependency

generally dont believe in giving anyone 'something for nothing;. they argue that aid teaches LEDC's to be dependent on MEDC's, rather than standing on their own two feet. they say that LEDC's start to see aid as a right, rather than as a safety net, or last resort.

neo - liberals - believes that aid mucks abour with the proper operation of the free market - they think that the free market is the ebst way of encouraging development, through enterprise and investment.

NGO's are politically and economically independent from government.

Disaster and emergency relief is obviously a short - term thing. its different from long - term development strategies. it is essential to fix the immediate damage before going on to plan stategies for the long term.

NGO's also participate in development. they develop local commmunities through education and village clinic, asd work with governments and businesses to coordinate national development.

 4 stages of NGO and charity involvement

relief and aid - food programmes, urgent medial care

community development - community health centres, community education

systems development - working with government and private business

peoples movement - encouraging locally managed development

NGO grown massively in the past 50 years, Robbins 2005 suggest number of reasons for this:

Better communication - e.g. internet has made it easier for NGO'S to organsie, publicise and plan.

Raised public awareness - extensive mass media coverage of global development issues and crisis has raised public awareness of global humanitarian issues.

Funding - some national governments have increased funding to NGO's as an alternative to taking action themselves on development issues. this is because of a neo - liberal belief in provate ver state action. the increase in funding has also been driven by the belief that NGO's are more likely to deliver results.

expertise / responsiveness - NGO have developed networks and expertise. they hve a reputation for getting assistance where it is needed quickly, and for being less likely to be corrupt than some government bodies.

Contreras 1987 - suggests TNC activity in the developing world can lead to significant benefits

1. increased government revenue through tax increases, which can in turn be sent on health and education.

2. the advanced technology that TNC's beign with them can provide a catalyst to further economic groth in the economy.

3. TNC's increase employment opportubities and therefore income.

4. TNC's need skilled workers, which provides an impetus for improvements in education and training.