UNIT-1

1.0. Objectives
1.1. Concept and Definitions of Development
1.1.1. Characteristics of Development

1.1.2. Perspectives on Development

1.1.3. Dimensions of Development

1.1.4. Models of Development

1.2. Economic Growth
1.2.1 Meaning
1.2.2. Characteristics of economic growth
1.2.3. Why countries desire economic growth?
1.2.4. Key drivers of economic growth

1.2.5. Circle of Economic Growth

1.2.6. Phases of economic growth

1.2.7. Economic growth and development

1.2.8. Barriers to economic growth

1.3 Human Development

1.3.1. Human Development: The Concept

1.3.2. Human Development in the United Nation’s Agenda

1.3.3. Human development Approach vs. the Conventional

Development Approach

1.3.4. Indicators of human development

1.3.5. Economic development and human development

1.3.6. Barriers to human development:

1.4. Social development
1.4.1. Social development: Meaning and definitions
1.4.2. Features of Social Development

1.4.3. Social Development in the United Nation’s Agenda

1.4.4. Social Development in India

1.4.5. Factors facilitating Social Development

1.4.6. Factors hindering Social Development

1.5. Sustainable Development

1.5.1. Meaning and definition
1.5.2. Origin of the concept
1.5.3. World Conventions on Sustainable Development
1.5.4. Objectives of sustainable Development
1.5.5. Requirements of sustainable Development
1.5.6. Dimensions of Sustainable Development
1.5.7. Key Issues in Sustainable Development

1.5.8. Challenges to Sustainable Development

Unit-I
Development is a buzz word of the world since the period following the Second
World War. It is a social process affecting as well as wanted by both the rich
and the poor nations. This unit gives an overview of the theoretical concept of
development and the associated dimensions of it. Here an attempt is made to
provide a conceptual analysis of the concept of development, its related
concept of economic growth. Further the unit tries to focus on the paradigm
shifts in the concept of development over the years. It also focuses on the
concept of social development, human development and sustainable
development which have become the dominant paradigms in the development
discourse in the present day.

1.0 Objectives: After studying this unit, you can

 Conceptualize what is development, its characteristics, its dimensions,
perspectives and models.
 Understand the meaning of economic growth along with its
characteristics, need of economic growth, phases of economic growth,
driving forces that promote economic growth, its difference from
economic development and barriers to the process.
 Develop an idea of the concept of human development, the reflection of
the concept of human development in the UN agenda, how the concept
departs from the conventional development models, indicators of
human development and barriers to human development.
 Comprehend the meaning and features of social development and the
UN’s commitment for social development. Added to that you can note
the process of social development in India along with the factors
facilitating and hindering social development.
 Trace out the meaning, origin, requirements of sustainable
development, its pre-requisites. The unit will also impress upon you the
world conventions on sustainable development, its dimensions, issues
arising and challenges faced by the process.
1.1 Concept and Definitions of Development
Social and economic development as processes is inherent to a society right
from its inception. However, the emergence of the concept of development is
a recent one dating back to the early nineteen fifties. The post Second World
War period and the period of decolonization witnessed the emergence and the
dominance of the concept of “Development” in academic literature. The
declaration of 1960s as the Development decade by the United Nations led to
a burgeoning of literature on the concept. Initially development was conceived
as an exclusive economic term referring to “growth”, “increase in per capita
income” etc. But soon it was felt, development cannot be thought of in a one-
dimensional way having economic implications. It should affect the other
dimensions of the society. Since then development became a sociological
lexicon. Simply speaking development came to be interpreted as a process that
is for the benefit of the society and only economic growth minus societal
progress cannot be termed as development. Development thus stands for
improvement in quality of life and conditions of living.

In general terms, “development” means an “event constituting a new stage or

a changing situation”. “Development” is implicitly intended as something
positive or desirable. When referring to a society or to a socio-economic
system, “development” usually means improvement, either in the general
situation of the system, or in some of its constituent elements.
The concept of development though was not explicitly used, finds its essence
in August Comte’s ‘Law of Three Stages”, in Herbert Spencer’s evolutionary
theory, in Emile Durkheim’s ideas on the progress of society from mechanical
to organic solidarity, in Karl Marx’s ideas on the progress of societies through
different epochs and Max Weber’s ideas on the growth of modern capitalism.

But it was in the post Second World War period and the subsequent process of
decolonization, the concept of “Development” got a momentum. During this
period, the pro active role of the International agencies in assisting the war
affected nations to rebuild their economies, the nation building process
initiated by the newly liberalized countries gave a boost to the concept of
development.
The word “develop “has come from an Italian word “voluper” meaning to
unwrap or unfold. The definition of ‘development’ has been always
controversial over time. As Thomas argues, development as a concept is
‘contested, complex, and ambiguous’.

“Although development has been a constant concern of governments,

policymakers, economists and other social scientists – and has touched the
lives of more people than ever before – there has been little agreement on
what constitutes development, how it is best measured and how it is best
achieved. One reason for this lack of agreement is that dissatisfaction with the
pace and character of economic and social change has instilled a desire to
redefine the aims and measures of development.”(UNDP 1990, 104)
Development can be defined as the process of economic and social
transformation that is based on complex cultural and environmental factors
and their interactions.

Thomas (2000) explains three ways the word ‘development’ is used.

 Development as a vision: a vision or description of how a desirable
society should be.
 Development as a historical process: social change that takes place over
long periods of time due to inevitable processes. Here development
refers to the unavoidable results of progress like agricultural to industrial
society.
 Development as action: deliberate efforts to change things for the
better and to ensure a better standard of living like providing food,
education, health services etc.
To Prof. Yogindra Singh “Development is a strategy of planned social
change which is considered desirable by the members of a society.”

1.1.1. Characteristics of Development

The following are the important characteristics of development.

1. Development is a continuous process

The process of development continues from the moment of inception of the

society. The society always marches forward. Sometimes the process of
development is faster and under some situations it slows down. However, it
witnesses no complete halting point. It is ongoing in nature.

2. Development follows a pattern

Development occurs in an orderly manner and follows a certain sequence.

Thus, primitive, medieval and modern are the different phases of development
of the society. The society cannot skip one stage to reach at the other in the
process of development. The pattern is always maintained.

3. Development has a direction

It runs as corollary from the above said feature that the process of
development follows a definite direction. The direction is always forward and
never backward. August Comte’s “Law of Three Stages”, Herbert Spencer’s
proposition that the society moves from a simple to the complex one,
Ferdinand Tonnies’s idea that the society transits from community to
association, Emile Durkheim’s proposition that the society makes a shift from
mechanical to organic solidarity and Karl Marx’s idea that the society
progresses from a class to a class less society amply justify the directionality
involved in the process of development. It also impresses that in the process of
development, the society progresses towards maturity.

4. Development can be evolutionary or revolutionary in nature

Development when occurs in a slow and gradual manner it is said to be

evolutionary in character. Evolutionary development takes its natural course,
time and in not very spectacular in nature. In the long run the impacts of
development become visible. On the other hand, revolutionary development
refers to the abrupt and rapid change in the society. Revolutionary
development is triggered by some factors like education, migration in large
scale, introduction of policies etc. Revolutionary development is marked in a
quick span and is vividly visible in nature. For example, transition of a society
from pre modern to modern is evolutionary development, but transition of a
society from monarchy to democracy due to some revolution is revolutionary
in nature. Even the developments taking in India in the post globalization
period can said to be revolutionary.
5. Development is multidimensional

The conventional notion of development always insisted upon the uni

dimensionality of the concept of development focussing on economic growth.
However, later on it was felt economic growth is a parameter of development,
but not the sole or whole of it. At this moment the social scientists and
development practitioners felt that development has to be multidimensional
touching various aspects of the society. So that it can become better yielding in
nature. It should not confine itself to the economic dimension, but should have
its political, cultural and social dimensions too. Its political dimension is
expressed through the process of democratization, distributive justice;
increased consciousness for human rights, equity, liberty etc. The cultural
dimensions of development is manifested through the growth of secular
culture, increased consumerism etc. The social dimensions of development
include increased participation of people in societal affairs, development of
self reliance, better human development and environmental sustainability, etc.

6. Development is universal, but not uniform

Development is a common process witnessed by every society however

primitive or modern it is. Every society witnesses the process of development
in some form or the other. Time and space cannot arrest it. Right from the
beginning of the society development process is initiated. The rich and the
poor societies, the most developed and the most under developed societies
too experience it. In some societies it is faster while in some societies it is slow.
In some societies the yields of development are more remarkable than other
societies. So, the process is universal, but the outcome is not uniform.

7. Development insists upon adaptability

Development as process is driven by human needs. Human needs change with

the changing time and situations. The process of development demands the
existing institutions to change and adapt to the upcoming demands to fulfil the
emerging needs of the individuals. For example: with the process of
industrialization there was increased migration which required the institution
of joint family to disintegrate structurally.
8. Development stands for dynamism

Development necessarily entails change. It brings changes in the status quo of

a society. No development process can be imagined without bringing
subsequent changes. Thus, the concept of development is against the notion of
static.

9. Development is irreversible

Development as a process is always forward looking and has no look back.

There may be temporary stalemates but once a society is into the process of
development, it will never revert back to its original state. So development is
always progressive.

10. Development is diffusive

Development never remains concentrated in the place of its origin. It has a

natural tendency to spread beyond its place of origin. The best example of it is
that when a new technology is innovated, very soon, it spreads to other areas
beyond the place of its origin.

11. Development always has positive yields

The outcomes of development are always positive. It is for the betterment of

the society. Development thus is progressive. But sometimes when
development outcomes are used by human beings in a negative way its
consequences become disastrous. For e.g. Development of technology
necessarily improves human quality of life. But when men blindly use it for
destructive purpose the outcomes become sorrowful.

12. Development has got its qualitative and quantitative connotations

Development as a process can be judged through the qualitative improvement

human conditions of living. For example when there is a reduction of house
hold drudgery for the women we find a qualitative change in their living
conditions and term it as development of women. Similarly when there is a
quantum lift or there is an increase in number of some institution, then also
we feel the impact of development. For example the increase in the number of
educational institutions is also described as development. Thus the qualitative
aspects of development are felt while the quantitative aspects of development
are observed.

1.1.2. Perspectives on Development

Development as a concept can be discussed from various perspectives. They

are:

 ‘Development’ as a long term process of structural societal

transformation.
 ‘Development’ as a short-to-medium term outcome of desirable targets.
 ‘Development ‘as a dominant ‘discourse’ of western modernity

‘Development’ as a long term process of structural societal transformation-

The first conceptualization is that ‘development’ is a process of structural
societal change. Thomas (2000, 2004) refers to this meaning of development
as ‘a process of historical change’. This view, of ‘structural transformation’ and
‘long-term transformations of economies and societies’, as Gore noted, is one
that predominated in the 1950s and 1960s in particular. The key characteristics
of this perspective are that
 It is focused on processes of structural societal change.
 It is historical.
 It has a long-term outlook.
In this conceptualization development relates to a wide view of diverse
socio-economic changes. The change in one structural element of the
society has the propensity to bring changes in other institutions and
elements. For example, when there is development in the economy, there
is a change in the social institutions like family, marriage, education, system
of stratification in the society.

‘Development ‘as a short-to-medium term outcome of desirable targets- A

second perspective on ‘development’ can be seen in the light of some targeted
goals and their degree of achievements. Thomas (2000, 2004) characterizes
this second approach as ‘a vision or measure of progressive change’ and Gore
(2000) relates it to ‘performance assessment’. At its most basic level it is simply
concerned with development as occurring in terms of a set of short- to
medium-term ‘performance indicators’ – goals or outcomes – which can be
measured and compared with targets. For example change in the level of
education, increase in income, poverty reduction etc. is the short or medium
term outcomes used to indicate development. It is a practitioner accepted
model of development very much used by the development agencies like the
UNDP (the United Nations Development Programme), OECD (Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development), The World Bank etc. The key
feature of this second perspective is that it is focused on the outcomes of
change so that it has a relatively short-term outlook. But it becomes easy to
measure development in terms of some pre fixed objectives and the level of
their attainment.

‘Development’ as a dominant ‘discourse’ of western modernity: This is the

‘post-modern’ conceptualization of development. It is also referred to as the
‘post-development’, ‘post-colonial’ or ‘post-structuralism’ development
perspective. This third perspective emerged as a reaction to the deliberate
efforts at progress made in the name of development since World War II and
was triggered in particular by the 1949 Declaration by the US President Truman
that: “We must embark on a bold new program for making the benefits of our
scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and
growth of underdeveloped areas.” Michel Foucault (1966, 1969) is a strong
advocate of this post modern approach to development.

The post modern theorists are vocal against the development maladies
created in the Third World countries. To the post modern development
theorists development created a neo colonial regime in the Third World
countries. Instead of creating abundance promised by theorists and politicians
in the 1950s, the discourse and strategy of development produced its
opposite: massive underdevelopment and impoverishment, untold
exploitation and oppression. The western development model was super
imposed on the Third world countries with a top down, ethnocentric, and
technocratic approach. It neglected the local people, their needs and cultural
demands.
1.1.3 Dimensions of Development

Development is always multi dimensional. Four important dimensions of

development can be introduced here. They are: economic dimension, human
dimension, sustainable dimension and the territorial dimension.

Economic development: Economic development is traditionally seen as the

initial form of development. It has been strictly associated with the concept of
economic growth determined through an increase in the per capita income. It
proposes economic transformations to initiate growth and does not speak
much about social transformation. However, soon it was realised that
economic development cannot ensure true development as the benefits are
cornered by a few.
Human development: Human dimension of development presupposes that
development should be measured in terms of the richness of human life. The
concept was insisted upon by a Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq and Indian
economist Amartya Sen in 1990 and was published by the United Nations
Development Programme. To quote Haq income or growth figures cannot be
the sole determinant of development. Development needs to ensure greater
access to knowledge, better nutrition and health services, more secure
livelihoods, security against crime and physical violence, satisfying leisure
hours, political and cultural freedoms and sense of participation in community
activities to people of a society. The objective of human development lies in
creating an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy and
creative lives. Today human development approach has profoundly affected an
entire generation of policy-makers and development specialists around the
world.

Sustainable development: The concept of “sustainable development was first

introduced by Brundtland (1987), who defined development as “sustainable” if
it “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs”. It contains within it two key concepts:

 The concept of needs in particular, the essential needs of the world's

poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and
  The idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social
organization on the environment's ability to meet present and future
needs.

Sustainable development implies minimising the use of exhaustible resources

to create a constant flow of it across generations, and making an appropriate
use of renewable resources. This applies to energy, fish stock, wildlife, forests,
water, land and air. The concept of sustainability has also been extended
beyond environmental concerns, to include social sustainability, i.e. long term
acceptance and ownership of development changes by the citizens, their
organisations and associations (civil society), and financial and economic
sustainability.
Thus, sustainable development recognizes that growth must be both inclusive
and environmentally sound to reduce poverty and build shared prosperity for
today’s population and to continue to meet the needs of future generations. It
is efficient with resources and carefully planned to deliver both immediate and
long-term benefits for people, planet, and prosperity. The three pillars of
sustainable development are economic growth, environmental stewardship,
and social inclusion.

Territorial development: This dimension of development refers to a territorial

system. It is intended to establish interrelationships between rural and urban
areas connecting them by information systems and transport infrastructures.
Territorial development implies focusing on the assets of the territory, its
potential and constraints (FAO, 2005).Policies to exploit and enhance this
potential play an important role in the development process.
1.1.4. Models of Development

The post-World War II period, the process of decolonialisation, the emergence

and need for economic reconstruction of nation-states, and the shadow of the
Cold War widely shaped the development discourse till the late 1970s. The
industrial and political rise of the West and Southern Europe and North
America on the one side, and Russia and communist states on the other, with
the stagnation of a vast number of nations with low productivity, industrial
backwardness and poverty gave rise to the First, Second and developing world
models of development respectively .The first world model of development is
called the “Capitalist Model”, the second world model was popularly known as
the “Socialist Model” and The third world development model was named as
the “Developing World Model”.

The capitalist model of development is characterised by provision of private

ownership of property and means of production, minimum state control on
economic enterprises, and a free economy regulated by competition. This
developmental model also emphasises sustained growth and modernisation
with massive state investment at the takeoff stage. This perspective insists
economic development would revolve around industrialisation. This model of
development is criticised as pro rich and anti poor in character. It is claimed
that it increases the rich poor gap and results in uneven development.

The Second World model or the socialist model was contradictory to the
capitalist model of development. It challenged the capitalist model of
development. It propagated the abolition of ownership of private property and
means of production, emphasised state ownership of means of production,
state-owned public enterprise, and a state regulated economy and centralised
planning by the state for economic growth. While both the capitalist and the
socialist models laid primary emphasis on economic growth, the socialist
model also emphasised on the equal distribution of the fruits of growth among
all sections of the population. This model of development faced its tragic
consequences in the 80s when there was the fall of communism in Soviet
Russia. The model could not yield its targeted result and failed to create an
egalitarian society. Rather, poverty and unemployment became the worst
outcomes of this model of development.

The developing world is represented by the ex-colonial, newly independent

and non-aligned countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. These countries
were industrially backward at the time of liberation. These countries witnessed
wide diversity in terms of their socio-cultural and political settings and
historical experiences and levels of technological and economic development.
These countries were economically and technologically underdeveloped, and
were undergoing the process of nation-building and fast social transformation
in the post-colonial era. As against these backdrops, these countries have been
experimenting with diverse models of development. For example, India has
followed the path of “mixed economy” by adopting a path of development in
between the capitalist and socialist models. With the process of Globalization
and the subsequent structural adjustment policies this model is tending to take
a capitalist trend of development.

1.2. Economic Growth

Economic growth is one of the prime goals of every nation be small or large.
Right from the beginning of the development debates, it is taken as the key
driver and indicator of development. The prosperity of a nation is judged in
terms of the rate of economic growth it achieves from time to time.
1.2.1 Meaning

Economic growth is the long-term expansion of a country’s productive

potential. It is the process by which a nation’s wealth increases over time.
Although the term is often used in discussions of short-term economic
performance, in the context of economic theory, it generally refers to an
increase in wealth over an extended period. An increase in the capacity of an
economy to produce more goods and services, compared from one period of
time to another becomes an indicator of economic growth. Economic growth is
indicated through GDP or GNP per capita. Increase in the capital stock,
advances in technology, and improvement in the quality and level of literacy
are considered to be the principal causes of economic growth. In recent years,
the idea of sustainable development has become a prime indicator of
economic growth. Sustainable development focuses on environmentally sound
processes that must be taken into account in growing an economy.

Economic growth has two meanings:

1. Firstly, and most commonly, growth is defined as an increase in the

output that an economy produces over a period of time.
2. The second meaning of economic growth is an increase in production of
an economy by the use of its scarce resources.

When an economy is in a position to produce more, it is termed as

economic growth. The increase in production can be noted through the
increase in the production of consumer goods and capital goods.
 Economic growth, thus simply means an increase in the production and
consumption of goods and services. Todaro and Smith define economic growth
as “The steady process by which the productive capacity of the economy is
increased over time to bring about rising levels of national output and
income.” Economic growth has been defined by Arthur Lewis as “the growth of
output per head of population”.

Economic growth is often and generally indicated by increasing real gross

domestic product (GDP) or real gross national product (GNP), and it has been a
primary, perennial goal of many societies and most governments. However, it
should be remembered that economic growth has its limitations and
sometimes blind stress on economic growth results in negative yields like
degradation of environment which becomes detrimental to the lives and
longevity of the people and the planet. So instead of brining economic welfare
it proves disastrous for human existence.

1.2.2Characteristics of Economic Growth

There are some marked characteristics of economic growth. According to

Simon Kuznet there are six characteristics of modern economic growth.
They are:

 High rates of growth of per capita incomes.

 High rates of growth of total factor productivity.
 High rates of structural transformation of the economy.
 High rates of social and ideological transformation.
 Growth of trade, specifically import of raw materials and
 Export of manufactures.

1.2.3Why countries desire economic growth?

Economic growth is the most important economic indicator of development. It
simply tells us how much more the economy is producing than it did before. If
the economy is producing more, businesses are more profitable, and stock
prices rise,it leads to more capital investment and more employment. As
more jobs are created, incomes rise. This gives consumers more money to buy
 more products and services, driving more economic growth. For this reason, all
countries want positive economic growth.

Positive economic growth generates economic welfare. It raises the level of

employment. It brings more purchasing power to the people. It betters of their
consumption capacity and ensures them a better standard of living. When
there is a general rise in the standard of living of the people, the country’s
economy moves forward.
1.2.4 Key drivers of economic growth

There are certain driving forces of economic growth. According to Arthur

Lewis, economic growth is conditioned by (1) economic activity, (2) increasing
knowledge and (3) increasing capital. In other words, these three factors are
labour, technical improvements and capital. Taking into consideration the
aforesaid factors, the following factors can be discussed as the most important
drivers of economic growth.

Growth in physical
Growth in the size of Growth in the quality of labor
capital stock
active labor force (Growth of Human Capital)
leading to increase
in per capita
income

Technological progress Stable system of democratic

Increase in the stock
and innovation leading governance, economic stability
of knowledge
to increase in production
(both qualitative and
quantitative leap)

The most important driver of economic growth is the increase in the physical
capital stock of a nation. The amount of physical stock determines the
distribution pattern. Physical capital stock includes land available, natural
resources, water, forest etc. In every country there is a dearth of physical
capital available to the population. If the stock of physical capital can increase
through the careful utilization pattern or better exploration of the natural
resources, then there is a necessary increase in the stock and the number of
users increase and the amount available to each user increases. This gives birth
to economic growth.

An increase in the labour force participation rate symbolizes economic

growth. The challenges of growth, job creation, and inclusion are closely
intertwined. Increased labour force participation creates opportunities for
people, increase their economic self sufficiency and lead to a better standard
of living among them. It also reduces the dependency rate. The demand for
products increase and it brings transformations in the process of production.
When production increases due to increased demand, the market expands and
diversifies. This brings economic growth.

Along with physical capital an important factor of economic growth is

productive labour force. Productive labour force is needed to make an optimal
and efficient use of physical capital. Productive labour force is the outcome of
an increase in the quality of human capital in the country. The human capital
depends on the level of education, skill development, health of the workers,
their training and ability to innovate, motivation for work etc. When a country
fosters all these qualities or provides these inputs, economic growth is
spearheaded, because the process of production is well anchored and very
efficiently managed to yield the maximum output.

When the human capital of a country is overstressed, there is a qualitative

improvement in the labour force. This brings forth tremendous innovations
and transformations in the process of production. There are rapid
technological progresses. The intelligent labour force provides a new face to
the process of production. There is both a quantitative increase and a
qualitative rise in production. This significantly contributes towards economic
growth.

However economic growth is always tied to economic stability and a stable

system of governance. Economic instability like recessions, depressions retard
the process of economic growth. Economic stability is dependent on a prudent
and stable government which plays a significant role in making economic
policies, planning and programmes. A visionary government can better
facilitate economic growth. Particularly, when a government remains free from
rifts, challenges and threats it remains relatively stable and focuses on better
investment of capital for economic growth.

Finally, the stock knowledge or knowledge capital plays a crucial role in

economic growth. Of all the factors of production, knowledge capital creates
the longest lasting competitive advantage for economic growth. Knowledge
capital is an essential component of human [Link] knowledge is an
intangible asset that comprises the information and skills of the individuals
who serve as employees, their experience with the process of production,
group work and on-the-job learning. Thus, knowledge capital refers to the
know how that results from the experience, information, knowledge, learning,
and skills of the labor force. Knowledge capital is not like the physical factors
of production - land, labor and capital .It is based on skills that employees
share with each other in order to improve efficiencies, rather than on physical
items. Skills and access to knowledge provides a better work efficiency to the
labor engaged in the process f production.

1.2.5Circle of Economic Growth

There is a well decided circle of economic growth. It is initiated from the point
of rising consumer demand. When the consumers have higher demand, the
supply sides need a strengthening by increasing the output. To increase the
output, investment of capital in all its forms, physical, human, and knowledge
capital becomes a need. When the quality and amount of investment
increases, there is a phenomenal rise in productivity. This leads to an increase
in the wages received by the people engaged in production. This increases
their purchasing power and the demand side is strengthened which boosts the
subsequent stages of economic process and ultimately result in economic
growth by increased per capita income and GDP. The circle of economic
growth can be indicated through the figure below.
 Increased
wage

Rising Increased
Higher investment
consumer
out put
demand

Increase Increased
Higher
in the wage results in
productivity
wage the increasing
received purchasing
power

Strengthens
demand and fuels
economic growth

1.2.6The Phases of Economic Growth

Economic growth normally has two important phases. They are the rising
phase called economic expansion and a declining phase called economic
recession. Economic expansion is the most desirable phase of economic
growth, when the economy grows sustainably. At some point, confidence in
economic growth dissipates. When economic growth becomes economic
contraction, it's known as a recession. An economic depression is a recession.
It is also called a down turn in the economy.
Rostow’s Stages of Economic Growth

W.W. Rostow, the American economic historian described the transformation

of countries from underdevelopment to development in terms of stages of
growth. He is of the view that all countries must pass through the following
stages.
1) The traditional society;
2) The transitional society;
3) The take- off stage;
4) The mature stage and;
5) The age of high mass consumption

The traditional societies are custom-bound and tradition-oriented. These

hinder progress and generate economic backwardness. The poor countries of
today are good examples of traditional society. In short, the factors which are
essential for economic growth like development of new knowledge, changing
practices of production, skill are missing in such societies.
In the transitional society, the conditions for take-off stage are established.
During this stage, the force of customs and traditions get reduced; economic
motivation rises and there are perceptible improvements in physical and social
infrastructure. Once an economy attains the take–off stage, it experiences
sustaining growth.

The take-off stage refers to a situation where an economy transforms itself

from a predominantly agricultural to a predominantly industrial society. For an
economy to attain the take-off stage, it is required to make heavy investment
from its resources for industrial production and development of allied services.
The take-off stage was made possible in some countries by leading sectors like
railways and defence.

After the take- off stage, when the economy attains self sustaining growth, it
enters the mature stage. During this stage, the government has to make some
basic decisions. As there will be abundant resources and goods, it has to decide
whether it has to use them for strengthening the nation into a strong and
powerful state militarily or to use the resources for improving the welfare of
the people.

The final stage is the age of high mass consumption. During this period, people
will consume all kinds of goods especially durable goods like cars on a mass
scale.
Rostow’s stages of economic growth are only broadly true. All nations have not
gone through the order in which he has described the stages.

1.2.7Economic growth and development

Economic growth and economic development have received a lot of attention

in the 20thcentury. In an economy there must be balanced economic growth
of all sectors – agriculture, manufacturing industry and the service sector. Only
then, economic growth will benefit all sectors of the population. Economic
welfare is based on proper distribution among the population. The distribution
takes place in the form of rent, wages, interest and profits.

In the past, economic growth and economic development were used more or
less with the same meaning. For example, the rate of growth of income per
capita or per capita GNP was an index of economic development. The
wellbeing of population depends on the rate of growth of ‘real’ per capita GNP.
Real per capita GNP refers to the monetary growth of GNP per capita minus
the rate of inflation.

The common notion says if there is decline in poverty, unemployment, and

inequality, there is economic development in the country. Otherwise, even if
per capita income doubles, it cannot be termed as economic development. So
when there is development, there must be improvement in the quality of life.
That means people must have higher incomes, better education, better health
care and nutrition, less poverty and more equality of opportunity. So according
to Michael P. Todaro and Stephen C. Smith, “Development must be conceived
of as a multidimensional process involving major changes in social structures,
popular attitudes and national institutions, as well as the acceleration of
economic growth, the reduction of inequality, and the eradication of poverty”.
The economic development of a country or society is usually associated with
(amongst other things) rising incomes and related increases in consumption,
savings, and investment. Of course, there is far more to economic
development than income growth; for if income distribution is highly skewed,
growth may not be accompanied by much progress towards the goals that are
usually associated with economic development. Economists usually measure
economic growth in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) or related
indicators, such as gross national product (GNP) or gross national income
(GNI) which is derived from the GDP calculation. GDP is calculated from a
country's national accounts which report annual data on incomes, expenditure
and investment for each sector of the economy. Using these data it is possible
to estimate the total income earned in the country in any given year (GDP) or
the total income earned by a country's citizens (GNP or GNI).

1.2.8Barriers to economic growth

Economic growth depends on the quality and availability of these factors. If

any of the factors of production suffers from a lack of quality or availability,
then economic growth will not be possible to take place. These factors include:

 Dearth of infrastructure:

 Insufficient or contaminated land

 Substandard labour supply
 Poor technical infrastructure, such as roads and communications
 Poor social infrastructure, such as schools or hospitals
 Poor industrial infrastructure, such as factories and machinery

These are basically the infrastructural support needed for economic

growth. In the absence of such infrastructural facilities, economic
growth in unimaginable.
Along with the infrastructural barrier, a wide range of other barriers which halt
economic growth can be pointed as below.

 Poverty cycle:

 low incomes
 low savings
 low investment
 low incomes

Poverty cycle reduces the capacity of the country to make flow of capital
for production and thus the process of production is retarded and
economic growth is stunted.

 Institutional and political factors:

 ineffective taxation structure

 lack of property rights
 political instability
 corruption
 unequal distribution of income
 formal and informal markets
 lack of infrastructure

Institutional and political factors play a crucial role in stagnating economic

growth. When the institutional arrangements are not proper, there is
inequality of income among the people, the country fails to generate adequate
revenue needed to fuel the production process. Political instability leads to a
shift of focus from economic growth to maintain stability and the system of
governance withdraws its efforts from accelerating economic growth.
Corruption is a great negation to growth as money gets siphoned to individual
hands for personal consumption and is not used for mass consumption. Sick
markets cannot stir economic growth. Because the demand subsides in a sick
market and no longer the market plays its driving role to promote economic
growth. Infrastructures like transports, communications, educational
institutions and hospitals when are ill developed, economic growth is seriously
hampered.
 International trade barriers:

 overdependence on primary products

 consequences of adverse terms of trade
 consequences of a narrow range of exports
 protectionism in international trade

International trade barriers negate economic growth. Over dependence

on primary products do not allow an economy to grow. Adverse terms of
trade and limitations on exports cast its unfavourable consequences
upon production. For such conditions, market expansion is blocked.
Capital generation becomes difficult which is needed for production.
Protectionism in international trade restricts consumer’s choice and
freedom and disallows the products of certain countries to get marketed
outside. This negatively affects production and economic growth.

 International financial barriers:

 indebtedness
 non-convertible currencies
 capital flight

International financial barriers like debt traps, capital flight and drain
make investment limited for a country. This adversely affects economic
growth.

 Social and cultural factors acting as barriers:

 religion
 culture
 tradition
 gender issues

Socio cultural factors too arrest economic growth. Religious segregation,

taboos, cultural prescriptions and limitations, traditions and gender
based discriminations mar the human capital development and
dissociate a major chunk of the population from getting integrated in the
 labour force and emerging as quality labour force. This becomes
degrading for economic growth.

However, today nations are taking measures to overcome such barriers

to make economic growth a reality. The structural adjustment policies,
liberalization process and globalization have significantly reduced the
international trade and financial barriers. Inclusive policies have tried to
put an end to the socio cultural barriers to economic growth. Revamping
of the economy through economic planning, policies and programmes
have addressed many issues arising out of poverty cycle. Development
of a strong political will, administrative reforms, and public policies and
the ideology of good governance are also tuned to make economic
growth an achievable agenda.

1.3 Human Development

The last decade of the twentieth century witnessed the development of a new
approach to development known as the “Human Development” approach. The
approach got widespread popularity with the efforts of the United Nations to
make it an avowed purpose for all nation states. By this time, the planners,
policy makers and the intellectuals realized that development of a society
becomes a myth without the proper development of its human beings who are
the ultimate stakeholders of the benefits of development. This thinking led to
the development of the concept of “Human Development” which has become
the most vital index of and an instrument for development today.

1.3.1Human Development: The Concept

According to this concept of human development, “Income is merely one

option that people would like to have. But it is not the sum total of their lives.
Development must, therefore, be more than just the expansion of income and
wealth. Its focus must be people.” Human dimension of development
presupposes that development should be measured in terms of the richness of
human life. It presupposes that people are the real wealth of the nations. So
development should be designed and directed to create an enabling
environment for people to enjoy long, healthy and creative lives. Human
development is defined as the process of enlarging people’s freedoms and
opportunities and improving their well-being. Human development is about
the real freedom ordinary people have to decide who to be, what to do, and
how to live. To be more definitive human development can be said to be a
paradigm that speaks about creating an environment in which people can
develop their full potential and lead productive, creative lives in accord with
their needs and interests.

The human development concept was developed by the Pakistani economist

Mahbub ul Haq. There was thinking on this human development concept at
the World Bank in the 1970s. But it took the concrete shape as an approach
when Dr. Haq argued that existing measures of human progress failed to
improve people’s lives. In particular, he believed that the commonly used
measure of Gross Domestic Product failed to adequately measure well-being.
He noted that the existing model of development had the lacunae of not
trickling down to the lower rung of the social ladder. So, it was becoming pro
rich and anti poor. Working with Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and others in
1990 Dr. Haq published the first Human Development Report, which was
commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme. The concept
of human development was then expanded upon by Martha Nussbaum, Sabina
Alkire, Ingrid Robeyns, and others who had development concerns.

1.3.2Human Development in the United Nation’s Agenda

The UNDP, in its Human Development Report has voiced its concern against
the jobless, ruthless, voiceless, rootless and fortuneless growth in the late
1990s.

The conventional development process resulted in jobless growth, since the

economy grew but did not expand the opportunities for employment for large
sections of the population. For the developing countries, jobless growth has
meant long hours of work, but very low incomes. Under jobless growth,
hundreds of millions of people are into low productivity work in agriculture
and in other informal sectors which does not become paying for them.
The traditional developmental process was ruthless by the fact that the fruits
of economic growth have mostly benefited the rich; while millions of people
stagnate in poverty. Ruthless growth causes people’s cultural identity to
wither. At places the dominant majority culture amplifies at the cost of
marginalisation of the minority cultures. The minority culture gradually withers
away.

The development process in practice resulted in a voiceless growth as in many

places it has not ensured the process of democratic participation of the people
in decision-making processes. The voiceless growth process also provides
women a marginal role in economic development. Again, fast economic
growth is also achieved in some countries at the cost of destruction of forests,
polluting rivers, destroying bio-diversity and depleting natural resources.
Development did not reflect the voices of all sections of the society and all
sectors of the planet.

The established development practices yielded a futureless growth in the

sense the present generation squanders resources needed by the future
generation. At times the futureless growth benefits the industrialised countries
at the cost of increased pressure on the poor people of the developing
countries. As against this backdrop, the UNDP says development that
perpetuates today’s inequalities is neither sustainable nor worth sustaining.
The UNDP concluded that expansion of real income and economic growth are
not necessarily characteristics of successful development as countries with
high GDP and per capita income at times have very low achievements in the
quality of life.

So the UNDP launched its efforts to make development pro people. For this, it
shifted the development paradigm for growth centric to people centric
development and insisted upon human development.

United Nations Development Programme has been defining human

development as "the process of enlarging people's choices. The choices can be
enlarged by allowing them to "lead a long and healthy life, to be educated, to
enjoy a decent standard of living", as well as “enjoying political freedom, other
guaranteed human rights and various ingredients of self-respect."
 In principle, these choices can be infinite and change over time. But at all
levels of development, the three essential ones that can indicate human
development are:

(a) To lead a long and healthy life,

(b) To acquire knowledge and

(c) To have access to resources needed for a decent standard of living.

When human development insists upon expanding the choices people, its
focus hovers around the following propositions.

 To allow human beings to lead lives that they value

 To improve the human condition so that people have the chance to lead
full lives.
 To avoid the concentration of the goods and services that
underprivileged people need
 To allow people to take their own decisions.
 To enable human beings to participate in the life of the community.

The human development approach assumes that without these, many choices
are simply not available, and many opportunities in life remain inaccessible.
This prevents people from leading a descent life. However, human
development does not end there. Additional choices, ranging from political,
economic and social freedom to opportunities for being creative and
productive and enjoying personal self-respect and guaranteed human rights
are also inseparable parts of human development.

Thus, human development is a well-being concept within a field of

international development. It involves studies of the human condition with its
core being the capability approach. The inequality adjusted Human
Development Index is used as a way of measuring actual progress in human
development by the United Nations. It is an alternative approach to a single
focus on economic growth, and focuses more on social justice, as a way of
understanding progress. Fundamental to enlarging these choices is building
human capabilities —the range of things that people can do or be in life.
Capabilities are "the substantive freedoms [a person] enjoys to lead the kind of
life [they have] reason to value."

Thus, the UNDP depicts two sides of human development. They are:

 The formation of human capabilities – such as improved health,

knowledge and access to resources; and
 The people making use of these capabilities for productive purposes –
being active in cultural, social and political affairs.

1.3.3Human development Approach vs. the Conventional Development

Approach

The Human Development Approach to development is different from the

conventional approaches development. According to this approach, the
conventional focus of the development approach on economic growth is an
indicator of development, but it cannot be the sole and whole symbol of
development. The human development approach subsumes within it human
capital formation, human resources development, human welfare or the basic
human needs approaches. Economic growth, that is, the increase in production
(GDP) is necessary but not sufficient for human development.

The theories of human capital formation and human resources development

consider the human being as a means and not as an end. They are concerned
with the supply side. The human welfare approach visualises people only as
passive recipients of benefits of development and not as its participants. The
basic needs approach aims to satisfy the basic minimum needs, i.e., food,
shelter, clothing, etc., of the deprived sections of the population rather than
on the issue of human choices.

The human development approach puts equal emphasis on the production and
distribution of resources, expansion and use of human capabilities, scope of
choice, livelihood security, participatory process, and social, economic and
political freedom. All these indeed emphases a paradigm shift in the social
development strategy of the State. The Human Development approach
emphasizes on three dimensions. They are: social, economic and efficiency
dimensions. These can be shown in the following diagram.
 Dimensions of Human Development

Economic Progress
Social progress achieved achieved through Efficiency noted
through greater access though
to  Reduction of
inequality  Greater
 Knowledge  Higher per availability
 Nutrition and capita Income and
 Health services  Better use of
resources

1.3.4. Indicators of human development

There are six basic indicators of human development. They are: equity,
sustainability, productivity, empowerment, cooperation and security.

 Equity is the idea of fairness for every person, between men and
women. Every individual has the right to an education and health care.
 Sustainability is the view that we all have the right to earn a living that
can sustain our lives and have access to a more even distribution of
goods.
 Productivity states the full participation of people in the process of
income generation. This also means that the government needs more
efficient social programs for its people.
 Empowerment is the freedom of the people to influence development
and decisions that affect their lives.
 Cooperation stipulates participation and belongingness to the
communities and groups as a means of mutual enrichment. Security
offers people development opportunities freely and safely with
confidence that they will not disappear suddenly in the future.
1.3.5. Economic development and human development

There is a close nexus between economic development and human

development. Economic development can stimulate human development and
human development is a necessary pre condition for economic development.
Unless and until, the economy of a society is well developed, the environment
for human development does not become conducive. When there is growth,
increase in per capita income, people gets better purchasing power and the
standard of living increases. Their affordability capacity increases and they are
in a position to spend for their education, nutrition, health etc. This improves
their quality of life and well being. They are able to lead a long life, have access
to information and knowledge and have the required resources to lead a
descent life. All these promote human development. Thus, economic
development is a prerequisite for human development.

On the other hand, human development stimulates economic development.

Economic development always presupposes growth which is dependent on
human productivity. Knowledge, health and access to opportunities like
education, health, nutrition, and information generate skill, capacity and
expertise in the human beings and make them not only productive, but also
add quality to their work. This promotes economic development. Production
increases, market develops, market expands and get diversified. This increases
the GDP of a nation. The better is the human development of a society, the
faster and richer is the economic development of a nation.

1.3.6. Barriers to human development:

There are several forces that constrain human development. The prominent
among them are:

An inegalitarian environment that promotes sectoral interest restricts human

development. When the interest of a group is protected and promoted at the
cost of the majority, the development of the majority is challenged. Their
freedom, choice is sacrificed and their development does not get focus. For
example in the traditional caste society of India, the privileges were cornered
by the higher castes and the vast majority of lower caste people were debarred
from accessing the benefits rendered by the society. This prevented the human
development.
 When the societal resources, economic opportunities are monopolized by a
segment of the society, human development becomes retarded.

Political disempowerment restricts the participation of the citizens in a healthy

manner and this affects the process of human development.

Poor quality of life and unequal distribution of power and resources negate
human development in a society.

Lack of cooperation among the people, rising conflict restrict human

development. Because the enabling environment cannot be created when
human safety is affected due to conflict and tensions created thereof. Under
such situation human development becomes a myth. For examples in the
conflict areas human development becomes impossible.

So, all these barriers are to be fought against to make human development
possible.

1.4 Social development

Spectacular developments initiated in the early fifties through the economic
development approach failed to materialize the dream of human well being.
Economic growth could not ensure social progress. It was realized that
economic development fuelled the market forces to favour the rich and
deprive the poor. This increased the gap between the rich and the poor.
Economic growth induced prosperity for a few, but resulted in poverty,
massive deprivation and social backwardness. This compelled nations to face a
contradiction between economic prosperity on the one hand and social
progress on the other which finally culminated in imbalanced development.

The failure of the grand economic theories of growth to ensure balanced

development of the society led development thinkers to think for alternative
models of development. Economists like Gunnar Myrdal argued for a
redefinition of development taking the social factors into account. To him
economic prosperity has no meaning unless and until it is able to eradicate
social miseries. Similarly, The World Bank and the UNDP also insisted for the
inclusion of social issues in economic planning to make it more pro people and
development effective in character. The alternative model of development was
expected to be holistic and multidimensional to touch and impact every fringe
of the society and to ensure balanced development. Thus, social development
emerged as an alternative approach to development to ensure a healthy and
balanced development. It was expected to be multidimensional, multifaceted
effecting and benefiting every aspect of society. Thus, economic policies
started getting tuned to meet the broader social objectives. This added a new
dimension to the development discourse.

1.4.1. Social development: Meaning

Social development is a process that results in the transformation of social

structures to improve the capacity of a society in order to fulfill its objectives. It
refers to a paradigmatic change within the social and economic structure.
Social development attempts to explain the qualitative changes in the
structure and framework of society, that help the society to better realize its
aims and objectives. When development takes place in progressive way
featuring in greater levels of efficiency, quality, productivity, complexity,
comprehension, creativity, mastery, enjoyment and accomplishment and
brings qualitative changes in human existence, it can be termed as social
development. The UN document claimed a social development aims at
bringing about a more equitable distribution of income and wealth for
promoting social justice, alleviating poverty, maximizing productivity,
employment and expanding and improving facilities for education, health
nutrition, housing and social welfare for the disadvantaged individuals, groups
and communities. These become the very indicators of social development.

Thus it can be noted that society centric development can be designated as

social development. This implies that development processes need to benefit
people, enrich their way of interaction in groups and societies, and make the
norms that facilitate such interaction conducive. Social development thus
implies the change in social institutions. Progress toward an inclusive society
with the process of normative and institutional changes and changes in the
interactional pattern among individuals can be depicted as a good example of
social development. To quote James Midgley “ Planned change designated to
promote the well being of the population as a whole in conjunction with a
dynamic process of economic development can be termed as social
development.” Emibayer and Mische opine social development aims at
enabling the individuals, efficacy building in them, generating a sense of self
determination among them and ensuring opportunities to them to satisfy their
basic needs to improve their quality of life. In his essay “The idea of Social
Development”, Herbert Blumer argues social development is a new concept
which is closely associated with the cultural values of the community.
According to Gore, social development as a term means economic growth with
social justice, eradication of poverty and minimization of economic
inequalities, emphasis on human resources development and development of
social services which are inclusive of welfare services but extended to cover
health, education, housing, rehabilitation etc. Paiva viewed social development
as a process of enhancing the capacity of individuals to work for their own, as
well as for the welfare of their society. Salima Omer defined social
development as a process concerned with achieving an integrated, balanced
and unified social and economic development of society that gives expression
to the value of human dignity, equality and social justice. Social Development
can thus be concluded to be the promotion of a sustainable society that is
worthy of human dignity by empowering marginalised groups, women and
men, to undertake their own development, to improve their social and
economic position and to acquire their rightful place in society.

1.4.2. Features of Social Development

The International Agencies visualize social development as a progressive
process of change resulting in steady improvement in social conditions.

The chief features of social development include:

 Promotion of social progress and betterment of human conditions of

living by according human beings a life with dignity, equality, respect,
mutual responsibility and cooperation.
 People centric development where economic development is a means to
achieve human development by fulfilling the basic needs of the
individuals.
 Making economic policies and social policies mutually supplementary to
each other to maximize development.
 Ensuring social and distributive justice and to achieve maximum
sustainable human development.
  Achieving equity and equality for all by ensuring access, opportunity and
quality of life to all.
 Creating an enabling environment for all individuals by enriching and
enhancing their capabilities.
 Empowering the people to make the right choice for themselves. Also to
allow them to enjoy their rights, have access to resources.
 Providing autonomy to all.
To cite some examples, equitable distribution of societal resources like
property, prestige, greater and better access to institutions like
education, health, food security, greater enjoyment of freedom and
dignity by the people, changes in the stratification system and greater
opportunity for social mobility are the examples of social development
experienced by a society.
All these require facilitating structural changes to bring welfare for all.

1.2.3Social Development in the United Nation’s Agenda

The World Summit for Social Development was held in March 1995 in
Copenhagen with the heads of 117 countries. Here, the Governments reached
a new consensus on the need to put people at the centre of development. The
Social Summit was the largest gathering ever of world leaders. It pledged to
make the conquest of poverty, the goal of full employment and the fostering of
social integration overriding objectives of development.

Among the ground-breaking agreements made by the world's leaders in the

Declaration are ten commitments to:

 Eradicate absolute poverty by a target date to be set by each country;

 Support full employment as a basic policy goal;
 Promote social integration based on the enhancement and protection of
all human rights;
 Achieve equality and equity between women and men;
 Accelerate the development of Africa and the least developed countries;
 Ensure that structural adjustment programmes include social
development goals;
 Increase resources allocated to social development;
  Create "an economic, political, social, cultural and legal environment
that will enable people to achieve social development'';
 Attain universal and equitable access to education and primary health
care; and
 Strengthen cooperation for social development through the UN.

The United Nations General Assembly convened a special session in Geneva in

June-July 2000 to assess the achievements made at

at the end of the last century, where the world leaders distilled the key goals
and targets in the Millennium Declaration (September 2000). The Declaration
reaffirms universal values of human rights, equality, mutual respect and shared
responsibility for the conditions of all peoples and seeks to redress
globalization’s hugely unequal benefits and governments’ commit themselves
to fulfilling their obligations by 2015. In the 2000 Summit world leaders
committed to fight together against poverty and hunger, gender inequality,
environmental degradation, and HIV/AIDS, while improving access to
education, health care and clean water, all by 2015. These wide-ranging
commitments are encompassed in the eight Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs).

1.4.4 Social Development in India

The concept of social development is not new to India. Long back it had
emerged in the thinking and practices adopted by the freedom fighters and
social reformers. Mahatma Gandhi had set before the nation the objective of
“Wiping every tear from every eye.”This reflected the ideas to put people’s
progress at the center of every effort to ensure equal opportunity and justice.
Jawaharlal Nehru in his celebrated speech “Tryst with Destiny” delivered in the
midnight of 14th August, 1947 said “The service of India means ending poverty
and ignorance, disease and inequality of opportunity.” All these were the
forerunners of the ideas of social development.

Right from the initial years of planning, social development was given
weightage in India’s development agenda. But in practice, growth centered
development dominated over people centric development in the country. But,
towards the end of 1960s and beginning of 1970s, there was a shift in the
thrust of development planning and practice. Social sector development, basic
needs approach and participatory planning came to be the dominant focus of
development to make it pro people in character. During this period,
universalization of educational opportunities, health facilities, nutrition etc.
dominated the development agenda.

However, a sea change was marked in the social development thinking and
practice in India with the introduction of the concepts of like “Expansion of
choice and freedom among people” by Prof. Amartya Sen. Today social
development plans in India include:

 Expansion of education and health facilities

 Ensuring food security
 Ending child labour and ensuring child rights
 Ending untouchability and bringing social equality
 Fight against gender discrimination
 Protection and promotion of minorities
 Mainstreaming the excluded through inclusive development
 Poverty alleviation
 Population control through family planning
 Increasing the nutritional standards among the people
 Ecological protection and sustainable development

However, a reality check indicates that India’s social development is quite slow
and retarded. It has suffered a setback with the introduction of economic
reforms as part of the process of liberalization and globalization. There has
been a sharp deterioration in the conditions of the poorest and marginalised,
particularly the Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes, other economically
backward communities, and women and children. India ranks 102nd in the
Human Development Index which clearly indicate the low social development
taking place in the country.

The basic human needs dimension comprise parameters of nutrition and basic
medical care, water and sanitation, shelter and personal safety.
The foundations of wellbeing includes parameters of access to basic
knowledge, information and communications, health and wellness and
ecosystem sustainability, while opportunity dimension includes personal rights,
freedom and choice, tolerance and inclusion and access to education.

1.4.5 Factors facilitating Social Development

Social development is a process. Different factors can contribute

significantly towards it. These factors are:

 Education and awareness building

 A strong political will:
 An ideology of equality among the people
 Initiatives among the people to avail opportunities
 Change in cultural values

When there is a spread of education, there will be a greater awareness among

the people. This will enhance their participation in the process of
development. They will take initiatives to fight against poverty, inequality and
to assert the human rights for all citizens which will trigger the process of social
development. A committed government will make reduction of poverty,
unemployment, inequality and social exclusion the priority areas of its
development agenda and will gear efforts to achieve them in full length. When
these social maladies will be removed by the will and effort of a government,
social development will become a reality. Transformations in the attitude of
the people and their practices along with a change in the cultural values and
traditions will bring changes in the social institutions and promote social
development.

1.4.6. Factors Hindering Social Development

There are certain factors which retard social development. Prominent among
them are:

 Illiteracy and ignorance

 Lack of political commitment
 Social cleavages like caste, class, gender, and ethnicity based
differentiations and social exclusions etc.
  Apathy of the people
 Social taboos, cultural conservatism

The removal of these barriers can promote social development in a country.

1.5. Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is a major approach that has dominated the
development discourse in contemporary periods. This approach makes an
attempt to combine growing concerns about a range of environmental issues
with socio-economic issues. According to this paradigm, development cannot
be simply growth and economy centric. But it has to bring a blend between
growth, human development and environment. So it has to take into
consideration environmental concerns to make development more yielding,
lasting and effective.

1.5.1Meaning and definition

Sustainable development has thus, the potential to address fundamental
challenges for humanity, now and into the future. It tries to bring a synergy
between humanity and environment. The approach insists environment is not
external to humanity, but an integral part of it. So, development concerns
should take into consideration environment issues. Thus as an approach of
development it is environment centric in character.
Sustainable Development implies economic growth together with the
protection of environmental quality, each reinforcing the other. Sustainable
Development, thus, is maintaining a balance between the human need to
improve lifestyles and feeling of well-being on one hand, and preserving
natural resources and ecosystems, on which we and future generations
depend.

The concept of sustainable development is the result of the growing

awareness of the global links between mounting environmental problems,
socio-economic issues to do with poverty and inequality and concerns about a
healthy future for humanity. It strongly links environmental and socio-
economic issues. This process of bringing together environmental and socio-
economic questions was most famously expressed in the Brundtland Report’s
definition of sustainable development as meeting ‘the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs’.
This defines needs from a human standpoint; as Lee has argued, ‘sustain-able
development is an unashamedly anthropocentric concept’. According to the
The World Consevation Union, 1991, sustainable development may also be
defined as “improving the quality of life while living within the carrying
capacity of ecosystems”.
Thus, Sustainable development does not focus solely on environmental issues.
More broadly, it encompasses the three general policy areas namely economy,
environment and society. The Swiss ‘Monitoring of Sustainable Development
Project’ in 2001, proposed the following definition: ‘Sustainable development
means ensuring dignified living conditions with regard to human rights by
creating and maintaining the widest possible range of options for freely
defining life plans. The principle of fairness among and between present and
future generations should be taken into account in the use of environmental,
economic and social resources.
According to Robert Prescott Allen, who has founded and chaired several
influential IUCN-The World Conservation Union projects and has 18 years
experience evaluating and advising development strategies on four continents,
sustainability is just another way of saying “the good life” as a combination of
(a) a high level of human well-being, and (b) the high level of ecosystem well-
being that supports it.

1.5.2Origin of the Concept

The first important use of the term was in 1980 in the World Conservation
Strategy. The idea of sustainable development was very much imbedded long
ago in Malthus theory of population growth in late 1700s. But the term started
gaining coinage in early 1970s following a range of key publications drawing
attention to man’s over exploitation of environment. The theme was in the
name of development, man was becoming blind to environment. Few literary
publications gave a boost to the world’s thinking on sustainable development.
The key among them are: Rachel Carson’s the Silent Spring (1962), Paul Erich’s
“How to be Survivor: A Plan to Save Spaceship Earth (1971), Club of Rome’s
publication “ The Limits to growth”(1972), Barbara Ward and Rene Dubos’s
Only One Earth(1972).
Faced with the over-exploitation of natural resources that accompanied
economic and demographic growth, the think tank known as the Club of Rome,
created in 1968, advocated zero growth. In 1971, this private international
association sounded an urgent alarm by publishing ‘The Limits to Growth’.
Broadly speaking, it presents current economic development as being
incompatible with the long-term protection of the planet.

1.5.3. World Conventions on Sustainable Development

The theoretical framework for sustainable development evolved between 1972

and 1992 through a series of international conferences and initiatives. The UN
Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm in 1972, was the
first major international gathering to discuss sustainability at the global scale.
The conference created considerable momentum, and a series of
recommendations led to the establishment of the UN Environment Programme
(UNEP) as well as the creation of numerous national environmental protection
agencies at the national level.

The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in

1972 gave birth to the first true notion of sustainable development, which was
called ‘eco development’ in those days. In this conference personalities like
Maurice Strong, Professor René Dubos, Barbara Ward and Ignacy Sachs
cautioned about the integration of ecological concerns in economic planning.
This resulted in the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The recommendations from Stockholm were further elaborated in the 1980

World Conservation Strategy—a collaboration between the International
Union for the Conservation of Nature, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and
UNEP—which aimed to advance sustainable development by identifying
priority conservation issues and key policy options. In 1980, the International
Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) published its world conservation
strategy. This document is one of the original sources of the expression
‘sustainable development’.
In 1983, the UN convened the WCED, chaired by Norwegian Prime Minister
Gro Harlem Brundtland. Comprised of representatives from both developed
and developing countries, the Commission was created to address growing
concern over the “accelerating deterioration of the human environment and
natural resources and the consequences of that deterioration for economic
and social development.” Four years later, the group produced the landmark
publication Our Common Future (or the Brundtland report) that provided a
stark diagnosis of the state of the environment. The term ‘sustainable
development’ remained virtually unnoticed until its revival in the Gro Harlem
Brundtland report 'Our Common Future', published in 1987. The report
popularized the most commonly used definition of sustainable development:
“Development that meets the needs of current generations without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
Since then, the concept of sustainable development has been accepted all over
the world.
• A desirable human condition: a society that people want to sustain because it
meets their needs.
• An enduring ecosystem condition: an ecosystem that maintains its capacity
to support human life and others.
• A balance between present and future generations; and within the present
generation.

The Brundtland report provided the momentum for the landmark 1992 Rio
Summit that laid the foundations for the global institutionalization of
sustainable development. Marking the twentieth anniversary of the
Stockholm Conference, the Earth Summit adopted the Rio Declaration on
Environment and Development and Agenda 21, a global plan of action for
sustainable development.

Three seminal instruments of environmental governance were established at

the Rio Summit: the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),
the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the non-legally binding
Statement of Forest Principles. Following a recommendation in Agenda 21, the
UN General Assembly officially created the Commission on Sustainable
Development (CSD) later that year.
Since that time a number of important international conferences on
sustainable development have been held—including the 1997 Earth Summit+5
in New York and the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)
in Johannesburg. The negotiations at the WSSD in 2002 demonstrated a major
shift in the perception of sustainable development—away from environmental
issues toward social and economic development. This shift was driven by the
needs of the developing countries and strongly influenced by the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs).
The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC, 2007, chapter 12.1.1) pointed out the iteractive relationship
between climate change and sustainable development, and that the two can
be mutually reinforcing.

1.5.4. Objectives of sustainable Development

Sustainable Development refers to the challenges of reducing global inequity
and poverty, and promoting well-being, while reducing threats to the earth’s
systems from industrial production and consumption. Effective environmental
care and management in relation to climate stability, other species and natural
resources are the chief objectives of sustainable development. Three main
objectives of sustainable development are:
 It should be socially desirable: It means development should
fulfill people’s cultural, material and spiritual needs in equitable
ways.
 It should be economically viable: It implies the costs of
development should not exceed the output.
 It should be ecologically sustainable: It connotes maintaining
long term viability for supporting the eco system.
1.5.5. Requirements of sustainable Development

Sustainable development implies the fulfillment of several conditions. These

conditions are: preserving the overall balance, respect for the environment,
and preventing the exhaustion of natural resources. Reduced production of
waste and the rationalization of production and energy consumption must also
be implemented. Sustainable development is presented as a more or less clean
break from other modes of development, which have led and are still leading
to worrying social and ecological damage. In order to be sustainable,
development must combine three main elements: fairness, protection of the
environment, and economic efficiency. A sustainable development project
must be based on a better-developed mode of consultation between the
community and the members it comprises. The success of such a policy also
depends on consumers accepting certain constraints and citizens observing
certain requirements with regard to transparency and participation.

The concept of sustainable development is based on a set of requirements.

 It must allow the basic needs of present and future generations to be

fulfilled with regard to demographic constraints, such as: access to
water, education, health, employment, and the fight against hunger or
malnutrition.
 Another requirement of this type of development is to improve quality
of life, which involves easier access to medical care, social services,
culture, and therefore also social well-being.
 In addition, respect for rights and freedoms and the promotion of new
forms of renewable energy such as wind, solar, and geothermal power,
are important requirements of sustainable development.
 Sustainable development is required to allow the planet’s resources and
condition to be protected for future generations and natural assets to
be shared.
 The concept of sustainable development also involves narrowing the
gaps between rich and poor countries, insofar as these gaps, if
maintained or accentuated, could be the cause of violent conflict, which
by its very nature leads to regression rather than development.

1.5.6. Dimensions of Sustainable Development

The second half of the 1980s witnessed the development of three dimensions
of sustainable development with the publication of the Brundtland Report
(1987). The report enshrined them as the strategies to be adopted by local,
national and global strategies for development. The Rio de Janeiro Earth
Summit, 1992 established them as the three pillars of sustainable
 development. This is one of the most well-known models created using the
three dimensions -Economy, Environment and Society. The diagram shows
three interlocking circles with the triangle of environmental (conservation),
economic (growth), and social (equity) dimensions. Sustainable Development is
modelled on these three pillars. This model is called ‘three pillars’ or ‘three
circles model’. It is based considering the society, but does not explicitly take
into account ‘human
quality of life’.

Dimensions of Environme
Social
Sustainability ntal
inclusion
balance

Economic
growth

However, the UNESCO raised its voice that these are not the three key issues
that paralyse the world today. It claimed that it is culture which to a great
extent also determine and detect what people do. Local cultures which are a
rich source of knowledge and creativity are in a process of extinction. It too is
facing a challenge. So, it has to be included as a dimension of sustainable
development. Accordingly, in November,2010 culture was included as the
fourth dimension of sustainable development in World Summit of Local and
Regional Leaders in the Third World Congress of UCLG, held in Mexico City.
Today there are four dimensions to sustainable development. They are:
society, environment, culture and economy – which are intertwined.
Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen gives the following dimensions for social
sustainability:

 Equity - The community is to provide equitable opportunities and

outcomes for all its members, particularly the poorest and most
vulnerable members of the community.
 Diversity - The community is to promotes and encourage diversity.
 Interconnected/Social cohesions - The community is to provide
processes, systems and structures that promote connectedness within
and outside the community at the formal, informal and institutional
level.
 Quality of life - The community is to ensure that basic needs are met
and is to foster a good quality of life for all members at the individual,
group and community level (e.g. health, housing, education,
employment, safety)
 Democracy and governance - The community is to provide democratic
processes and open and accountable governance structures.
 Maturity - The individuals are to accept the responsibility of consistent
growth and improvement through broader social attributes (e.g.
communication styles, behavioural patterns, indirect education and
philosophical explorations)

Economic sustainability includes:

 Growth- It refers to an increase conventional gross national

product (GNP).
 Efficiency- It is reflected more efficient production and
consumption of (mainly marketed) goods and services.
 Stability- It refers to the stability of prices and employment.

Environmental sustainability gives coverage to:

 The capacity to preserve over time the three basic functions of the
environment: the resource supply function, the waste receiver
function and that of direct usefulness of the environment. In other
words, environmental sustainability means the capacity to
 increase and bring up the value of the environment and its
peculiarities, while assuring the protection and the renewal of
natural resources.
 Environmental sustainability involves making decisions and taking
actions that are in the interests of protecting the natural world,
with particular emphasis on preserving the capability of the
environment to support human life.
 Environmental sustainability is the ability to maintain the qualities
that are valued in the physical environment. It demands the
maintenance of human life, the capabilities that the natural
environment has to maintain the living conditions for people and
other species (e.g. clean water and air, a suitable climate), the
aspects of the environment that produce renewable resources
such as water, timber, fish, solar energy, the functioning of
society, despite non-renewable resource depletion, the quality of
life for all people, the liveability and beauty of the environment.

Cultural sustainability refers to the process of developing, renewing and

maintaining human cultures that create positive, enduring relationships with
other peoples and the natural world'. Amartya Sen explains, “Cultural matters
are integral parts of the lives we lead. If development can be seen as
enhancement of our living standards, then efforts geared to development can
hardly ignore the world of culture”.

Today, development means freedom, widening the choices, putting human

beings -children, men and women-at the centre of the future.

1.5.7. Key Issues in Sustainable Development

The foregoing review of sustainable development concept, dimensions, reveal
the key issues that arise repeatedly in debates about sustainability. These are:

 Intergenerational Equity: The most important concept in sustainable

development is that each generation should have an equitable
opportunity to meet its own needs. This is called inter generational
 equity – the principle that each generation should have a comparable
ability or opportunity to make a living and to meet their needs.
 Types of Capital and Assets: Sustainable development programs often
encompass a broad range of different types of capital and assets. Capital
and assets are any store of value that can provide income, benefits,
goods, services, or other things of value. They are typically categorized
into three types:
 Manufactured and Financial Capital: The most familiar type of capital
is made by people and includes all financial assets and physical
capital. It includes buildings, highways stock and bond investments,
the Permanent Fund, and any other form of financial or physical asset
that we as humans have created or manufactured.
 Human and Social Capital: People and communities also have stores
of value that can be passed from one generation to the next. People
embody human capital in the form of knowledge, education, skills,
training and other valuable abilities. Communities and societies are
stores of social capital in the form of traditions, customs, identity,
organizations, laws, and institutions that are passed on to future
generations as well.
 Natural capital: It includes all aspects of the natural environment
that provide income, services, resources, or benefits. Natural capital
includes raw resources such as oil, timber, and fish. It includes life
support services such as climate regulation, nutrient cycling, waste
treatment, soil formation and other ecological processes that keep us
alive. Natural capital also encompasses hunting, subsistence, and
outdoor recreation resources as well as aesthetic and cultural
benefits derived from nature.

Concept of well being: Sustainable development concept expands the

traditional understanding of well-being to include the social and environmental
well-being of people. Sustainable development programs typically define
progress and well-being in broad terms that include measures of the health of
the environment, communities, and the people living there. They argue that
people need access to a healthy natural environment to meet their need for
life support services and to ensure their physical health and well-being. They
emphasize the need to sustain natural assets to preserve life support services
and the need to conserve natural resources that future generations will
depend on for life.

They also emphasize the social well-being of communities, cultures, and

individuals. To help ensure social well-being, current and future generations
should have access to the wealth offered by communities, institutions, and
traditions. Besides accumulating financial wealth, creating jobs, and building
physical infrastructure, we also need to ensure that the social institutions and
human capital that sustain our communities are also passed on to future
generations.

1.5.8. Challenges to Sustainable Development

Sustainable development encounters many challenges today. The prominent

among them are:
 The world's population is growing rapidly and most of this growth is
taking place in cities. Cities are particularly vulnerable to environmental
challenges due to their high population density.
 Population growth, poverty and degradation of natural resources often
fuel one another and pose a challenge to sustainable development.
 Increased demand and competition for scarce resources such as energy,
water and food are putting upward pressure on resources and
threatening sustainable development.
 Climate change and its potential impact also challenge sustainable
development.
 Successive development and economic planning programmes have
neither been thoroughly planned nor wholeheartedly implemented.
Consequently, large segments of society remain economically deprived
and socially marginalised. This has appeared as the greatest challenge to
the notion of sustainable development.
 Globalization, removal of trade barriers, rapid and blind industrialization
are negations to the concept of sustainable development.
 Growing consumerism is making people blind and they fail to foresee
the needs of the future generation. Their present break less
 consumption leads to resource depletion and challenges sustainable
development.
 Techno driven culture undermines the significance of culture and
disregards environment safety. This has posed a great challenge to
sustainable development.

References

1. Dutta Amitav Krishna(2014) Pathways to Economic Development, Oxford

University Press.

2. Giddens Anthony(1996) "Global Problems and Ecological Crisis” in

Introduction to Sociology. IInd Edition New York: [Link] & Company.
3. Gore, C. (2000) ‘The rise and fall of the Washington consensus as a paradigm
for developing countries’, World Development, 28 (5)
4. Harrison, D. (1989) The Sociology of Modernization and Development New
Delhi: Sage.
5. Haq, Mahbub UI. (1991) Reflection of Human Development. New Delhi,
OUP
6. Marjit, Sugata, Rajeev, Meenakshi edt.(2014)Emerging Issues in Economic
Development: A Theoretical Perspective, Oxford University Press
7. Nagla, B.K. Social Development
8. Thomas, A. (2000) ‘Development as practice in a liberal capitalist world’,
Journal of International Development, 12 (6)
9. UNDP Sustainable Development. New York. Oup.
10. Todaro, Michael P. & Smith, Stephen C., Economic Development, Eighth
Edition, Pub. Addison Wesley 2003.
Review Exercise

Essay Type Questions

1. Define development and delineate its characteristics.
2. What do you mean by economic growth? Explain the key drivers
of and barriers to economic growth in a society.
3. Write a short essay on Human Development.
4. Explain social development as a paradigm of development.
5. Assess the need and significance of sustainable development in
the present context.

Short Type Questions

1. Mention in brief the models of development.
2. Write a brief note on the dimensions of development.
3. Differentiate between economic growth and economic
development.
4. Discuss the phases of economic growth.
5. Write short notes on:
a)Indicators of human development
b) Difference between human development and
conventional development approach
c) Barriers to social development in India
d)Social development in the United Nations agenda
e) Challenges to sustainable development