Development Theory: Third World Perspectives

“A culture cannot survive if it attempts to be exclusive.”

Mahatma Gandhi

Differing positions of 1st and 3rd world perspectives

First World Enlightenment Positive approach

to development 1st world in

dominant position Global system of

capitalism

Third World

?

Differing positions of 1st and 3rd world perspectives (cont.)

Enlightenment Positive approach

to development

1st world in

dominant position Global system of

capitalism

Counter-Enlightenment

Negative encounters with 1st world, e.g. colonialism

Underdog – subject to control by 1st world

Alternative economic systems, e.g., self-provisioning

Temporal and geographical context of 3rd world development theory

Late 19th century Europe

Colonization of Asia, Latin America and Africa

Socialism/Marxism in Russia

Phases of 3rd World Development Theory and

Practice

Dependency Theory

Postmodernism and alternative paths to development

Phases of 3rd World Development Theory and Practice

Dependency theory Contrast with

modernization theorists

Development has deteriorated 3rd world situation

Postmodernism & alternative paths to development

Local cultures destroyed via ‘development’

Inappropriate strategies

Modernization invalid

1. Dependency Theory

Radical/Marxist approaches to development of underdevelopment

Third world economy linked to first world

Lenin on imperialism

Role of the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA)

Raul Prebisch, Director (1948 est.) International trade exacerbates

underdevelopment Historical phases of colonization

and trade (transparency)

Propose import substitution

Andre Gunder Frank, Capitalism and Underdevelopment in Latin America

The thesis by Frank was simple: “the condition of developing

countries is not the outcome of inertia, misfortune, chance, climatic conditions or whatever, but rather a reflection of the manner of their incorporation into the global capitalist system”

(Potter et al. Geographies of Development)

2. World Systems Theory

Immanuel Wallerstein

Global economic system linked to capitalism

Core, periphery and semi-periphery See map

Account for growth of NICs

What does it mean to be developed?

Postmodernism and alternative approaches to development

Different ways of interpreting development Australian case

Politics of representation local knowledge vs. Western scientific knowledge

Multiple paths to development

Grassroots struggles The environment (The Chipko movement) Political autonomy (Chiapas, Mexico)

Conclusion: A Way Forward? Development by

whom? For whom?

Dominant ideologies of development

Exploring the relationship among development, impoverishment, and environmental crisis