Development through the decades

A journey through 50 years of development theory, policy and practice

What is ‘development’

Economic growth

Social progress

Improved quality of life

Helping communities help themselves

When was the term first used?

1949

World contextDevelopment

Theory, Policy and Practice

Events

War and conflict

Leaders

Zeitgeist

Beliefs

Theory

Approaches

World context Development Theory, Policy and Practice

1950s

Post-war Europe

Marshall Plan

Cold War

‘never had it so good’

Independence movements in former colonies

Churchill

StalinChairman Mao

US emerges as dominant world power

‘Development’ = economic growth by modernisation and industrialization

Follow the example of USA

Progress measured by GNP

National planning

Invention of ‘development’

Indian independence

NATO

World context Development Theory, Policy and Practice

1960s

Moon landing

Student uprisings in Europe and US

Decolonisation across Africa

Cuban Missile Crisis

Vietnam War

Kennedy & Johnson

Krushchev

Postwar economic boom

Development = economic growth and modernisation through technology

Rostow (1960) Stages of Economic Growth

Sectoral and regional planning

Top-down centralised and structured approach

‘Development Decade’

OPEC founded

American consumerism

Berlin Wall builtGreen Revolution

World context Development Theory, Policy and Practice

1970s

Oil shortages - period of austerity American loses

Vietnam WarLiberation movements in Africa

Labour government - Wilson & Callahagn

Flower powerPeace movements

Student movements

Acute poverty and inequitable growth in Third World

Dependency theory

Neo-colonialism

Calls for New International Economic Order

Redistribution with growth

Basic needs

Nixon - Watergate scandal

Middle East peace process starts

Year 2000 targets set

World context Development Theory, Policy and Practice

1980s

Debt crisis

Ethiopian famine

Miners strike

Chernobyl

Tiananmen Square massacre

Falklands War

Hostage crisis in Middle East

Berlin Wall down

Thatcher & Reagan

Yuppies

Development = economic restructuring

Neo-liberalism

Structural adjustment programmes

Trade not aid

Impasse in development theory

‘Lost decade for development’

Growing environmental concerns

World context Development Theory, Policy and Practice

1990s

End of Communism in Europe

EU born

End of apartheid in South Africa

Hong Kong handover

Rio Earth Summit

Jubilee 2000 debt campaign

GlobalisationBlair and Clinton

Ethnic conflict - Somalia, Rwanda, ex-Yugoslavia

New policy agenda

Development through new civil society

Structural adjustment with a human face

Human Development Index

Rise of NGOs

Participatory development

Environment on agenda

Anti development

World context Development Theory, Policy and Practice

2000s

Millennium Euro currency

Environmental disasters

Mugabe re-elected

Sept 11th

Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq

Rise of fundamentalist Islam

Anti-globalisation movements

Fear of global terrorism

Postmodern development

Post development

Postmodernism irrelevant

Dominance of NGOs

‘Capacity building’ Millennuim

goals

Liberal economist viewpoint still dominates international institutions and governments

Despite 50 years of ‘development’ the problem of poverty is as great as it ever was

Will be saying the same in another 50 years?