Chapter 1: Concept of Development

Why Development Studies Are Important

1. Solves Real-World Problems

Development Studies help us understand and address global issues like
poverty, inequality, education, health, and sustainability.

2. Improves Lives
It focuses on improving the quality of life, especially in developing countries,
by creating better policies and practices.

3. Supports Global Goals

It aligns with goals like the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),
working toward peace, prosperity, and environmental protection.

Why It Is a Social Science Subject

1. Focuses on Human Societies
It studies how people live, interact, and develop within societies.

2. Uses Research and Analysis

It involves collecting data, analyzing policies, and understanding cultural,
political, and economic factors that affect development.

3. Combines knowledge from

o Economics (growth, trade, inequality)

o Politics (governance, power, institutions)

o Sociology (social change, culture, identity)
o Geography (urban/rural development, environment)

o Anthropology (community-based understanding)

Development as Modernity → Time Frame 1950s

Modernity in its broadest sense means the condition of being modern, new or up to
date, In economic terms it encompasses industrialization → capacity, skills,
intelligence to produce anything, urbanization → all facilities are present and increase
use of technology within all sectors of the economy.

Limitations:
• Eradication of cultural practices

• Destruction of natural environment

• Decline in the quality of life.

• Western-Centric Perspective as modernity is often based on Western European

experiences.
 Chapter 1: Concept of Development

Development as Economic Growth → Time Frame 1960s-1970s

In economic terms, development is the capacity of a nation to generate and sustain

an annual increase in its GNP of 5% or more.

Traditional economic measures

a) GDP: This measure the value of all goods and services produced within a
particular country.
b) GNP: This measures the value of all goods and services claimed by any
residents of a particular country regardless of where the production took
place.

c) Gross National Income (GNI) This is an alternative name for GNP. The
World Bank now refers to GNI rather than GNP in its annual World
Development Report.

This leads to the three world models and distinction between the rich and poor
countries:
Category A

• Global North
▪ Politically stable
▪ Heavily industrialized
▪ Control/influence other countries
▪ High income and living standards
▪ Strong education and health systems
▪ Low poverty rates
▪ Advanced technology
▪ Examples: Germany, USA, UK, Netherlands,

• Global South
▪ Often politically unstable
▪ Low to medium industrialization
▪ Former colonies (mostly)
▪ Lower income and living standards
▪ High poverty and unemployment
▪ Weak infrastructure
▪ Limited access to education and healthcare
▪ Examples: Bangladesh, Nigeria, Nepal

Category B
• Developed
▪ GDP > 8

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 Chapter 1: Concept of Development

▪ Politically Stable
▪ Strong Service Sectors (Healthcare, Education, Transportation etc.)
▪ Heavily Industrialized
▪ Provide foreign aid and fundings, investments
▪ Example: Norway, USA

• Developing/ Least Developed Countries

▪ GDP is between 6-8
▪ Problems like inequality, poverty persists
▪ Have Small Industries
▪ Example: Bangladesh (Current GDP – 6.8)

• Underdeveloped
▪ GDP is bellow 6
▪ Poor infrastructure (roads, electricity, internet)
▪ Low education and health levels
▪ Heavy dependence on agriculture
▪ Slow industrial growth
▪ Example: Somalia, South Sudan, Bangladesh (1980s: 5.7-5.9)

• Failed States
▪ Weak or no government control
▪ Law and order collapsed due to war or other reasons
▪ High violence or civil conflict
▪ Corruption and misuse of power
▪ Poor public services (health, security, etc.)
▪ No trust in government or legal system
▪ Example: Palestine, Myanmar

Category C

• First world: Developed or Advanced, Capitalistic, Democratic nations

• Second world: Developed or Advanced, Socialist. Communist nations

• Third world: Developing, Underdeveloped and Least developed nations.

Category D

• Income Categories (2001 Data):

▪ Low-income: ≤ $745

▪ Lower-middle-income: $746 – $2,975

▪ Upper-middle-income: $2,976 – $9,205

▪ High-income: $9,206+

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 Chapter 1: Concept of Development

Difference Between GDP and GNP

Feature GDP (Gross Domestic Product) GNP (Gross National Product)

What it Value of goods & services Value of goods & services

measures produced within a country produced by a country’s
residents (home or abroad)

Includes Foreign companies operating People & companies even if

within a country abroad

Excludes Income by residents working Foreign companies inside that

abroad country

Focus Location-based production Ownership-based production

Example Grameenphone (Norwegian A Bangladeshi working in Saudi

company in Bangladesh) — Arabia — income counted in
counted in Bangladesh’s GDP Bangladesh’s GNP

Why GDP Does Not Provide a Complete Picture of Development

1. Ignores market competition & side effects (like pollution, overuse of

resources)

2. Doesn’t show how wealth is shared (rich-poor gap hidden)

3. Misses informal, rural, and underground economy

4. Income meaning varies in socialist countries

5. Big or cold countries spend more → seem richer unfairly

6. Non-traded goods not reflected in exchange rates

7. Poor or incorrect data from developing countries

8. Currency value changes often → hard to compare

9. GDP only shows production, not people’s lives

10. High GDP can still mean:

• Poor healthcare & education

• High crime & corruption

• Social inequality & gender violence

11. Challenges despite GDP growth:

• Inflation (rising costs)

• Currency devaluation (weaker money)

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 Chapter 1: Concept of Development

• Income inequality (rich get richer)

• Political instability (frequent changes, weak governance)

• Low quality of life (lack of jobs, safety, education)

• Literacy & safety gaps

Development as Economic Growth + some non-Economic factors/indicators → Time

Frame 1980s-1990s

Development was redefined in terms of reduction of poverty, inequality and

unemployment within the growing context of economy.

• Increasing emphasis on redistribution for growth.

• Increasing emphasis on non-economic social indicators (attitudes towards life

and work, cultural traditions, system of land, tenure, property rights, integrity
of government agencies).

• Economic development consists of the reduction of elimination of poverty,

inequality and unemployment within the growing context of economy.

Alternative Indicators for Measuring Development

A. Gini Index (GINI Coefficient)

▪ Measures income inequality within a country.

▪ This measure varies from 0, which means perfect equality, to 1 which

represents perfect inequality.
▪ Thus, the nearer the coefficient is to 0 the more equal the income
distribution.

▪ Example: Countries with a Gini coefficient of between 0.50 and 0.70

could be described as having highly unequal income distributions,
while those with Gini coefficients of 0.20 to 0.35 have relatively
equitable distributions.
▪ Gini Index This measure, used by the UNDP ranges from 0 to 100. A
figure of 0 means perfect equality and 100 means perfect inequality.

B. Human Development Index (HDI)

▪ Knowledge → School enrollment & literacy rates. Boys vs Girls

▪ Longevity → How Long person lives.

▪ Standard of Living → Economic prosperity (adjusted for cost of living).

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 Chapter 1: Concept of Development

HDI Scale (Ranges from 0 to 1):

• 0.800 – 1.000 → Very High Development (Strong economy, good

healthcare & education).

• 0.700 – 0.799 → High Development (Good living conditions, but some

inequality).

• 0.550 – 0.699 → Medium Development (Growing economy but issues

in health & education).

• Below 0.550 → Low Development (Poor healthcare, education, and

infrastructure).

While Chile and Argentina are classified as ‘medium-income countries’, their

HDI scores put them in the category of ‘high human development’. Using
World Bank income figures, India is a ‘low-income country’, but UNDP figures
place India in the ‘medium human development’ grouping.

C. Gross National Happiness (GNH)

• Introduced by the King of Bhutan
• Focuses On Psychological well-being, cultural preservation, and
environmental conservation.

Development as a Multidimensional Process → Time Frame 2000 onwards

a) Involves reorganization and reorientation of entire economic and social

system.

b) In addition to income and output, changes in institutional, social and

administrative structures, attitude, even customs and beliefs.

The term development is

• A vision description and measures of the state of being of a desirable society

• A historical process of social change in which societies are transformed over
long periods
• As consisting of deliberate efforts aimed at improvement on the part of
various agencies, including government and all kinds of organizations and
social movements (Allan Thomas).

• Development as Freedom and People Centered Approach

This Part Is from Book

Millennium Development Goals
While these goals were adopted by the UN in 2000, they were the outcome

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 Chapter 1: Concept of Development

of international conferences throughout the 1990s. There are eight goals, but

for each goal there are several targets and indicators. The eight goals

are:

1 eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.

2 achieve universal primary education.

3 promote gender equality and empower women.

4 reduce child mortality.

5 improve maternal health.

6 combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

7 ensure environmental sustainability.

8 develop a global partnership for development.

The targets are much more specific and include:

1 between 1990 and 2015, halve the proportion of people whose income is

less than US$1 a day.

2 reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality

rate.
3 have, by 2015, begun to reduce the incidence of malaria and other major
diseases.

4 halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to

safe drinking water and basic sanitation.

Actor Activities (Point Form)

1. Individual
o Influence depends on income, class, gender, ethnicity, age, and other
social variables.

o Some have significant choice and influence, while others have little
agency.

For example, individuals can be incredibly influential on a large scale because of their
political or economic position, but individuals can also have very little influence even
within their own households. The President of the United States of America and a
woman farmer on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania are both individuals,
but their ability to influence events and their life choices are very different in scope.

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 Chapter 1: Concept of Development

2. Household

o Group of people sharing expenses; not always family members.

o Functions as a unit to meet basic needs.

3. Community

o Group with shared interests, often based on location (village, urban

district).
o Can also form around shared social identity.

4. Government

o Operates at multiple scales: local, municipal, national.

o Sets economic framework, can be interventionist or regulatory.

5. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

o Independent from the state and profit-driven companies.
o Help communities with services, income opportunities, and social
improvements.
o Range from small local groups to global organizations (e.g., Oxfam,
Médecins Sans Frontières).
6. Private Companies
o Represent market forces.
o Can be small businesses or multinational corporations.

7. Multilateral Organizations
o Set global economic policies and promote peace.

o Provide aid and technical assistance.

o Examples: IMF, UN, World Bank, ADB.

Multilateral Organizations: Full Names and Abbreviations

Abbreviation Full Name

IMF International Monetary Fund

UN United Nations

World Bank The World Bank Group

ADB Asian Development Bank