Theory - Different worlds, Governing Development, Paradigms of development + post development

Question 1

What is development often associated with in popular discourse?

Answer 1

Directional change toward technological advancement, more democracy and freedom, greater choice, and improved health.

Question 2

Why is development technically viewed as positive?

Answer 2

Because it reflects human progress, including the control and manipulation of nature for better outcomes.

Question 3

According to Peet & Hartwich, what does development aim to fulfil in today world?

Answer 3

The promises of Western modernity—material prosperity, social freedom, and individual well-being.

Question 4

How does the UN define development?

Answer 4

As a shared agenda for positive transformation, including goals like ending hunger, promoting gender equality, and growing economies.

Question 5

What historical and political contexts influence development?

Answer 5

Development is rooted in colonial histories and post-WWII geopolitics, shaped by global power structures and resistance movements.

Question 6

Why ISN’T development just a technical process?

Answer 6

Because it’s political and subjective, involving conflicting agendas and values.

Question 7

What are key themes in understanding development?

Answer 7

Colonial legacy, North-South divide, and shifting global power dynamics like the rise of BRICS nations.

Question 8

How does development act as a form of transformation rather than a neutral process?

Answer 8

It reshapes societies—changing work, economies, cultures, places, and politics—often creating both winners and losers.

Question 9

What signals a “crisis of development” today?

Answer 9

Growing inequalities, polycrises (climate change, pandemics, instability), and weakened global cooperation.

Question 10

What are some alternatives to traditional development models?

Answer 10

Degrowth (left-wing critique) and nationalism/isolationism (right-wing reaction).

Question 11

How does globalization contribute to new exclusions and inequalities?

Answer 11

It deepens existing divides and creates new “geographies of inequality,” even within wealthier nations.

Question 12

Why is it important to ask “who benefits from economic growth?

Answer 12

Because growth may not lead to equity—inequality often persists or worsens, highlighting who gains from development policies.

Question 13

What major institutions were created after WWII to stabilise the global economy?

Answer 13

The Bretton Woods Institutions—International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank—dominated by Western powers.

Question 14

When was the UN formed and what is its initial role in development?

Answer 14

Formed in 1945 to maintain global peace and security; its development role was limited during the Cold War.

Question 15

What was the dominant development model form the 1940s-70s?

Answer 15

Developmentalism—focused on state-led growth, public spending, and self-sufficiency in post-colonial countries.

Question 16

What economic shift occurred in development thinking from the 1980s onwards?

Answer 16

Neoliberalism—emphasizing privatization, deregulation, and free markets, especially after the 1980s debt crisis.

Question 17

According to David Harvey, what is the reality of neoliberalism?

Answer 17

While it promotes free markets and private property, it often worsens inequality and reduces access to basic services.

Question 17

What were Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs) and their impact?

Answer 17

IMF/World Bank loan conditions requiring public spending cuts and privatization; led to increased inequality and social hardship.

Question 18

What happened during the Cochabamba Water Wars in Bolivia in the late 1990s?

Answer 18

Water privatization under IMF pressure led to price hikes, protests, and deaths—eventually forcing the company out and restoring public control.

Question 19

How did the UN’s development role evolve post-1980s?

Answer 19

It focused more on human development, promoting health, education, and child welfare, especially through the MDGs and SDGs.

Question 20

What are top-down approaches in global development?

Answer 20

Institution-led efforts by states, the UN, IMF, and World Bank to direct development globally through loans, policies, and aid.

Question 21

What are some multilateral institutions involved in top-down development governance?

Answer 21

IMF, World Bank, United Nations (UNDP, FAO, UNICEF), WTO, and European Union.

Question 22

How do bilateral aid relationships work in global governance?

Answer 22

One country gives aid to another—e.g., USAID or UK Aid—often tied to the donor country’s national interests.

Question 23

What did the 2020 UK merger of DFID into the FCDO signify?

Answer 23

A shift toward aligning development aid with foreign policy and strategic interests, rather than focusing solely on poverty reduction.

Question 24

What are the main pros and cons of top-down approaches?

Answer 24

✅ Resources, expertise, coordination; ❌ Risk of paternalism, elite capture, ignoring local knowledge.

Question 25

What defines bottom-up development approaches?

Answer 25

Local communities lead their own development using local knowledge, participation, and tailored solutions.

Question 26

What is the Grameen Bank and why is it significance?

Answer 26

A microfinance institution in Bangladesh founded by Muhammad Yunus to empower the poor (especially women); Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2006.

Question 27

What are criticisms of bottom-up development like Microfinance?

Answer 27

Limited funding, potential elite capture, challenges with scaling, and cases of political interference.

Question 28

What are the main pros and cons of boot-up approaches?

Answer 28

✅ Locally relevant, inclusive, empowering; ❌ Limited resources, coordination, and scalability.

Question 29

What is modernisation theory?

Answer 29

Developed mainly in the 1950s–60s. Belief that developing countries should follow the same path as Western (mainly US and Europe) countries. “Make the rest like the West.”

Question 30

What were Rosters stages of development?

Answer 30

aw development like a staircase: countries climb from one stage to another (e.g. traditional society → take-off → maturity → high mass consumption). Believed internal issues (e.g. weak institutions, lack of industry, traditional cultures) held countries back.

Question 30

How does development happen (in the context of modernisation theory)?

Answer 30

Push for industrialization, invest in infrastructure (roads, dams, factories), Modernize agriculture, Economic change leads to broader social and cultural change and The state plays a big role in planning and funding this transformation.

Question 30

What are the criticisms of modernisation theory?

Answer 30

❌Tunnel Vision: Assumes one-size-fits-all path to development. ❌Hierarchical: Puts Western countries at the top, labels others as "backward." ❌Ignores colonial history and global power structures (like exploitation and unfair trade).

Question 31

What is the background of dependency theory and world systems theory ?

Answer 31

Inspired by Marxism and anti-colonial struggles (especially in Latin America). Core idea: Underdevelopment is not a starting point—it’s created by the global system.

Question 32

What is the dependency theory?

Answer 32

Rich countries (the Core) extract wealth from poor countries (the Periphery). Poverty in the global South is a result of exploitation by the global North. The system is rigged to benefit the powerful.

Question 33

What is world systems theory?

Answer 33

Builds on DT but adds a semi-periphery: countries that are in-between rich and poor. Key thinker: Immanuel Wallerstein. Root problem: Structural inequality due to colonialism and global capitalism. Proposed solution: Break the cycle: countries should reduce dependence on the global market. Use Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI): produce their own goods instead of importing. Some even argued for socialist alternatives and rejecting Western capitalism.

Question 34

Explain Neoliberalism?

Answer 34

In the 1980s, many countries in the global South faced debt crises. Led to a massive shift in development thinking, influenced by Thatcher (UK) and Reagan (US).

Question 35

What is the Washington Consensus & Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs):

Answer 35

Institutions like the IMF and World Bank forced countries to adopt free-market reforms in exchange for loans. This meant: Less government intervention, more privatization, more openness to foreign investment and trade and a belief that markets, not states, are best at solving problems.

Question 36

Criticisms of the Washington consensus and SAPs?

Answer 36

❌Often made things worse: cuts to social services, unemployment, and increased poverty. ❌Ignored social impacts and inequality.

Question 37

What is the human development/ capabilities approach to development?

Answer 37

Led by Amartya Sen. Development is not just about economic growth or income. It’s about what people can do and become (health, education, political freedom, dignity). Key Ideas: Income is a tool, not the goal. Inequality matters – if people are deprived of basic capabilities, they’re not truly “developed.”

Question 38

Capitalism & Marx

Answer 38

Karl Marx's View: Capitalism is a historical system that came after feudalism. Built on “primitive accumulation” – forcing people off land to make them wage laborers. Labour becomes a commodity – people sell their time/work for money. Profit comes from exploitation – workers produce more value than they’re paid. Capitalism constantly changes and expands but is full of contradictions and crises.

Question 39

Geography and uneven development

Answer 39

Marxist Geographers (e.g. David Harvey, Doreen Massey): Space and development are shaped by capitalism. Uneven development (why some areas are rich and others poor) is not accidental – it’s produced by the system. Capital moves around (factories, money, labour) to solve its own crises, creating inequality in the process.

Question 40

What is post-development

Answer 40

radical critique of development itself—not just its failures or how it's applied, but the very idea of development as a global, universal agenda. It challenges the assumption that there's one path to progress, typically based on Western, Eurocentric models (e.g., capitalism, industrialisation, modernisation).

Question 41

What are the core ideas of post development?

Answer 41

- PD argues that “development” reflects Western norms—individualism, economic growth, secularism—and imposes them on other societies. - Development classifies countries as “developed” vs. “underdeveloped,” creating hierarchies (modern vs. traditional, rational vs. religious, safe vs. dangerous).

Question 42

How does PD argue that development is a discourse? (Foucault, Escobar)

Answer 42

Not just actions or policies, but development is a way of thinking—a powerful discourse that reshapes how we see the world. Creates categories, hierarchies, and justifies intervention and control, especially over the Global South.

Question 43

How does PD act as an anti-colonial and decolonial critique?

Answer 43

PD is deeply linked to postcolonial theory, highlighting how colonialism continues through development: Edward Said – “Orientalism” shows how the West constructs the East as its inferior “Other.” Chandra Mohanty – Critiques how “Third World Women” are represented in development as passive, needing saving. Frantz Fanon – Explores how colonised people are psychologically and socially shaped by colonial power

Question 44

Post Development does NOT provide an alternative to dvelopment

Answer 44

PD rejects the idea that there’s a single alternative or replacement for development. Instead, it calls for the pluralisation of lifeworlds: letting different cultures, systems, and ways of living coexistwithout being judged against Western norms.

Question 45

What is a pluriverse?

Answer 45

A world of many worlds

Question 46

Buen Vivir

Answer 46

South American Indigenous Philosophy - Focus on collective well-being, harmony with nature (biocentrism), and self-sufficiency. Seen in Ecuador and Bolivia’s constitutions. Nature is part of the community, not just a resource (e.g., trees as ancestors). Critiques wage labor as dehumanising—work should serve the community and nature.

Question 47

Degrowth

Answer 47

- Opposes the idea that constant economic growth is sustainable or necessary.Proposes shrinking economies in the Global North to allow Global South communities to flourish.Centers around ecology, justice, democracy, and meaningful life.E.g., Catalan Integral Cooperative, Transition Towns.

Question 48

How does post development crate the SDGs?

Answer 48

PD critiques SDGs for being anthropocentric (human-centered) and still rooted in developmentalism. Many SDGs assume that growth and modernisation are universally good, ignoring non-Western lifeworlds and indigenous alternatives.

Question 49

What are the theoretical roots of PD?

Answer 49

Post-structuralism Postcolonial theory Feminism & Indigenous Knowledge Radical ecology

Question 50

What is post-structuralism

Answer 50

sees development as a constructed narrative, not a natural truth

Question 51

WHta is postcolonial theory?

Answer 51

critiques how development continues colonial power relations.

Question 52

What is feminism & indigenous knowledge

Answer 52

question who gets to define "progress" and whose knowledge counts.

Question 53

What is radical ecology

Answer 53

challenges human-nature separation, promotes ecological justice.