review of literature -...
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CHAPTER III
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
3.1 Overview 3.2 Theoretical Background of the Study
3.2.1 Pre-classical Beginnings 3.2.2 Classical Economics 3.2.3 The Neo-classical Interlude 3.2.4 Dynamic Analysis 3.2.5 Keynesian Growth Theory 3.2.6 Development Economics
3.2.6.1 The Linear Stages Theories 3.2.6.1.1 Rostow’s Stages of Growth 3.2.6.1.2 The Harrod-Domar Growth Model
3.2.6.2 Theories and Patterns of Structural Change 3.2.6.2.1 W. Arthur Lewis’ Two-Sector Surplus Model 3.2.6.2.2 Hollis Chenery’s Patterns of Development Approach
3.2.6.3 The International Dependence Revolution 3.2.6.3.1 The Neo-colonial Dependence Model 3.2.6.3.2 The False-Paradigm Model 3.2.6.3.3 The Dualistic-Development Thesis
3.2.6.4 The Neo-classical Counter Revolution: Market Fundamentalism. 3.2.6.4.1 Free Market Analysis 3.2.6.4.2 Public-Choice Theory or New Political Economy
Approach 3.2.6.4.3 The Market- Friendly Approach
3.2.7 Recent Developments 3.3 A Journey through UNDP Reports
3.3.1 Concept and Measurement of Human Development (HDR, 1990) 3.3.2 Financing Human Development (HDR, 1991) 3.3.3 Global Dimensions of Human Development (HDR, 1992), 3.3.4 People’s Participation (HDR, 1993) 3.3.5 New Dimensions of Human Security (HDR, 1994), 3.3.6 Gender and Human Development (HDR, 1995), 3.3.7 Economic Growth and Human Development (HDR, 1996), 3.3.8 Human Development to Eradicate Poverty (HDR, 1997), 3.3.9 Consumption for Human Development (Changing Today’s Consumption
Patterns - for Tomorrow’s Human Development- HDR, 1998), 3.3.10 Globalization with a Human Face (HDR, 1999), 3.3.11 Human Rights and Human Development (HDR, 2000), 3.3.12 Making New Technologies Work for Human Development (HDR,
2001), 3.3.13 Deepening Democracy in a Fragmented World (HDR, 2002), 3.3.14 Millennium Development Goals: A Compact among Nations to End
Human Poverty (HDR, 2003), 3.3.15 Cultural Liberty in Today’s Diverse World (HDR, 2004), 3.3.16 International Co-operation at a Crossroads: Aid, Trade and Security in
an Unequal World (HDR, 2005), 3.3.17 Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis (HDR,
2006), 3.3.18 Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World (HDR,
2007/2008), 3.3.19 Overcoming Barriers: Human Mobility and Development (HDR, 2009),
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3.3.20 The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development (HDR, 2010),
3.3.21 Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for All (HDR, 2011). 3.4 Pieterse’ Summary 3.5 Previous Studies
3.5.1 Church, Society, and Labor Resources: An Intra-Denominational Comparison
3.5.2 The Church and Social Change in Latin America. 3.5.3 Evaluation as a Development in Religious Research 3.5.4 Political Cohesion in Churches 3.5.5 Direct Democracy and the Puritan Theory of Membership 3.5.6 The Social Teaching of the Church 3.5.7 Providing Culturally Relevant Mental Health Services: Collaboration
between Psychology and the African American Church. 3.5.8 Right Relation Revisited: Implications of Right Relation in the Practice
of Church and Christian Perceptions of God 3.5.9 Africa's Churches Wake Up to Oil's Problems & Possibilities 3.5.10 Rural Development as a Frame Analytic Challenge for Religious
Communities: The Case of Rural Parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.
3.5.11 Taking the Sanctuary to the Streets: Religion, Race, and Community Development in Columbus, Ohio
3.5.12 The Black Church as a Social Welfare Institution: Union United Church and the Development of Montreal’s Black Community, 1907-1940
3.5.13 Transformational Development on the Western Pacific Agenda? Aspects of Church, State and the Colonial Legacy in Papua New Guinea
3.5.14 The Role of the Roman Catholic Church in the Service Provision of Education in Slovenia and Hungary
3.5.15 Are Church and State Substitutes? Evidence from the 1996 Welfare Reform
3.5.16 Churches and Social Development: A South African Perspective 3.5.17 Catholic and Non-Catholic NGOs Fighting HIV/AIDS in Sub Saharan
Africa: Issue Framing and Collaboration 3.5.18 Rural Development as a Frame Analytic Challenge for Religious
Communities: The Case of Rural Parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.
3.5.19 Money, Sex and Religion: The Case of the Church of Scotland 3.5.20 The Role of Protestantism in Democratic Consolidation among
Transitional States 3.5.21 Churches as a Stock of Social Capital for Promoting Social
Development in Western Cape Communities. 3.5.22 Poverty and Morality: Religious and Secular Perspectives 3.5.23 Religion, Community and Development. 3.5.24 Some Other Important Studies.
3.6 Importance of the Study 3.7 Summing up
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3.1 Overview
“It is impossible for a man to step into the same river twice.1” (Heraclitus)
These words indicate the changeful nature of everything. Nothing is static in this
universe. Everything is dynamic. No idea is static, no theory is static.
“Knowledge is cumulative.” Knowledge is part of culture2. The development
theory have also changed lot and travelled through different paradigms. In the
first part of this chapter the researcher tries to identify the major development
theories, which is a discussion about economic theories stemming from the
classical tradition of Adam Smith and David Ricardo, outlined in the late
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, continued in nineteenth century Neo-
classical (marginalist) economics, modified by twentieth century. Jan Nederveen
Pieterse3, Michael P. Todaro4 and Richard Peet5 were surveying, questioning and
reviewing the history of development economics and its different aspects. The
researcher followed the convention of dividing mainstream economic theory into
historical periods such as pre-classical, classical, Neo-classical, Keynesian and
development economics.
Since 1990 UNDP has been publishing enough materials in relation with
development discussions through its annual reports. On the basis of these reports
the researcher presents a summary of these reports, in the second part of this
chapter. It will throw light on the recent trends in development discussions.
In the third part of this chapter the researcher concentrates on a sufficient
number of previous studies which directly involved Churches in the development
programs at universal, national state and local levels.
3.2 Theoretical Background of the Study
3.2.1 Pre-classical Beginnings
Knowledge is cumulative. Any new knowledge has close relationship with
its previous ideas. The French post-structuralist philosopher Michel Foucault
(1972)6 called the historical recovery of the ideas as ‘archaeology’. Richard Peet is
of the view that in the case of economic theory, many of the concepts of classical
economics were continuations of earlier preoccupations (Peet & Hartwick, 2005).
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Medieval theorists always combined religion with economy and found God active
in all worldly processes. Medieval (Catholic) Christianity emphasized duty to God
rather than the rights of the individual; this duty entailed moral limitations on the
economic actor. According to the medieval doctrine of ‘just price7’, the medieval
thinkers like Albertus Magnus (c 1200-1280) or Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274),
prices were matters of justice and law had a duty to fix them and punish individuals
who exceeded the just price. (Haney 1949: 95-100)
The belief that communal economic justice reflected God’s will began to
erode with urbanization, monetization, secularization, and the Protestant
Reformation, that is, with the onset of modernity, with its central belief that
humans create their own destiny8. Classical economics derives from the new,
Protestant attitudes toward labor, wealth, and productive life9.
Classical economics has developed in a conflictual relation with
mercantilism. Right from the fifteenth century to the nineteenth century,
mercantilism was regarded as a total system of ideas on politics, institutions, and
economic practices. Mercantilist political policy aimed at increasing national
power, symbolized by the political might of the state. According to mercantilist
ideology, a country was considered prosperous when it had a favorable balance of
trade, specifically an increased inflow of bullion (gold and silver)10. Sir William
Petty thought that government should take responsibility for maintaining
employment and relieving poverty by fiscal and monetary policies and through
public works.
During the seventeenth century, particularly in Britain, it has developed
much more definite ideas about a free market economy11. The political
philosophers of seventeenth and eighteenth century Britain especially Thomas
Hobbes, John Locke and David Hume, have played important roles to the origin
of capitalism from the path of mercantilism, especially important in forming the
philosophical basis of classical economic theory.
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3.2.2 Classical Economics
Classical economics covers a period of thought stretching from Adam
smith’s “The Wealth of Nations” (1776) to John Stuart Mill’s “Principles of
Political Economy” (1848). During this time economics was part of a broader
system of political economy embedded in an even more general moral
philosophy.
Smith’s famous Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, elaborated such
notions of moral philosophy in to a theory of economic behavior. Smith argued
that “all humans shared certain characteristics, whether innate or resulting from
the faculties of reason and speech, which he described as certain prosperity to
“truck, barter and exchange one thing for another” (Smith, 1937 ed.)
Smith’s economics tried to explain why some nations prospered, became
wealthy or, in contemporary parlance, experienced economic growth. He found
the immediate answer in the division of labor. According to Smith, by
specializing the various tasks involved in production, dexterity could be
increased, time saved and labor-saving machinery invented by persons familiar
with minute tasks. The products so made were exchanged through trade. And the
division of labor was limited only by the extent of the market. With
improvements in transport, the market increased in size, labor became more
specialized, money replaced barter, and productivity increased.
3.2.3 The Neo-classical Interlude
In the last third of the nineteenth century economics changed from
political economy, part of a moral philosophy critically involved with social
issues, to a specialized scientific discipline fascinated by calculus, algebra, and
plane geometry, and increasingly removed from social concerns. The central
theme of economics changed from growth of the national wealth to the role of the
margin in the efficient allocation of resources.
Neo-classical economic theory asserted that, under conditions of perfect
competition, price-making markets yielded a long-run set of prices that balanced,
or equilibrated, the supplies and demands for each commodity in production and
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consumption. Given certain conditions, such as the preferences of consumers,
productive techniques, and the mobility of productive factors, market forces of
supply and demand allocated resources efficiently, in the sense of minimizing
costs, and maximized consumer utilities, in the long run. And finally, all the
participants in production received income that commensurate with their efforts.
Capitalism was therefore the best of all possible economic worlds. It was the
context in which Thorstein Veblen and others challenged the Neo-classical
economic thought12.
3.2.4 Dynamic Analysis
There were other traditions in economics that oppose the Neo-classical
consensus. In Germany the historical school of economics had long been critical
of the abstract nature of both Ricardian and marginalist economics. The historical
school was influenced by the German philosophical traditions of idealism and
romanticism. The historical school’s main themes were the unity of social and
economic life, the plurality of human motives, and the relativity of history-all
regarded from an organicist or holistic viewpoint. The German historical school
was empirical and it tended to be more critical of capitalism than Neo-classical
economics.
Joseph Schumpeter combined methods and theories (German historical
school, Marxian, marginalist, and equilibrium) from all approaches within an
overall perspective derived from advanced natural science. “…Schumpeter
thought further that creativity could not be predicted from previous facts:
creativity shaped the course of future events, yet itself was an enigma. Even so,
economics had to deal with psychology and human motivation at a different level
than everyday utilitarianism (Peet & Hartwick, 2005).
Innovative investment was financed not by savings but by credit, with
interest paid from the profits generated by innovation. Rather than causing
deviations in a kind of dynamic equilibrium, Schumpeter saw the development
initiated by innovation as uneven, discontinuous, and taking the form of business
cycles. These cycles could be short term, medium term and long term (Kuznets,
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1953), which Schumpeter conceptualized as epochs with different values and
civilization characteristics. For all his praise of the entrepreneur, Schumpeter also
thought that an economy satiated with capital and rationalized by entrepreneurial
minds would eventually become socialist (Schumpeter, 1961).
3.2.5 Keynesian Growth Theory
Keynes’s General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1936)
argued that the creation of demand by supply could occur at any level of
employment or income, so that full employment was but one of many economic
possibilities. The particular level of employment, Keynes thought, was
determined by aggregate demand for goods and services in the entire economy.
Assuming that the government had a neutral effect, two groups influenced
aggregate demand: consumers buying consumption goods and investors buying
production equipment. Consumers increased their spending as their incomes rose,
although by a smaller production: however, this was not the key variable in
explaining the overall level of employment, for consumption depended on
income, which depended on something else (Keynes, 1936).
In the Keynesian system, real investment was the crucial variable:
changes in real investment fed into other areas of an economy. Investment
resulted from decisions made by entrepreneurs under conditions of risk. Here the
key variable was “expectation “or, more generally, the degree of investor
confidence. Keynes explained the interest rate not in terms of savers postponing
consumption, but in terms of speculation about future stock prices, which in turn
determined interest rates, as savings moved from one fund to another.
Keynes doubted that merely changing interest rates would be sufficient to
significantly alter business confidence and thus investment. He viewed that the
manipulation of interest rates and the government spending. When capital was
scarce, saving was beneficial to an economy. When unemployment rose,
however, thrift impeded economic growth. Keynes thus assaulted a basic tenet of
Puritan (and Smithian) economics, the identification of thrift with virtue
(Lekachman, 1966). Keynes also proved theoretically what depression had long
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shown in practice, that free markets did not spontaneously maximize human well-
being.
These ideas became the basis of economic growth theory and helped the
emergence of development economics as an independent discipline.
3.2.6 Development Economics
The development economics that emerged in the 1950s was different from
Neo-classical and Keynesian economics because of their specific focus on
developing countries and their greater practicality in terms of a more immediate
policy orientation.
According to Michael P Todaro, the post-Second World War literature on
economic development has been dominated by four major schools of thought: (1)
the linear-stages-0f-growth model, (2) theories and patterns of structural change,
(3) the international- dependence revolution, and (4) the Neo-classical, free-
market Counter-revolution.
Theorists of the 1950s and early 1960s viewed the process of
development as a series of economic growth through which all countries must
pass. It was primarily an economic theory of development in which the right
quantity and mixture of saving, investment, and foreign aid were all that was
necessary to enable developing nations to proceed along an economic growth
path that historically had been followed by the more developed countries.
Development thus became synonymous with rapid, aggregate economic growth.
3.2.6.1 The Linear Stages Theories
There are two important theories under the linear stages theories. They are
Rostow’s Stages of economic growth and the Harrod-Domar growth model.
3.2.6.1.1 Rostow’s Stages of Growth
An early theory of development economics, the linear-stages-of-growth
model was first formulated in the 1950s by W.W. Rostow in ‘The Stages of
Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto’. This theory modifies Marx's stages
theory of development and focuses on the accelerated accumulation of capital,
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through the utilization of both domestic and international savings as a means of
spurring investment, as the primary means of promoting economic growth and,
thus, development. The linear-stages-of-growth model posits that there are a
series of five consecutive stages of development which all countries must go
through during the process of development. These stages are “the traditional
society, the pre-conditions for take-off, the take-off, the drive to maturity, and the
age of high mass-consumption (Rostow, 1960)
The advanced countries had all passed the stage of “take-off into self-
sustaining growth,” and the underdeveloped countries that were still in either the
traditional society or the “preconditions” stage had only to follow a certain set of
rules of development to take off in their turn into self-sustaining economic
growth.
3.2.6.1.2 The Harrod-Domar Growth Model
In the Harrod-Domar model, increasing economic growth basically
involved increasing the savings rate, in some cases through the state budget.
Development policies based on the Harrod-Domar model were used in left-
leaning countries in the 1950s-for example, in India’s First Five Year Plan.
Simple versions of the Harrod-Domar Model provide a mathematical illustration
of the argument that improved capital investment leads to greater economic
growth.
Michael Todaro presents it as follows:
Every economy must save a certain proportion of its national income, if
only to replace worn-out or impaired capital goods. However, in order to
grow, new investments representing net additions to the capital stock are
necessary. If we assume that there is some direct economic relationship
between the size of the total capital stock and total GNP. It follows that
any net additions to the capital stock in the form of new investment will
bring about corresponding increases in the flow of national output, GNP
(Todaro, 1993).
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In 1970s, this linear stage theory was replaced by theories and patterns of
structural change and the international dependence revolution.
3.2.6.2 Theories and Patterns of Structural Change
Structural-change theory deals with policies focused on changing the
economic structures of developing countries from being composed primarily of
subsistence agricultural practices to being a “more modern, more urbanized, and
more industrially diverse manufacturing and service economy.” There are two
major forms of structural-change theory;
3.2.6.2.1 W. Arthur Lewis’ Two-Sector Surplus Model
The two-sector model of economic growth developed by William Arthur
Lewis is a classical economic model, as opposed to the Neo-classical one. Lewis
believed that Neo-classical economics does not accurately describe the condition
of economically less-developed countries (LDCs) because it assumes that labor is
in short supply. Lewis's model posited two sectors in the economy of an LDC: the
modern and the traditional.
An increase in the amount of capital in the modern sector would increase
the marginal product of labor in the modern sector and thereby increase total
output there-whereas it would not affect the traditional sector at all. Thus, he
argued, capital accumulation in the modern sector is the method for growing a
less developed economy without doing any real damage to the traditional sector.
According to this model, capital accumulation in the modern sector will lead to
rising incomes as well as rising income inequality-signs of economic growth and
development. At some point in time, there will be enough capital accumulation
that the marginal product of labor in the modern sector will equal the marginal
product of labor in the traditional sector at the traditional-sector wage rate. From
that point on, the two sectors become integrated, marginal product of labor begins
to determine the wage rate-as in Neo-classical economic theory-and the LDC
becomes a more economically developed country. (http://voices.yahoo.com/
william-arthur-lewiss-two-sector-economic-growth-model-329724.html?cat=37,
retrieved on 02.02.2013)
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It views agrarian societies as consisting of large amounts of surplus labor
which can be utilized to spur the development of an urbanized industrial sector.
3.2.6.2.2 Hollis Chenery’s Patterns of Development Approach,
Hollis Chenery’s patterns of development approach, which is the
empirical analysis of the “sequential process through which the economic,
industrial and institutional structure of an underdeveloped economy is
transformed over time to permit new industries to replace traditional agriculture
as the engine of economic growth.” Chenery's findings of the patterns of
development are presented as an illustration of an empirical approach, and
include the shift in production from agriculture to industry and services, the
accumulation of physical and human capital, the shift to nonfood consumption
and investment, urbanization, and the growth of trade as a share of GNP13
Structural-change approaches to development economics have faced
criticism for their emphasis on urban development at the expense of rural
development which can lead to a substantial rise in inequality between internal
regions of a country. The two-sector surplus model, which was developed in the
1950s, has been further criticized for its underlying assumption that
predominantly agrarian societies suffer from a surplus of labor. Actual empirical
studies have shown that such labor surpluses are only seasonal and drawing such
labor to urban areas can result in a collapse of the agricultural sector. The
patterns of development approach have been criticized for lacking a theoretical
framework.
3.2.6.3 The International Dependence Revolution
International dependence theories gained prominence in the 1970s as a
reaction to the failure of earlier theories in creating widespread successes in
international development. Unlike the earlier theories, international dependence
theories have their origins in the developing countries and they view the obstacles
to development as being primarily external in nature, rather than internal. These
theories view developing countries as being economically and politically
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dependent on more powerful, developed countries that are interested only in
maintaining their dominant position.
Dependency can be defined as an explanation of the economic
development of a state in terms of the external influences--political, economic,
and cultural--on national development policies (Sunkel, 1969). Theotonio Dos
Santos emphasizes the historical dimension of the dependency relationships in his
definition:
“Dependency is...an historical condition which shapes a certain structure
of the world economy such that it favors some countries to the detriment
of others and limits the development possibilities of the subordinate
economics...a situation in which the economy of a certain group of
countries is conditioned by the development and expansion of another
economy, to which their own is subjected”14. (Dos Santos, 1971).
Todaro writes,
“Essentially, international-dependence models view developing countries
as beset by institutional, political, and economic rigidities, both domestic
and international, and caught up in a dependence and dominance
relationship with rich countries” (Todaro, 1993).
There are three different, major formulations of international dependence theory;
neocolonial dependence model, the false-paradigm model and the dualistic-
dependence model.
3.2.6.3.1The Neo-colonial Dependence Model
The neocolonial dependence model attributes the existence and
continuance of underdevelopment primarily to the historical evolution of a highly
unequal international capitalist system of rich and poor country relationships.
Whether because rich nations are intentionally exploitative or unintentionally
neglectful, the co-existence of rich and poor nations in an international system
dominated by such unequal power relationships between the center and the
periphery renders attempts by poor nations to be self-reliant and independent
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difficult and sometimes even impossible15. Directly and indirectly, they serve
and rewarded by international special-interest power groups including
multinational corporations, national bilateral- aid agencies, and multilateral
assistance organizations like the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund,
which are tied by allegiance or funding to the wealthy capitalist countries.
According to the neocolonial dependence model underdevelopment is an
externally induced phenomenon, in contrast to the linear –stages and structural-
change theories’ stress on internal constraints such as insufficient savings and
investment or lack of education and skills.
It is clearly described in the words of Theotonio Dos Santos:
“Underdevelopment, far from constituting a state of backwardness prior
to capitalism, is rather a consequence and a particular form of capitalist
development known as dependent capitalism…Dependence is a
conditioning situation in which the economies of one group of countries
are conditioned by the development and expansion of others. A
relationship of interdependence between two or more economies or
between such economies and the world trading system becomes a
dependent relationship when some countries can expand through self-
impulsion while others, being in a dependent position, can only expand as
a reflection of the expansion of the dominant countries, which may have
positive or negative effects on their immediate development. In either
case, the basic situation of dependence causes these countries to be both
backward and exploited. Dominant countries are endowed with
technological, capital and socio-political predominance over dependent
countries-the form of this predominance varying according to the
particular historical moment-and can therefore exploit them, and extract
part of the locally produced surplus. Dependence, then, is based upon an
international division of labor which allows industrial development to
take place in some countries while restricting it in others, whose growth is
conditioned by and subjected to the power centers of the world16”
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3.2.6.3.2 The False-Paradigm Model
A second and a less radical international-dependence approach to
development, which we might call the false-paradigm model, attributes
underdevelopment to faulty and inappropriate advice provided by well-meaning
but often uninformed, biased, and ethnocentric international "expert" advisers
from developed-country assistance agencies and multinational donor
organizations. These experts offer sophisticated concepts, elegant theoretical
structures, and complex econometric models of development those often lead to
inappropriate or incorrect policies. Because of institutional factors such as the
central and remarkably resilient role of traditional social structures (tribe, caste,
class, etc.), the highly unequal ownership of land and other property rights, the
disproportionate control by local elites over domestic and international financial
assets, and the very unequal access to credit, these policies, based as they often
are on mainstream, Lewis-type surplus labor or Chenery-type structural-change
models, in many cases merely serve the vested interests of existing power groups,
both domestic and international. As a result, proponents argue that desirable
institutional and structural reforms, many of which we have discussed, are
neglected or given only cursory attention17.
3.2.6.3.3 The Dualistic-Development Thesis
According to this thesis the world is divided into two as rich nations and
poor nations. Even within the developing countries, there are pockets of wealth
within broad areas of poverty. It is implicit in structural-change theories and
explicit in international-dependence theories, the notion of a world of dual
societies. Dualism is a concept widely discussed in development economics. It
represents the existence and persistence of increasing divergences between the
rich and poor nations and the rich and the poor people at various levels. One of
the elements of dualism is that there is a co-existence of wealthy, highly educated
elites with masses of illiterate poor people within the same country or city.
According to this theory, there is a co-existence of powerful and wealthy
industrialized nations with weak, impoverished peasant societies in the
international economy. This co-existence is chronic and not merely transitional. It
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is not due to a temporary phenomenon, in which within the capacity of time, the
discrepancy between superior and inferior elements would be eliminated.
In 1980s and early 1990s a fourth approach called the Neo-classical
Counter-revolution has come into prevalence.
3.2.6.4 The Neo-classical Counter-revolution: Market Fundamentalism
Neo-classical theories represent a radical shift away from International
Dependence Theories. Neo-classical theories argue that governments should not
intervene in the economy; in other words, these theories are claiming that an
unobstructed free market is the best means of inducing rapid and successful
development. Competitive free markets unrestrained by excessive government
regulation are capable of ensuring the allocation of resources with the greatest
possible efficiency and in raising and stabilizing the economic growth.
The central argument of the Neo-classical Counter-revolution is that
underdevelopment results from poor resource allocation due to incorrect pricing
policies and too much state intervention by overly active developing-nation
governments18. Contrary to the claims of the dependence theorists, the Neo-
classical Counter-revolution argue that the Third World is under-developed not
because of the predatory activities of the of the First World and the international
agencies that it controls but rather because of the heavy hand of the state and the
corruption, inefficiency, and lack of economic incentives that permeate the
economies of developing nations.
It is important to note that there are several different approaches within
the realm of Neo-classical theory. These different takes on Neo-classical theory
are the free market approach, public-choice theory, and the market-friendly
approach. Of the three, both the free-market approach and public-choice theory
contend that the market should be totally free, meaning that any intervention by
the government is necessarily bad. The market-friendly approach, unlike the
other two, is a more recent development and is often associated with the World
Bank. This approach still advocates free markets but recognizes that there are
many imperfections in the markets of many developing nations and thus argues
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that some government intervention is an effective means of fixing such
imperfections
3.2.6.4.1 Free-market Analysis
Free-Market analysis argues that markets alone are efficient-product
markets provide the best signals for investments in new activities; labor markets
respond to these new industries in appropriate ways; producers know best what to
produce and how to produce it efficiently; and product and factor prices reflect
accurate scarcity values of goods and resources now and in the future.
Competition is effective, if not perfect, technology is freely available and nearly
costless to absorb; information is also perfect and nearly costless to obtain. Under
these circumstances, any government intervention in the economy is counter-
productive. Free-market development economists have tended to assume that
developing-world markets are efficient and that whatever imperfections exist are
of little consequences.
3.2.6.4.2 Public-Choice Theory or New Political Economy Approach
Public-choice theory, also known as ‘new political economy approach’,
goes even further to argue that government can do nothing right. This is because
those politicians, bureaucrats, citizens and states act solely from a self-interested
perspective, using their powers and the authority of government for their own
selfish needs. Citizens use political influence to obtain special benefits from
government policies. Politicians use government resources to consolidate and
maintain positions of power and authority. Bureaucrats use their positions to
extract bribes from rent-seeking citizens and to operate protected business on the
side. And finally state uses its power to confiscate private property from
individuals. The net result is not only a misallocation of resources but also a
general reduction in individual freedoms. The conclusion, therefore, is that
minimal government is the best government.
3.2.6.4.3 The Market- Friendly Approach
This is the most recent variant on the Neo-classical counter revolution. It
is associated principally with the writings of the World Bank and its economists,
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many of whom were more in the free-market and public-choice camps during the
1980s. This approach recognizes that there are many imperfections in LDC
product and factor markets and those governments do have a key role to play in
facilitating the operation of markets through “nonselective’ interventions. The
Market-friendly approach also differs from the free-market and public-choice
schools of thought by accepting the notion that market failures are more
widespread in developing countries in areas 19 such investment coordination and
environmental outcomes.
3.2.7 Recent Developments
The most prominent contemporary development economist is perhaps the
Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. Recent theories revolve around questions about
what variables or inputs correlate or affect economic growth the most:
elementary, secondary, or higher education, government policy stability, low
tariffs, fair court systems, available infrastructure, availability of medical care,
prenatal care and clean water, ease of entry and exit into trade, and equality of
income distribution, and how to advise governments about macroeconomic
policies, which include all policies that affect the economy. In short development
is a multifaceted concept than any single ended approach. It is very much evident
in UNDP Reports. Along with its first chairman Mahabub Ul Haq, Amartya Sen
too has played an important role in the formation and presentation of UNDP
reports, and the 20th years report. These reports itself create many indices to
measure development. It is a continuing and ongoing process and it presents its
reports annually. The summary of these reports since 1990 is presented below.
3.3 A Journey through UNDP Reports
3.3.1 Concept and Measurement of Human Development (HDR, 1990)
Human Development Report 1990 introduced a new human development
index, (HDI), which combines life expectancy, educational attainment and
income indicators to give a composite measure of human development. The
Report's central conclusions and policy messages are clear, and some of their
salient features are summarized as given below:
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1. The developing countries have made significant progress towards human
development in the last three decades
2. North-South gaps in basic human development have narrowed
considerably in the last three decades, even while income gaps have
widened.
3. Averages of progress in human development conceal large disparities
within developing countries - between urban and rural areas, between men
and women, between rich and poor.
4. Fairly respectable levels of human development are possible even at fairly
modest levels of income
5. The link between economic growth and human progress is not automatic
6. Social subsidies are absolutely necessary for poorer income groups.
7. Developing countries are not too poor to pay for human development and
take care of economic growth
8. The human costs of adjustment are often a matter of choice, not of
compulsion and human progress is not automatic
9. A favourable external environment is vital to support human development
strategies in the 1990s
10. Some developing countries, especially in Africa, need external assistance
a lot more than others
11. Technical cooperation must be restructured if it is to help build
developing human capabilities and national capacities in the countries
12. A participatory approach including the involvement of NGOs is crucial to
any strategy for successful human development
13. A significant reduction in population growth rates is absolutely essential
for visible improvements in human development
14. The very rapid population growth in the developing world is becoming
concentrated in cities.
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15. Sustainable development strategies should meet the needs of the present
generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their needs.
3.3.2 Financing Human Development (HDR, 1991)
The main conclusion of Human Development Report 1991 runs like this-
the lack of political commitment and not the absence of financial resources is the
real cause of human neglect. The report emphasized the need to restructure
national budgets and international aid in favor of human development. The main
theme has been discussed under the titles like, economic growth for human
development, optimizing human expenditure, restructuring national budgets,
reallocating social expenditures, cost savings and efficiency, international aid,
political strategy, national compacts for human development and a global
compact for human development.
Human Development Report 1991 proposed a new human freedom index
(HFI). This report lays the foundations for a fresh set of priorities. It explains
how it chose, how it assessed-and why we can afford to pay for them. The aim
will be to refine further the concept and the methods of measurement- and to
distil more practical experience from many countries. Another aim will be to
conduct more research and analysis on participatory development and to examine
the global dimensions of human development by looking at familiar international
issue from a human perspective. The final message of the Report was that, if we
could mobilize the political base for action-nationally and globally- the future of
human development is secure.
3.3.3 Global Dimensions of Human Development (HDR, 1992)
Human Development Report 1992 looked at the workings of the global
markets-at how they meet, or fail to meet, the needs of the world's poorest people.
Markets are the means. Human development is the end. The issue is not only how
much economic growth, but what kind of growth. A new methodology was
suggested for the construction of a Political Freedom Index (PFI) to assess the
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status of human rights according to the generally accepted concept and values.
The important conclusion of the report was,
1. Economic growth does not automatically improve people's lives, either
within nations or internationally20.
2. Rich and poor countries compete in the global market-place as unequal
partners. If developing countries are to compete on a more equal footing,
they will require massive investments in human capital and technological
development.
3. Global markets do not operate freely. This, together with the unequal
partnership, costs the developing countries $500 billion a year-l0 times
what they receive in foreign assistance
4. The world community needs policies in place to provide a social safety
net for poor nations and poor people
5. Industrial and developing countries have the opportunity to design a new
global compact-and to ensure sustainable human development for all in a
peaceful world.
Human Development Report 1992 analyzed the functions of global
markets from this human perspective. The basic message of the Report was that
the world has a unique opportunity to use global markets for the benefit of all.
Removing many of the restrictions on world trade will help global markets to
deliver more fully the benefits they have always promised. And by making a
substantial investment in human capacity building, economic management and
technology, developing countries can engage in world trade as equal partners and
earn equal benefits.
3.3.4 People’s Participation (HDR, 1993)
The 1993 HDR explored the following themes in some detail. It was the
overall vision of all societies built around people's genuine needs. This called for
at least five new pillars of a people centered world order:
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1. New concepts of human security must stress the security of people, not
only of nations
2. New models of sustainable human development are needed-to invest in
human potential and to create an enabling environment for the full use of
human capabilities
3. New partnerships are needed between the state and the market to combine
market efficiency with social compassion
4. New patterns of national and global governance are needed to
accommodate the rise of people's aspirations and the steady decline of the
nation-state.
5. New forms of international cooperation must be evolved-to focus directly
on the needs of the people rather than on the preferences of nation-states.
The implications of placing people at the centre of political and economic
change were thus profound. They challenged traditional concepts of security, old
models of development, ideological debates on the role of the market and
outmoded forms of international cooperation. They called for nothing less than a
revolution in thinking. The Report touched on only a few aspects of a profound
human revolution that made people's participation the central objective in all
parts of life. Every institution-and every policy action-should be judged by one
critical test: how does it meet the genuine aspirations of the people? 21
3.3.5 New Dimensions of Human Security (HDR, 1994)
The 1994 Report introduced a new concept of human security, which
equates security with people rather than territories, with development rather than
arms. It examines both the national and the global concerns of human security22.
The Report seeks to deal with these concerns through a new paradigm of
sustainable human development, capturing the potential peace dividend, a new
form of development co-operation and a restructured system of global
institutions.
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It proposed that the World Summit for Social Development approve a
world social charter, endorse a sustainable human development paradigm, create
a global human security fund by capturing the future peace dividend, approve a
20:20 compact for human priority concerns, recommend global taxes for resource
mobilization and establish an Economic Security Council.
Increasing human security entails: Investing in human development, not
in arms; Engaging policy makers to address the emerging peace dividend; Giving
the United Nations a clear mandate to promote and sustain development;
Enlarging the concept of development cooperation so that it includes all flows,
not just aid; Agreeing that 20 percent of national budgets and 20 percent of
foreign aid be used for human development; and Establish an Economic Security
Council.
A Proposed action agenda for the social summit was,
1. Approve a world social charter as a new social contract among all nations
and all people.
2. Endorse a new development paradigm of sustainable human
development- with economic growth centered on people and sustainable
from one generation to the next.
3. Give the United Nations the mandate to draw up a comprehensive
blueprint for ensuring global human security and protecting people from
threats in their daily lives-poverty, unemployment, drugs, terrorism,
environmental degradation and social disintegration.
4. Agree on a targeted reduction of 3% a year in global military spending for
the decade 1995-2005, and direct that a certain proportion of this potential
savings-say, 20% by industrial countries and 10% by developing
countries-be credited to a global human security fund.
5. Approve a human development compact for the next ten years (1995-
2005) whereby all nations pledge to ensure the basic human development
levels for all their people, and endorse the 20:20 proposal requiring
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developing nations and aid donors to earmark a minimum of 20% of their
budgets for human priority concerns.
6. Recommend to ECOSOC that it examine the feasibility of various forms
of global taxation-especially taxes on global pollution and on speculative
movements of capital-to raise adequate financing for setting up a new
global fund for human security.
7. Urge the international community to strengthen the role of the United
Nations in the socio-economic field and to vest more decision-making
powers in the UN by establishing an Economic Security Council to
manage the new dimensions of global human security.
3.3.6 Gender and Human Development (HDR, 1995)
The message of Human Development Report 1995 was simple but far
reaching,“Human Development, if not engendered, is endangered”. The Report
analyzed the progress made in reducing gender disparities in the past few
decades, highlighting the wide and persistent gap between women's expanding
capabilities and limited opportunities. It introduces two new measures for ranking
countries on a global scale by their performance in gender equality, Gender
Empowerment Measure (GEM) and Gender-related Development Index (GDI),
and analyses the under-valuation and non-recognition of women's work. It
offered a five-point strategy for equalizing gender opportunities in the decade
ahead.
1. National and international efforts must mobilize to win legal equality of
the sexes within a defined period;
2. Many economic and institutional arrangements need revamping to extend
more choices to women and men in the work place;
3. A critical 30% threshold should be regarded as a minimum share of
decision-making positions held by women at the national level;
4. Key programs should embrace universal female education, improved
reproductive health and more credit for women; and
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5. National and international efforts should target programs that enable
people, particularly women, to gain greater access to economic and
political opportunities.
3.3.7 Economic Growth and Human Development (HDR, 1996)
The 1996 Report opened with a fundamental statement: "Human
development is the end - economic growth a means." The Report argued that
economic growth, if not properly managed, can be jobless, voiceless, ruthless,
rootless and futureless, and thus detrimental to human development. The quality
of growth is therefore as important as its quantity; for poverty reduction, human
development and sustainability”.
The Report concluded that the links between economic growth and human
development must be deliberately forged and regularly fortified by skillful and
intelligent policy management. It identified employment as critical for translating
the benefits of economic growth into the lives of people.
To support economic growth as a means to enrich people's lives, the
Report demonstrates why:
1. Over the past 15 years the world has seen spectacular economic advance
for some countries - and unprecedented decline for others
2. Widening disparities in economic performance are creating two worlds -
ever more polarized;
3. Everywhere, the structure and quality of growth demand more attention -
to contribute to human development, poverty reduction and long-term
sustainability;
4. Progress in human development has mostly continued - but too unevenly;
5. New approaches are needed to expand and improve employment
opportunities, so that people can participate in growth - and benefit from
it; and
6. Economic growth is not sustainable without human development.
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3.3.8 Human Development to Eradicate Poverty (HDR, 1997)
Eradicating poverty everywhere is more than a moral imperative - it is a
practical possibility. That was the most important message of the Human
Development Report 1997. The world has the resources and the know-how to
create a poverty-free world in less than a generation.
The Report focused not just on poverty of incomes but on poverty from a
human development perspective - poverty as a denial of choices and
opportunities for living a tolerable life. The strategies proposed in the Report go
beyond income redistribution - encompassing action in the critical areas of
gender equality, pro-poor growth, globalization and the democratic governance of
development.
Eradicating poverty entails:
Removing barriers that deny choices and opportunities for living a
tolerable life;
1. Safeguarding people from the new global pressures that create or threaten
further increases in poverty;
2. Building assets for the poor;
3. Empowering men and women to ensure their participation in decisions
that affect their lives;
4. Investing in human development - health and education; and
5. Affirm the eradication of absolute poverty in the first decades of the 21st
century are feasible, affordable and a moral imperative.
3.3.9 Consumption for Human Development (HDR, 1998)
The 1998 Report investigated the 20th century's growth in consumption,
exceptional in its range and diversity. The benefits of this consumption have
spread far and wide. Yet the Report state that the benefits of this consumption
have been badly distributed, leaving a backlog of shortfalls and gaping
inequalities.
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Furthermore, ever-expanding consumption puts strains on the
environment - emissions and wastes that pollute the earth and destroy
ecosystems, and growing depletion and degradation of renewable resources that
undermines livelihoods. The world's dominant consumers are overwhelmingly
concentrated among the well-off - but the environmental damage from the world's
consumption falls most severely on the poor.
The Reports demonstrates that:
1. Rising pressures for conspicuous consumption can turn destructive,
reinforcing exclusion, poverty and inequality;
2. Globalization is integrating consumer markets around the world and
opening opportunities. But it is also creating new inequalities and new
challenges for protecting consumer rights;
3. There is a need for the development and application of technologies and
methods that are environmentally sustainable for both poor and affluent
consumers;
4. There is a need to strengthen public action for consumer education and
information and environmental protection and to strengthen international
mechanisms to manage consumption's global impacts; and
5. There is a need to think globally, and act locally, to build on the initiatives
of people and foster synergies in the actions of civil society, the private
sector and government.
3.3.10 Globalization with a Human Face (HDR, 1999)
Global markets, global technology, global ideas and global solidarity can
enrich the lives of people everywhere. The challenge is to ensure that the benefits
are shared equitably and that this increasing interdependence works for people—
not just for profits.
The Report argued that globalization is not new, but that the present era of
globalization, driven by competitive global markets, is outpacing the governance
of markets and the repercussions on people. Characterized by “shrinking space,
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shrinking time and disappearing borders”, globalization has swung open the door
to opportunities.
Breakthroughs in communications technologies and biotechnology, if
directed for the needs of people, can bring advances for all of humankind. But
markets can go too far and squeeze the non-market activities so vital for human
development. Fiscal squeezes are constraining the provision of social services. A
time squeeze is reducing the supply and quality of caring labor. And an incentive
squeeze is harming the environment. Globalization is also increasing human
insecurity as the spread of global crime, disease and financial instability outpaces
actions to tackle them.
As argued in the Report, globalization requires leadership because:
1. People everywhere are becoming connected - affected by events in far
corners of the world;
2. The 1990s have shown increasing concentration of income, resources and
wealth among people, corporations and countries;
3. Poor people and poor countries risk being pushed to the margin in this
proprietary regime controlling the world’s knowledge;
4. With stronger governance, the benefits of competitive markets can be
preserved with clear rules and boundaries, and stronger action can be
taken to meet the needs of human development;
5. Narrowing the gaps between rich and poor and the extremes between
countries should become explicit global goals; and
6. An essential aspect of global governance is responsibility to people — to
equity, to justice, to enlarging the choices of all.
3.3.11 Human Rights and Human Development (HDR, 2000)
Human rights and human development share a common vision and a
common purpose-to secure, for every human being, freedom, well-being and
dignity. Human Development Report 2000 looked at human rights as an intrinsic
part of development-and at development as a means to realizing human rights. It
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shows how human rights bring principles of accountability and social justice to
the process of human development.
The research and critical positioning of this Report shows that:
1. Human freedom is the common purpose and common motivation of
human rights and human development;
2. The 20th century’s advances in human rights and human development
were unprecedented—but there is a long unfinished agenda;
3. The 21st century opens with new threats to human freedoms; and Bold
new approaches are needed to achieve universal realization of human
rights in the 21st century—adapted to the opportunities and realities of the
era of globalization, to its new global actors and to its new global rules.
3.3.12 Making New Technologies Work for Human Development (HDR, 2001)
The 2001 Report was about how people can create and use technology to
improve their lives. It was also about forging new public policies to lead the
revolutions in information and communications technology and biotechnology in
the direction of human development.
This Report looks specifically at how new technologies will affect
developing countries and poor people. Many people fear that these technologies
may be of little use to the developing world—or that they might actually widen
the already savage inequalities between north and south, rich and poor. Without
innovative public policy, these technologies could become a source of exclusion,
not a tool of progress. The needs of poor people could remain neglected, new
global risks left unmanaged. But managed well, the rewards could be greater than
the risks.
The technology divide does not have to follow the income divide.
Throughout history, technology has been a powerful tool for human development
and poverty reduction.
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The 2001 Report demonstrates that:
1. People all over the world have high hopes that new technologies will lead
to healthier lives, greater social freedoms, increased knowledge and more
productive livelihoods;
2. The 20th century’s unprecedented gains in advancing human development
and eradicating poverty came largely from technological breakthroughs;
3. In the network age, every country needs the capacity to understand and
adapt global technologies for local needs; and
4. Policy, not charity, will determine whether new technologies become a
tool for human development everywhere.
3.3.13 Deepening Democracy in a Fragmented World (HDR, 2002)
This Report is about politics and human development. It is about how
political power and institutions-formal and informal, national and international-
shape human progress. And it is about what it will take for countries to establish
democratic governance systems that advance the human development of all
people-in a world where so many are left behind.
Politics matter for human development because people everywhere want
to be free to determine their destinies, express their views and participate in the
decisions that shape their lives. These capabilities are just as important for human
development-for expanding people’s choices-as being able to read or enjoy good
health.
The Report argues that:
1. For politics and political institutions to promote human development and
safeguard the freedom and dignity of all people, democracy must widen
and deepen;
2. Just as human development requires much more than raising incomes,
governance for human development requires much more than having
effective public institutions;
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3. To be plural and independent, the media must be free not only from state
control but also from corporate and political pressures;
4. Increased pluralism in global politics has been aided by new forms of
collaboration between governments and global civil society groups;
5. International efforts to promote change do not work if national actors feel
excluded.
3.3.14 Millennium Development Goals: A Compact among Nations to End Human Poverty (HDR, 2003)
The new century opened with an unprecedented declaration of solidarity
and determination to free the world of poverty. In 2000 the UN Millennium
Declaration, adopted at the largest-ever gathering of heads of state, committed
countries - rich and poor - to doing all they can to eradicate poverty, promote
human dignity and equality and achieve peace, democracy and environmental
sustainability. World leaders promised to work together to meet concrete targets
for advancing development and reducing poverty by 2015 or earlier.
Emanating from the Millennium Declaration, the Millennium
Development Goals bind countries to do more in the attack on inadequate
incomes, widespread hunger, gender inequality, environmental deterioration and
lack of education, health care and clean water. They also include actions to
reduce debt and increase aid, trade and technology transfers to poor countries.
The 2003 Report explores constraints that are crucial for sustainable
human development:
1. The need for economic reforms to establish macroeconomic stability;
2. The need for strong institutions and governance—to enforce the rule of
law and control corruption;
3. The need for social justice and involving people in decisions that affect
them and their communities and countries; and
4. The structural constraints are that impede economic growth and human
development.
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5. The Millennium Development Compact presented in this Report proposes
a policy approach to achieving the Millennium Development Goals that
starts by addressing these constraints.
3.3.15 Cultural Liberty in Today’s Diverse World (HDR, 2004)
Accommodating people’s growing demands for their inclusion in society,
for respect of their ethnicity, religion, and language, takes more than democracy
and equitable growth. Also needed are multicultural policies that recognize
differences, champion diversity and promote cultural freedoms, so that all people
can choose to speak their language, practice their religion, and participate in
shaping their culture-so that all people can choose to be who they are.
The 2004 Report builds on that analysis, by carefully examining—and
rejecting-claims that cultural differences necessarily lead to social, economic and
political conflict or that inherent cultural rights should supersede political and
economic ones. Instead, it provides a powerful argument for finding ways to
“delight in our differences”, as Archbishop Desmond Tutu has put it. It also
offers some concrete ideas on what it means in practice to build and manage the
politics of identity and culture in a manner consistent with the bedrock principles
of human development.
The Report makes a case for respecting diversity and building more
inclusive societies by adopting policies that explicitly recognize cultural
differences - multicultural policies:
1. Cultural liberty is a vital part of human development because being able
to choose one’s identity is important in leading a full life;
2. Cultural liberty allows people to live the lives they value without being
excluded from other choices important to them such as education, health
or job opportunities;
3. Several emerging models of multicultural democracy provide effective
mechanisms for power sharing between culturally diverse groups;
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4. Power sharing arrangements have broadly proven to be critical in
resolving tensions; and
5. Multicultural policies that recognize differences between groups are
needed to address injustices historically rooted and socially entrenched.
3.3.16 International Co-operation at a Crossroads: Aid, Trade and Security in an Unequal World (HDR, 2005)
This 2005 Human Development Report takes stock of human
development, including progress towards the MDGs. Looking beyond statistics; it
highlights the human costs of missed targets and broken promises. Extreme
inequality between countries and within countries is identified as one of the main
barriers to human development-and as a powerful brake on accelerated progress
towards the MDGs.
International aid, one of the most effective weapons in the war against
poverty, needs to be renovated and reshaped. It should be thought as an
investment as well as a moral imperative. In this respect, three conditions for
effective aid are: Sufficient quantity, Better quality, and Country ownership.
The 2005 Report presents:
1. A comprehensive overview of international development assistance,
looking at both its quality and quantity;
2. A critical review of progress in the “Doha Development Round” of trade
negotiations, highlighting how unfair trade rules reinforce inequality; and
3. Evidence of the human development costs of violent conflict, and a
review of strategies for conflict prevention.
3.3.17 Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis (HDR, 2006)
Throughout history water has confronted humanity with some of its
greatest challenges. Water is a source of life and a natural resource that sustains
our environments and supports livelihoods – but it is also a source of risk and
vulnerability. In the early 21st Century, prospects for human development are
threatened by a deepening global water crisis. Debunking the myth that the crisis
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is the result of scarcity, this report argues poverty, power and inequality are at the
heart of the problem.
In a world of unprecedented wealth, almost 2 million children die each
year for want of a glass of clean water and adequate sanitation. Millions of
women and young girls are forced to spend hours collecting and carrying water,
restricting their opportunities and their choices. And water-borne infectious
diseases are holding back poverty reduction and economic growth in some of the
world’s poorest countries.
Beyond the household, competition for water as a productive resource is
intensifying. Symptoms of that competition include the collapse of water-based
ecological systems, declining river flows and large-scale groundwater depletion.
Conflicts over water are intensifying within countries, with the rural poor losing
out. The potential for tensions between countries is also growing, though there
are large potential human development gains from increased cooperation.
The Human Development Report continues to frame debates on some of
the most pressing challenges facing humanity. Human Development Report
2006:
1. Investigates the underlying causes and consequences of a crisis that leaves
1.2 billion people without access to safe water and 2.6 billion without
access to sanitation
2. Argues for a concerted drive to achieve water and sanitation for all
through national strategies and a global plan of action
3. Examines the social and economic forces that are driving water shortages
and marginalizing the poor in agriculture
4. Looks at the scope for international cooperation to resolve cross-border
tensions in water management
3.3.18 Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World (HDR, 2007/8)
Climate change is the defining human development challenge of the 21st
Century. Failure to respond to that challenge will stall and then reverse
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international efforts to reduce poverty. The poorest countries and most vulnerable
citizens will suffer the earliest and most damaging setbacks, even though they
have contributed least to the problem. Looking to the future, no country-however
wealthy or powerful-will be immune to the impact of global warming.
The Human Development Report 2007/8 shows that climate change is not
just a future scenario. Increased exposure to droughts, floods and storms is
already destroying opportunity and reinforcing inequality. Meanwhile, there is
now overwhelming scientific evidence that the world is moving towards the point
at which irreversible ecological catastrophe becomes unavoidable. Business-as-
usual climate change points in a clear direction: unprecedented reversal in human
development in our lifetime, and acute risks for our children and their
grandchildren.
There is a window of opportunity for avoiding the most damaging climate
change impacts, but that window is closing: the world has less than a decade to
change course. Actions taken-or not taken-in the years ahead will have a
profound bearing on the future course of human development. The world lacks
neither the financial resources nor the technological capabilities to act. What is
missing is a sense of urgency, human solidarity and collective interest.
Human Development Report 2007/8 argues, climate change poses
challenges at many levels.
1. In a divided but ecologically interdependent world, it challenges all
people to reflect upon how we manage the environment of the one thing
that we share in common: planet Earth.
2. It challenges us to reflect on social justice and human rights across
countries and generations.
3. It challenges political leaders and people in rich nations to acknowledge
their historic responsibility for the problem, and to initiate deep and
early cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
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4. It challenges the entire human community to undertake prompt and strong
collective action based on shared values and a shared vision.
3.3.19 Overcoming Barriers: Human Mobility and Development (HDR, 2009)
Migration, both within and beyond borders, has become an increasingly
prominent theme in domestic and international debates, and is the topic of the
2009 Human Development Report (HDR, 2009). The starting point is that the
global distribution of capabilities is extraordinarily unequal, and that this is a
major driver for movement of people. Migration can expand their choices —in
terms of incomes, accessing services and participation, for example— but the
opportunities open to people vary from those who are best endowed to those with
limited skills and assets. These underlying inequalities, which can be
compounded by policy distortions, are a theme of the report.
The report investigates migration in the context of demographic changes
and trends in both growth and inequality. It also presents more detailed and
nuanced individual, family and village experiences, and explores less visible
movements typically pursued by disadvantaged groups such as short term and
seasonal migration.
There is a range of evidence about the positive impacts of migration on
human development, through such avenues as increased household incomes and
improved access to education and health services. There is further evidence that
migration can empower traditionally disadvantaged groups, in particular women.
At the same time, risks to human development are also present where migration
is a reaction to threats and denial of choice, and where regular opportunities for
movement are constrained.
National and local policies play a critical role in enabling better human
development outcomes for both those who choose to move in order to improve
their circumstances, and those forced to relocate due to conflict, environmental
degradation, or other reasons. Host country restrictions can raise both the costs
and the risks of migration. Similarly, negative outcomes can arise at the country
levels where basic civil rights, like voting, schooling and health care are denied to
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those who have moved across provincial lines to work and live. HDR 2009 shows
how a human development approach can be a means to redress some of the
underlying issues that erode the potential benefits of mobility and or force
migration.
3.3.20 The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development (HDR, 2010)
HDR 2010 celebrated the contributions of the human development
approach, which is as relevant as ever to making sense of our changing world and
finding ways to improve people’s well-being. The past 20 years have seen
substantial progress in many aspects of human development. Most people today
are healthier, live longer, are more educated and have more access to goods and
services. Even in countries facing adverse economic conditions, people’s health
and education have greatly improved. And there has been progress not only in
improving health and education and raising income, but also in expanding
people’s power to select leaders, influence public decisions and share knowledge.
Yet not all sides of the story are positive. These years have also seen
increasing inequality-both within and across countries— as well as production
and consumption patterns that have increasingly been revealed as unsustainable.
Progress has varied, and people in some regions—such as Southern Africa and
the former Soviet Union-have experienced periods of regress, especially in
health. New vulnerabilities require innovative public policies to confront risk and
inequalities while harnessing dynamic market forces for the benefit of all.
This Report introduced three indices-the Inequality-adjusted Human
Development Index, the Gender Inequality Index and the Multidimensional
Poverty Index. These state-of-the-art measures incorporate recent advances in
theory and measurement and support the centrality of inequality and poverty in
the human development framework. The Report introduced these experimental
series with the intention of stimulating reasoned public debate beyond the
traditional focus on aggregates.
The 2010 Report continues the tradition of pushing the frontiers of
development thinking. For the first time since 1990, the Report looks back
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rigorously at the past several decades and identifies often surprising trends and
patterns with important lessons for the future. These varied pathways to human
development show that there is no single formula for sustainable progress—and
that impressive long-term gains can and have been achieved even without
consistent economic growth.
Looking beyond 2010, this Report surveys critical aspects of human
development, from political freedoms and empowerment to sustainability and
human security, and outlines a broader agenda for research and policies to
respond to these challenges.
3.3.21Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for All (HDR, 2011)
The 2011 Human Development Report argues that the urgent global
challenges of sustainability and equity must be addressed together – and
identifies policies on the national and global level that could encourage mutually
reinforcing progress towards these interlinked goals. Bold action is needed on
both fronts, the Report contends, if the recent human development progress for
most of the world’s poor majority is to be sustained, for the benefit of future
generations as well as for those living today. Past Reports have shown that living
standards in most countries have been rising - and converging - for several
decades now. Yet the 2011 Report projects a disturbing reversal of those trends if
environmental deterioration and social inequalities continue to intensify, with the
least developed countries diverging downwards from global patterns of progress
by 2050.
The Report shows further how the world’s most disadvantageous people
suffer the most from environmental degradation, including their immediate
personal environment. They disproportionately lack political power, making it all
the harder for the world community to reach agreement on needed global policy
changes. The Report also outlines great potential for positive synergies in the
quest for greater equality and sustainability, especially at the national level. The
Report further emphasizes the human right to a healthy environment, the
importance of integrating social equity into environmental policies, and the
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critical importance of public participation and official accountability. The 2011
Report concluded with a call for bold new approaches to global development
financing and environmental controls, arguing that these measures are both
essential and feasible.
In the coming years also, we hope, UNDP will publish its annual reports
in relation with different aspects and concepts of development. It will help to
understand the pros and cons of the subject in detail and will create in the people
an awareness to strive for a more just and equitable society.
3.4 Pieterse’ Summary
In this chapter we have journeyed through the history of development
economics from its pre- classical beginnings to present post development
discussions. Pieterse has given the whole discussion in a tabular form which is
self explanatory about the history of development economics and the meaning of
development overtime.
Table 3:1 Meanings of development over time
Period Perspectives Meanings of development
1870> Latecomers Industrialization, Catching up.
1850> Colonial economics Resource management, Trusteeship.
1940> Development economics Economic growth, Industrialization.
1950> Modernization theory Growth, Political and social modernization.
1960> Dependency theory Accumulation, national, autocentric.
1970> Alternative development Human flourishing
1980> Human development Capacitation, enlargement of people’s Choices
1980> Neoliberalism Economic growth- structural reform,
Deregulation, liberalization, privatization.
1990> Post development Authoritarian, engineering, disaster.
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He also presents a map of the main contours of development thinking in
different periods. He places them in the context of the pattern of hegemony in
international relations and the structures of explanation prevalent at the time.
Table 3:2 Development theories and global hegemony
Development Thinking
Historical context Hegemony Explanation
Progress Evolutionism
19th century British empire Colonial anthropology. Social Darwinism
Classical Development
1890-1930s Latecomers colonialism
Classical political economy.
Modernization Post-war boom U S hegemony Growth theory, structural functionalism
Dependency Decolonization Third world Nationalism
Neomarxism
Neoliberalism 1980s> Globlization monetarism
Neo-classical economics, Finance and corporate capital
Human development
1980s> Rise of Asian and Pacific Rim, big emerging markets
Capabilities,
developmental state
Though he has explained the meaning of development only up to 1990s it is
relevant to the present period. As Pieterse opined the researcher would like to
conclude that:
‘There are several ways of making sense of the shift of meanings of
development overtime. One is to view this kind of archaeology of
development discourse as a deconstruction of development, i.e. as part of a
development critique. Another is to treat it as [art of historical context: it is
quite sensible for development of change meaning in relation to changing
circumstances and sensibilities. ‘Development’ then serves as a mirror of
changing economic and social capacities, priorities and choices. A third
option is to recombine these different views as dimensions of development
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i.e., to fit them all together as part of a development mosaic and thus to
reconstruct development as synthesis of components’ (Pieterse, 2001).
This is the theoretical frame work within which the researcher is presenting this
thesis and the underlying principle of the thesis.
3.5 Previous Studies
Previous studies were helpful and conducive to the researcher to understand
the different aspects of the topic theoretically and practically. The researcher has
tried to incorporate into this study some of the earlier researches regarding
development involvement of the Churches at different levels. These studies are
presented in a more or less satisfactory chronological pattern. The review of the
previous studies has enabled the researcher to understand the novelty and
uniqueness of the present topic. It can undoubtedly be said that the present study
clearly differs from all the previous studies conducted on the theme ‘Church and
development’.
3.5.1 Church, Society, and Labor Resources: An Intra-Denominational Comparison
This paper, a comparative analysis of two Latter-day Saint bodies, deals
with the independent role of the external situation on social system structure and
functioning. The Mormons and the Reorganites, closely similar in value
orientations and beliefs but historically involved in widely different situations, have
established contrasting solutions to the strategic missionary manpower problem.
Significant intra-Church consequences flow from these differences. In the Mormon
case the historical situation created the conditions for the full institutionalization of
both the mission role and volunteer labor. In the second case situational
imperatives required the Reorganization to postpone collective goal action and
there-by decreased the organization's need to channel religious loyalties into labor
resources (Vallier, 1962).
3.5.2 The Church and Social Change in Latin America.
This book consists a collection of writings is an outgrowth of Cornell
University's celebration of Latin American Year in 1965-1966. It includes a
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number of papers presented as part of that program and several others written
expressly for this volume. The book is divided into four parts.
Part I includes a brief introduction by the editor and a rather lengthy
analysis by Ivan Vallier of the sociological bases of Church influence, the
strategies of influence used in the past, the changing patterns that are emerging, and
the relation of these patterns to the problems of secular modernization.
Part II is historical in content. Renato Poblete, S.J., summarizes the
principal developments in the history of the Church beginning with colonial times.
Fredrick Pike illustrates the multiple character of Latin American Catholicism in
his study of the divergent results of interplay between political and spiritual forces
in Argentina, Chile, and Peru during the present century. Henry Landsberger
focuses attention on the role of the hierarchy and elite groups in the formulation
and implementation of social doctrine in Chile since the 1880's.
Part III deals with the effects of Vatican Council II on Church doctrine and
social change. Archbishop Marco McGrath of Panama stresses the religious
function of the Church in fostering social initiative and a sense of community in the
approach to basic problems. Abbot Francois Houtart examines the changes that are
taking place in ecclesiastical institutions (parishes, dioceses, religious
congregations, Catholic Action groups) and in the roles and attitudes of workers
within those institutions. Richard Shaull compares two forms of Catholic lay
activism: Christian Democracy in Chile and the New Christian Left in Brazil. He
attributes the diminishing appeal of the former to its attempt to reshape society
through the imposition of a preconceived order. Similarly, he contends that
Marxism is also being repudiated in many areas precisely because it, too, is a
priori. Brazilian radicalism suffers from neither of these handicaps. By rejecting
ecclesiastical affiliation and by assuming a secular, pragmatic posture, it offers an
attractive alternative to Marxism as an instrument of social revolution.
Part IV concentrates on specialized sectors and internal structures. John
Kennedy surveys the legal status of the Church in Latin America and comments on
the meaning of the Vatican accords of 1964 and 1966 with Venezuela and
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Argentina. Cecilio de Lora Soria outlines the aims and activities of the Latin
American Episcopal Council (CELAM) in promoting international integration and
development. In the concluding essay Emanuel de Kadt traces the rise of Catholic
radicalism in Brazil, with major emphasis on the Catholic University Youth
Movement (JUC) and Popular Action (AP). It is worth noting that both of these
groups considered emancipation from Episcopal control a requisite condition of
effective action. This should have meaning for members of the hierarchy in other
countries (Landsberger, 1970).
5.3.3 Evaluation as a Development in Religious Research
The development of religious research, as this has occurred in home
missions departments of major denominations, is traced through a sample of
Church research documents. The early phase (from the 1920s to 1950) was
characterized by an interest in describing the Church as a social institution. An
implicit need of the researcher seemed to be the development of his stature within
the social science community. The development phase (1950s) was one in which
Church research needs were dictated by an institutional development philosophy
within denominations. An action research phase (1960s) was characterized by
increasing questioning of the effectiveness of programs and a need for a rational
basis for allocating resources. Implications of evaluative research for the Church
may include attempts at specific goal and objective setting for programs; a closer
working relationship between program developers, researchers, and clients, and
some efforts at interdisciplinary or interagency research work (Johnson, 1972).
3.5.4 Political Cohesion in Churches
The political cohesiveness of religious groups varies widely. Some
Churches develop an all-most complete identity with a political party or tendency
while others exhibit a high degree of political pluralism. This paper explores some
of the mechanisms that might account for the variability in political solidarity from
one Church to the next. On the basis of data from a survey of Protestant
congregations, we find that cohesiveness around the norm of moral conservatism is
associated with the same distinctive syndrome of traits that Dean Kelley has linked
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to Church growth and vitality. "Strong" Churches, defined by a combination of
theology, social practices, and demographic characteristics, apparently possess the
necessary resources to promote attitudinal conformity on some political issues
(Wald, Owen, & Hill, 1990).
3.5.5 Direct Democracy and the Puritan Theory of Membership
This essay explores the political implications of seventeenth century
American Congregationalism. The essay describes the Puritan theory of Church
membership and relates it to contemporary liberal and democratic notions of
citizenship. While the relationship of American Puritanism with liberalism has
been previously examined, few commentators have discussed the Puritan
connection with direct democracy. Here the author argues that he distinguishes
between the political theories of democracy and liberalism, and discovers that the
Puritans were "proto-democrats" in their advocacy of small, highly autonomous
participatory communities. The Puritan theory of covenanted Church membership
reveals the nature of citizenship in a direct democracy. "Universal membership" is
more characteristic of the large nation than it is of the small democratic community
because the latter places more power and responsibility in the hands of the voters,
and because a democracy is identified with its citizens rather than with its leaders
or agents (Miller, 1991)
3.5.6 The Social Teaching of the Church
John Desrochers’ “The Social Teaching of the Church” presents in a
comprehensive whole most of the social teachings of the Church: the papal
encyclicals from Leo XIII to John Paul II, the main statements of the World
Council of Churches from the Amsterdam Assembly to the post-Nairobi period and
the key reflections of the Vatican Council, the Pontifical Commission Justice and
Peace, the Catholic Episcopal Conferences of Latin America, Asia and India. With
his understanding, but critical approach, the author situates these documents in
their historical setting, lets them speak for themselves, and shows their deep and
manifold evolution. In a thought-provoking conclusion, he offers an overview of
the major insights already acquired, highlights the new developments and
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directions urgently needed, and tackles the burning issue of relevant action. This
book illustrates how the Christian faith can be meaningfully lived in today’s
pluralistic world and challenges all men and women of good will to build a more
just, participatory, fraternal and human world. (Desrochers, 1992)
3.5.7 Providing Culturally Relevant Mental Health Services: Collaboration between Psychology and the African American Church.
John E. Queener, Juanita K. Martin elaborately describes the role of Church
in the promotion of culturally relevant mental health services in their study
“Providing Culturally Relevant Mental Health Services: Collaboration between
Psychology and the African American Church”. Many African American
psychologists are concerned about the delivery of culturally relevant mental health
services to their community. Recognizing the limitations of traditional
psychotherapies and traditional mental health delivery systems, psychologists have
developed African-centered models of therapy that Emphasize spiritual
development. Using African-centered therapies as a conceptual framework, the
African American Counseling Team (AACT) was formed to overcome the
limitations of traditional mental health systems. AACT provides mental health
services to African Americans by integrating clinical assistance into a support
system (the African American Church) that, historically, African Americans have
trusted, embraced, and used for a variety of personal, social, and spiritual needs.
Specifically, AACT provides individual, group, and couples counseling. It offers
life skills workshops and consults with mental health and other organizations to
enhance the delivery of culturally relevant services by these organizations. The first
section presents the connection between African psychology and religion. The next
sections focus on barriers to and strategies for collaboration between psychologists
and the African American Church. The final section describes a model of
collaboration between psychologists and the African American Church. (Queener
& Martin, 2001)
3.5.8 Right Relation Revisited: Implications of Right Relation in the Practice of Church and Christian Perceptions of God
One of the famous feminist theologians Anne Spalding critically evaluates
some practices of Church in her article “Right Relation' Revisited: Implications of
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Right Relation in the practice of Church and Christian Perceptions of God”. The
idea of right relation embodies mutuality and personal autonomy. Disagreement,
anger, chaos, pain and helplessness are openly recognized within the community
rather than suppressed in order to maintain what is held in common. Right relation
has both personal and political benefits, and enables the promotion of love and
justice in Church and society. Sadly, right relation has often been far from the
practice of Church and, as a result, many Christian feminists have preferred to
build right relation outside the Church based on ideas of sisterhood and friendship.
This paper explores the possibilities for personal and political relationships both
within and beyond the Church. Since the practice of Church is inevitably connected
to our understanding of the divine, the paper also explores how the divine is being
art of right relation. (Spalding, 2001)
3.5.9 Africa's Churches Wake Up to Oil's Problems & Possibilities
Ian Gary critically evaluates the role of Catholic Church in Cameroon in
connection with the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline project in the article, “Africa's
Churches Wake Up to Oil's Problems & Possibilities”. Fr. Patrick Lafon, Secretary
General of the Catholic Church of Cameroon, argue that the Church would stick to
preach and minister its flock as a powerful social, political as well as a religious
institution in the country. But the Catholic Church in Cameroon, like sister
Catholic and Christian Churches in many countries across Africa, is not 'minding
its own business' when it comes to sometimes harmful impacts that oil exploitation
and development can have on African citizens. Indeed, it is speaking out in bold
new ways on the problems and possibilities of oil exploitation and the paradox of
pervasive poverty amidst massive mineral wealth. Fr. Lafon says that our advocacy
on the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline Project is part and parcel of preaching the gospel
of Jesus Christ (Gray, 2002).
3.5.10 Rural Development as a Frame Analytic Challenge for Religious Communities: The Case of Rural Parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.
Lori A Fox opines that the field of career guidance and development is
beginning to integrate individuals’ religion and spiritual beliefs and it seems the
Church as a source of career assistance. “Role of the Church in Career Guidance
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and Development: A Review of the Literature 1960-Early 2000s” review
professional literature, from 1960-early 2000s, is an essay regarding the role of the
Church in the United States in career guidance and development. The focus is on
vocational themes in relation to the Church, Church involvement in career
guidance and development programs, and recommendations for the role of the
Church in career guidance and development. The author came in to a conclusion
that over the past 40 years, the professional literature on this topic has declined.
The Church has made grassroots efforts at providing career guidance, but only
through improved communications of idea and program results will the Church
provide effective career programming on a larger scale. (Fox, 2003)
3.5.11 Taking the Sanctuary to the Streets: Religion, Race, and Community Development in Columbus, Ohio
This study,” Taking the Sanctuary to the Streets: Religion, Race, and
Community Development in Columbus, Ohio”, focuses on how institutional,
organizational, and political contexts construct the involvement of black Churches
in the politics of local community development. It is used a contextual theory of
politics to analyze how black urban Churches get involved in community
development issues and the specific contributions that such involvement makes.
Overall, contextual factors in Columbus presented an environment of exclusion, in
which blacks were locked out of mainstream avenues of participation and
representation. The study shows that despite a general context of exclusion from
Columbus mainstream politics, a group of black Baptist ministers have created a
strong organizational association used to share information, resources, and
expertise necessary to participate collectively in housing, welfare, and community
banking issues. The results of this study demonstrate the continuing relevance of
the black urban Church in helping to ameliorate inner-city problems associated
with community development. (Alex-Assensoh, 2004)23
3.5.12 The Black Church as a Social Welfare Institution: Union United Church and the Development of Montreal’s Black Community, 1907-1940
This article, The Black Church as a Social Welfare Institution: Union
United Church and the Development of Montreal’s Black Community, 1907-
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1940”, examines the role that Union United Church, the oldest Black Church in
Montreal, Quebec, played as a social welfare institution from 1907 to 1940 during
the establishment of the city’s Black community. The Union Church and its
affiliated Church groups played a significant role in the Black community. As a
social welfare institution, it provided the community members with basic
necessities, particularly during a downturn in the economy. Social, recreational,
and educational activities were organized through the Church to promote a sense of
community. Through its ministers, community members battled against the “Color
Line” that excluded members of the community from equitable employment and
educational opportunities. (Este, 2004)
3.5.13 Transformational Development on the Western Pacific Agenda? Aspects of Church, State and the Colonial Legacy in Papua New Guinea
In this article, the writer outlines the problems that face PNG, how various
aspects of Church, state and the former colonial power impact on its present and
future, and what an important role there is for the Church in PNG if only it were
able to disentangle itself from more than a century of paternalism and racism.
The failure of the patron cultures of the Australian political administration
and the mission societies to accept responsibility for the dependency culture they
have created, permeates much present thinking on their part, and has a major
influence on the development policy within both the donor state and the mission
societies.
The resultant new agenda is represented in two major ways. The first,
which is the basis for future aid relations between the Australian administration and
PNG, is the Enhanced Co-operation Package (ECP) described above.
The second is an AusAid initiative, the PNG Church Partnership Program
(PNGCPP). This program reflects the view that aid directed through Churches
produces far more cost effective outcomes than aid directed through beneficiary
governments. (Malone, 2005)
In this article the author emphatically proves that the Church is a stronger
agent of development than government.
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3.5.14 The Role of the Roman Catholic Church in the Service Provision of Education in Slovenia and Hungary
The author presents a comparative analysis of the development of the
countries, Slovenia and Hungary in this study “The Role of the Roman Catholic
Church in the Service Provision of Education in Slovenia and Hungary “. The
analysis shows that there are important differences between the countries in the
education policies as they relate to denominational educational institutions, and
how these institutions are embedded in the education system. This is manifested in
different models of the relations between government and denominational
educational institutions.
The article examines the development of the role of the Roman Catholic
Church as a service provider in education in Slovenia and Hungary during the first
decade of the transition period from 1990 until 2000. In European countries,
different state policies towards denominational educational institutions exist, and
post-socialist states are no exception. Therefore, the approach will describe and
attempt to explain both the similarities and differences between the countries
relating to the following questions: What kind of government policy developed
around this set of institutions? What is the current role of denominational
educational institutions in the education system? How extensive was the
development of denominational educational institutions? (Rakar, 2005)
3.5.15 Are Church and State Substitutes? Evidence from the 1996 Welfare Reform
Churches provide community services similar to those provided by the
governments, but there has been no convincing analysis of the extent to which
Church activity can substitute for government activity. To address this important
issue, this paper uses a new panel data set of Presbyterian Church (USA)
congregations to regress both Church –member donations and a Church’s
community spending on a number of variables, including government welfare
expenditure. A provision of the 1996 welfare law that decreased the availability
and use of welfare services by non-citizens serves as an instrument to identify the
causal effect of government spending on Church activity. The results show that
Church activities substitute. (Hungeman, 2005).
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3.5.16 Churches and Social Development: A South African Perspective
‘Religious institutions do much more than connect people to God – they
connect people to one another24.’
The advantages offered by social development compared with material aid
to deal with the hardships of poverty have been highlighted. The inference is that
the actions taken by Churches concerning social development present positive
signals for changing mindsets towards new ways of helping poor and needy
communities. The article, “Churches and social development: A South African
perspective”, has tried to show the approaches necessary for participants in social
development to become significant players in the transformation process in the
country. This can be achieved by harnessing resources, including the dogma of
caring, inherent in most Faith Based Organizations ( FBOs). Churches and FBOs in
South Africa face the inescapable responsibility and challenge to undertake
substantive and sustainable social development programs25. (Nieman, 2006)
3.5.17 Catholic and Non-Catholic NGOs Fighting HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa: Issue Framing and Collaboration
According to Lisa L. Ferrari, in her study “Catholic and Non-Catholic
NGOs Fighting HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa: Issue Framing and
Collaboration”, governments in sub-Saharan Africa work to provide in-country
relief for the HIV/AIDS crisis, much health care and infrastructure comes from
local or international non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The literature on
NGOs suggests that collaboration increases their efficacy. Many non-Catholic
NGOs do not work collaboratively with Catholic NGOs on HIV/ AIDS, though the
Catholic Church has rich and varied resources at its disposal for relief work.
Observers often characterize the incompatibility of Catholic and non-Catholic
NGOs as tactical, especially with regard to condom use. However, divergent issue
framing is a critical and more fundamental distinction between the two groups.
Contrasting the Catholic Church’s unique spiritual frame with the scientific frame
of many non-Catholic NGOs highlights the epistemological and teleological
differences between the two. Reconciling these differing approaches, or finding
ways to cooperate despite them, is a key element of promoting broader NGO
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collaboration on HIV/AIDS relief work. This theoretical analysis suggests
directions for future empirical research. (Ferrari, 2006)
3.5.18 Rural Development as a Frame Analytic Challenge for Religious Communities: The Case of Rural Parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.
This article examines how the congregational employees deal with the
potential tension and view the role of parishes, on one hand, as rural actors, and, on
the other, as religious actors. (Pesonen & Vesala, 2007). In many parts of the
European countryside religious communities are facing serious challenges caused
by changing social structures. This is also the case with the Finnish Evangelical
Lutheran parishes that are in many ways affected by migration from the
countryside to city areas. This development has increased pressures on the Church
and its parishes to take a stand in favor of rural development policies and to
contribute to the attempts to maintain and enhance the capability of rural areas.
This kind of involvement is by no means self-evident because the Church has
traditionally occupied a neutral and guarded position in relation to political
questions.
3.5.19 Money, Sex and Religion: The Case of the Church of Scotland
This empirical study addresses whether the gender of a minister has any
effect on remuneration in the Church of Scotland in 2004. The data set merges
three cross-sectional sources, namely denominational data, Church census
information and local geographic characteristics. We find that male ministers are
more likely to be matched to affluent Churches permitted to pay a voluntary
stipend premium all else equal. Moreover, conditional on eligibility, there is
evidence that male clergy are more likely to receive this bonus. The data are unable
to discriminate between demand and supply side explanations of these findings
(Smith, Sawkins, & Mochrie, 2007).
3.5.20 The Role of Protestantism in Democratic Consolidation among Transitional States
Rollin F. Tusalem, in his study, “the role of Protestantism in democratic
consolidation among transitional states”, argued that, historically, Protestantism has
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also been linked to generating a political culture that promotes individualism,
tolerance, the pluralism of ideas, and civic associationalism. Recent empirical
evidence also shows how Protestant countries are more likely to be democratic
compared to largely Islamic and Catholic states. Drawing from established cultural
theories, the author empirically tests the argument whether or not transitional states
with larger Protestant populations are more likely to strengthen their democracies.
Findings indicate that transitional states that have higher Protestant populations are
more likely to have higher levels of voice and accountability, political stability,
citizenship empowerment, and civil society pluralism. The author contends that
transitional states with higher Protestant populations are more likely to consolidate
their democracies. In other words, Protestantism in transitional states has facilitated
higher levels of mass public support and commitment to democracy both in
principle and in practice. He indicated some previous studies which have
examined the causal link between Protestantism and democratization, primarily in
shaping a nation-state’s cultural ethos and its tendency to affect the outcome of
democratic politics. (Tusalem, 2009)
3.5.21 Churches as a Stock of Social Capital for Promoting Social Development in Western Cape Communities
This article present a perspective on the manner and extent to which
Churches may be considered as an important stock of social capital for promoting
social development outcomes in selected communities in the Western Cape, South
Africa. Taking the recently presented policy outline on social capital formation in
this province as the contextual framework for analysis and reflection, the results of
recently executed demographic and socio-empirical research are utilized in
particular to advance a perspective on Churches. It is argued in conclusion that
Churches and other faith-based organizations in the researched communities have
an important strategic significance for a social capital formation agenda, despite
their apparent lack of progressive social praxis. Their comparative advantage over
other institutions, the considerable levels of trust invested in them and the manner
in which they inspire activities of voluntary outreach, caring and social service are
highlighted as special features of the Churches (Swart, Churches as a Stock of
Social Capital for Promoting Social Development in Western Cape Communities.)
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3.5.22 Poverty and Morality: Religious and Secular Perspectives
This book explores how ‘great moral traditions, secular and religious,
Western and non-Western, wrestle with basic questions about poverty and the
poor’ based on an assumption that ‘addressing poverty across – not just within –
national boundaries requires a better understanding of the variegated intellectual
and religious traditions that have shaped our global civilization’ (p. 14). The
introductory chapter provides a comprehensively referenced introduction to the
‘foundational issues’, including conceptions of self and society, human nature and
the good life; moral obligations to individuals and groups; distinctions between the
deserving and undeserving poor; the links between gender and poverty; whether
poverty is regarded as a moral challenge that must be addressed; the status of
human rights; and the responsibilities of governments. They stress that the
contributions discuss ethical or normative theories and ‘provide a sense of the
contemporary status and the historical development of ethical and moral
approaches to poverty and the poor’ to enable both comparison between and an
appreciation of differences within traditions.
The first chapter, by Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, who was Director of the UNDP’s
program for producing the annual Human Development Report between 1995 and
2004, is empirical: it provides an overview of contemporary trends and issues in
global poverty and unequal development. It is followed by 11 chapters on
particular ethical, moral, religious and philosophical traditions: Buddhism,
Christianity, classical liberalism, Confucianism, feminism, Hinduism, Islam,
Judaism, liberal egalitarianism, Marxism, and natural law. Michael Walzer’s
afterword sets up a series of polar opposites (such as voluntary–involuntary,
deserving– undeserving, alleviation–abolition, private–public, and particular–
universal) as a framework for a brief comparison of those traditions.
This book has an important aim and many of the expositions of the
normative thinking associated with various religious and secular philosophical and
moral traditions will be useful to those concerned with poverty and inequality in
poor countries, especially the chapters on Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam, and
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parts of those on liberal egalitarianism and natural law. (Galston & Hiffenberg,
2010)
3.5.23 Religion, Community and Development
Religion, Community and Development is a newly published book edited
by Gurpreet Mahajan and Surinder S. Jodhka. In the editor’s note it is described
that, “social science research and popular discourse in ‘religion and public life’
have gradually moved away from binaries such as communal-secular, tradition-
modern, or community-individual. It is now widely recognized that religion and
cultural traditions do not simply disappear from public life with economic
development. This book contains 14 articles. The sixth and seventh articles in this
book are in relation with Christianity. Rudolf C. Heredia’s, “Development as
Liberation: An Indian Christian Perspective” takes a quick look at the trajectory of
Christianity in India in order to understand the idea of development as it has
emerged and evolved within the community and the religious tradition. In this
perspective this article analyses and addresses the issue of development and the
Christian community (Heredia, 2010). Rowena Robinson, in the article, “Indian
Christians: Trajectories of Development” attempt to use the data available to
construct a picture of the socio-economic development of Indian Christians. The
author argues that the Christians appear to do better than some other communities,
for instance Muslims or OBC Hindus, in the areas of literacy, education,
employment and the like, though they constitute only about 2.3 per cent of the
Indian population (Robinson R. , 2010).
3.5.24 Some Other Important Studies
Some other important studies are David E. Mutchler’s, “The Church as a
Political Factor in Latin America: With Particular Reference to Colombia and
Chile”. This study explains the role of the Church as a political factor especially
within the Latin American context (Mutchler, 1971).
Flavia Agnes presents the background history, need and present arguments
about divorce laws. She argues that the current public debate prompted the bill
aimed at reforming divorce laws has been silent on important issues. She explains
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the demands put forward by the Church for incorporation of the new bill which
could affect women’s rights. (Agnes, 2000)
Prakash Louis presents the present day issues of Dalit Christians in his article
“Dalit Christians: Betrayed by State and Church”. He explains elaborately the doubly
miserable situation of Dalits faced by the Church and the state (Louis, 2007).
A journey through the articles, writings and books, such as, ‘Religion,
Revolution and Reform: New Forces for Change in Latin America’ (D'Antonio &
Pike, 1964), ‘Christian Understanding and Concern for Development’ (Chandran,
1970), ‘Christian Involvement in Development’ (Fernandez, 1970), ‘Ethos of
Development in India and the role of Religion’ (Dietrich, 1972), ‘Development
and Mission’ (Ukur, 1974), ‘Solidarity with the Poor: The Role of the Church in
the Conflict over Development’ (Linneribrink, 1975), Development: Priorities and
Guidelines’ (Parmar S. L., 1975), Development in the 70s: Seven Proposals’
(Pronk, 1975), ‘Religion and Human Development’ (Diwakar, 1978), ‘The
Christian call for Revolution and Development’ (Vineeth, 1978), ‘The Ruling
Trinity: A Community Study of Church, State and Business in Ireland’ (Eipper,
1986), ‘Liberation, Solidarity, Development’ (Thampy, 1981), ‘Mar Thoma
Development Projects’ (Alexander, 1991), ‘Christian Theology and Development’
(Robinson, 1994), ‘Evangelical Church and the Development of Neo-liberal
Society: A Study of the role of the Church and its NGOs in Gautimala and
Honduras’ (Hoksbergen, 1997), ‘Influence of Local Church Participation on Rural
Community Attachment’ (Liu, Qiaoming, & et.al, 1998), ‘Our Earth, Our Future:
Towards a Sustainable Ecological Development, A Challenge to the Churches”
(Stanley, 1999), ‘Missionary Contributions to the Literary and Social Development
in India 17th and 18th Centuries’ (Kingston, 2003) ‘ Church and Social
Development in a Tribal State of North East India: A Case Study of Mizoram’
(2006 Mphil thesis),‘Contributions of the Syro-Malabar Priests to the Socio-
economic Development of Kerala’ (Kuriedath, 2010), will help any reader to
understand the theological position of the Church towards development and the
involvement of Churches in development activities in its width and depth.
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3:6 Importance of the Present Study
A number of studies have been conducted and published on the theme of
‘Church and development’. These studies have mainly focused on the role of
Church in development activities either in theoretical, philosophical formulation or
in its practical involvement in different realms. But this study is about ‘Church as
an agent of development: A case study of the Mar Thoma Church’. This study has
three parts. In the first part the researcher assess the awareness level of the
members of the Church. The perception of the Church members about the Church’s
involvement in the promotion of development ideas is evaluated in the second part.
The third part of the study, which is the exploratory part, tries to find out the
practice level of the members on development concepts, especially in the three
issues of water preservation, agriculture and waste disposal. It is the self-evaluation
process which is more helpful to identify and correct the unscientific practices on
development issues. The three-fold pattern of this study differs from the earlier
studies and can be regarded as a pioneering work in this area.
3:7 Summing up
This chapter is mainly divided into three sections and each section provides
elaborate literature to understand the subject of the thesis, its theoretical frame,
recent discussions, and the previous studies. The theoretical background analyses
the evolution and growth of modern development economics. The discussion
which extends from the pre-classical beginning to recent developments is a lengthy
journey through classical economics, the Neo-classical interlude, dynamic analysis,
Keynesian growth theory, development economics and its recent developments.
The discussion of the development economics consists of four theories and its
varied forms such as, the linear-stages-of-growth model, theories and patterns of
structural change, the international- dependence revolution, the Neo-classical, free-
market Counter-revolution etc. The second and third sections elaborately discuss
the summary of UNDP Reports since 1990 and the previous studies. This chapter
concludes with mentioning the importance and relevance of the present study.
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Endnote
1 This is the central theme of the Heraclitean philosophy- the reality of change, the
impermanence of being, and the inconsistency of everything but change itself”.
2 According to Malinowski,” culture is cumulative and handy works of man.”(cited,
in Shankar Rao).
3 (Pieterse, 2001)
4 (Todaro, 1993)
5 (Peet & Hartwick, 2005)
6 (Foucault, 1972)
7 Every commodity had a true, absolute value. True value was determined by common
estimation of the cost of production, which usually meant the amount of labor
contained in a product. There was concern also that the price set by the market for a
commodity should be just and equitable, a concern that went back to the Greek
philosopher Aristotle, if not to earlier thinkers.
8 See the philosophical statement of Rene Descartes "Cogito ergo sum" (English: I
think, therefore I am), found in part IV of Discourse on the Method (1637 – written
in French and part I of Principles of Philosophy, 1644 – written in Latin). It is
considered as the foundation of the theories of modernity. (http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Ren% C3%A9_Descartes, Retrieved on 02.01.2013
9 In the late middle Ages in Europe the notion began to emerge of labor as the virtuous
source of wealth , where as Augustinian Christianity defined work as punishment
for Adam’s disobedience of God. The most radical version of this new idea is
associated with the sixteenth century Protestants. According to Martin Luther (1483-
1546), God might grant gifts to humans, but people had to lend a hand by working-
people had to give God a mask behind which he could act.
10 To achieve this favorable balance, trade was controlled by the state. In an early
statement about economic growth the mercantilist Philipp von Hornick said: “Gold
and silver once in the country…are under no circumstances to be taken out…but
must always remain in circulation… Under these conditions, it will be impossible for
a country that has once acquired a considerable supply of cash…ever to sink into
poverty; indeed it is impossible that it should not continually increase in wealth and
property.” (von Hornick, 1961)
11 The idea of free markets was based on a number of principles: potential harmony
between individual self-interest and the public interest without state intervention; the
equilibrating tendencies of the forces of supply and demand in free markets; the
119
achievement of higher productivity through specialization and the division of labor;
and, most importantly, the ability of the market to yield natural or even just prices.
12 Neoclassical economic harmony was disturbed by the critical institutional economist
Thorstein Veblen. Veblen differentiated between the rational, technical aspects of
modern, mechanized production and the business and entrepreneurial aspects. …
Rather than class conflict creating the dynamic of capitalist history, Veblen
emphasized conflicts between three cultural tendencies: the machine process,
business enterprise, and warlike or predatory beliefs. Business enterprise, he thought,
would eventually fail and the future system would either involve domination by
engineers or reversion to archaic absolutism under military domination. Veblen
reversed the arguments of neoclassicism.
13 (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071127153323AAuQ0CC)
14 (http://marriottschool.net/emp/WPW/pdf/class/Class_6-
The_Dependency_Perspective.pdf)
15 We can see the replica within all developing countries, socially and economically
upper class; knowingly or unknowingly perpetuate the international capitalist system
of inequality and conformity by which they are rewarded.
16 Theotonio Dos Santos, ‘The crisis of development theory and the problem of
dependence in Latin America’, see also, Pope John Paul II in his widely quoted 1988
encyclical letter Sollicitude rei socialis, in which he declared: “One must denounce
the existence of economic, financial, and social mechanisms which, although they
are manipulated by people, often function almost automatically, thus accentuating
the situation of wealth for some and poverty for the rest. These mechanisms, which
are maneuvered directly or indirectly by the more developed countries, by their very
functioning, favor the interests of the people manipulating them. But in the end they
suffocate or condition the economies of the less developed countries.”
17 (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_The_false_paradigm_model)
18 Lord Peter Bauer, Deepak Lal, Ian Little, Harry Johnson, Bela Belassa, Jagdish
Bhagawati, and Anne Krueger, argue that it is this very state intervention in
economic activity that slows the pace of economic growth.
19 (http://maeconomics.webs.com/Economics_of_Planning/models_of_economic _
growth.htm)
20 The richest 20% of the world's people are at least 150 times richer than the poorest
20% (UNDP, 1992).
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21 All nations were committed to meet in1995 at a World Summit on Social
Development. It was a chance to focus on the building blocks for a new people-
centered world order. It was a time to agree on a concrete agenda of national and
global actions. That agenda was the theme of the 1994 Human Development Report
(UNDP, 1993).
22 (Behind the blaring headlines of the World’s many conflicts and emergencies, there
lies a silent crisis- a crisis of underdevelopment, of global poverty, of ever-mounting
population pressures, of thoughtless degradation of environment. This is not a crisis
that will respond to emergency relief or to fitful policy interventions. It requires a
long, quiet process of sustainable human development.)
23 Yvette Alex-Assensoh is an associate professor of political science at Indiana
University in Bloomington. She conducts studies in the areas of political behavior,
racial/ ethnic politics, and urban politics and has received funding support from
several agencies, including the National Science Foundation, Spencer Foundation,
National Academy of Education, and Council for the International Exchange of
Scholars. Her published books include Neighborhoods, Family and Political
Behavior in Urban America (1998), Black and Multiracial Politics in America
(2000), and African Military History and Politics (2001).
24 See, Zuckerman, P. (2002) ‘The Sociology of Religion of W.E.B. du Bois’,
Sociology of Religion 63(2): 239–54.
25 The article initially deals with three issues considered as critical in social
development endeavors. First, the dire needs presented by poverty and inequality
necessitate that a case be made for embracing social development. The second is
empowerment, because it should be seen as an integral part of social development;
and third, organizations should work together by collaborating. The article further
describes initiatives by religious bodies and groupings worldwide, as well as in
South Africa, to establish links and dialogue between different religions and social
development movements. It ends with a brief account of a study showing that
Church membership and spirituality represent strengths to tap into for social and
community workers. Thus, the article aims to show that social development provides
a tool with which Churches, by taking cognizance of important key elements and
strategies can help build bridges to overcome the chasm of poverty and
underdevelopment in the country.