‘Sustainable development’ and the environment

The Sociology of Modernization and Development. By David Harrison. London: Unwin Hyman, 1988. Pp.xvi + 196 £30 and £10.95. ISBN 0 04 301220 5 and 301221 3.

Theories of Development: Capitalism, Colonialism and Dependency. By Jorge Larrain. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1989. Pp.ix + 252. £29.50 and £8.95. ISBN 07456 0710 1 and 0711 X.

The Globalisation of High Technology Production: Society Space and Semiconductors in the Restructuring of the Modern World. By Jeffrey Henderson. London: Routledge, 1989. Pp.xxiii + 198 £30. ISBN 0 415 03139 7.

Conflict Resolution in Uganda. Edited by Kumar Rupesinghe. Oslo: International Peace Research Institute (Peace Research Monograph No.16), 1989. Pp.307. £25 (hardback), £9.95 (paperback). ISBN 0 85255 334 X and 333 1.

Growing Out of Debt. By Adrian Hewitt and Bowen Wells. Nottingham: Russell Press for the Overseas Development Institute for the All Party Parliamentary Group on Overseas Development. Pp.83. £4.95 (paperback). ISBN 0 85003 1214.

Oil in the World Economy. Edited by R.W. Ferrier and A. Fursenko. London: Routledge, 1989. Pp.xii + 113. £35. ISBN 0 415 00379 2.

Industrial Adjustment in Sub‐Saharan Africa. Edited by Gerald M. Meier and William F. Steel. Oxford: Oxford University Press for the World Bank, 1989. Pp. xvi + 293. £22.50. ISBN 0 19 520784 X.

Farm Implements for Small‐scale Farmers in Tanzania. By Bjorn Mothander, Finn Kjaerby and Kjell Havnevik. Uppsala: The Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, 1989. Pp.214. SEK 120. ISBN 91 7106 290 4.

Urban Poverty and the Labour Market: Access to Jobs and Incomes in Asian and Latin American Cities. Edited by Gerry Rodgers. Geneva: International Labour Office, 1989. Pp.xv + 257. Sw. frs. 35. ISBN 92 2 106499 9 and 106500 6.     

The ‘Crisis’ in political development theory

The authors argue that high borrowing costs discourage many rural poor in low income countries from using formal loans. Borrowing costs are defined as nominal interest payments, plus borrower loan transaction costs, plus changes in the purchasing power of money. Farm level information from Bangladesh, Brazil and Colombia is presented to show that small borrowers incur substantially higher borrowing costs on formal loans than do large borrowers. It is suggested that higher nominal interest rates may induce lenders to reduce overall borrowing costs for the small and new borrower.     

Overcoming Secularism? Catholic development geographies in Timor-Leste

Abstract

The Catholic Church has played a key role in the development of Timor-Leste since Dominican friars first began trading with the Timorese in the 16th century. Religious networks and spaces have been essential in delivering development services, while Catholic theologies have shaped how development is pursued and understood. In this paper we outline the changing contribution and character of the Catholic Church through three periods of Timor's tumultuous history—during colonialism, under Indonesian occupation and through independence—with a greater focus on the latter stages. We present the Timorese Church as a heterogeneous organisation that responds in both progressive and conservative ways to the socio-political contexts in which it is embedded. Our aim is to highlight the diverse religious development geographies that exist in Timor-Leste but which are marginalised within contemporary development planning and policy. Drawing upon post-development theory and performative research, we encourage debate about the role of religious institutions in inspiring ‘alternatives-to-development’.     

Women’s work and development in Latin America

The discussion explores the problem of women's employment patterns under capitalist development in Latin America, first by analyzing the way in which women's work has been conceptualized within modernization theory. It then goes on to examine the 2 types of work in which most Latin American women are engaged -- domestic service and informal work such as selling produce and taking in laundry -- to provide evidence for challenging modernization theory and for developing a more useful approach. Subsequently, the discussion considers women's domestic and informal work within the context of capitalist development, which provides some insight into the broader structures shaping women's employment. Finally, the discussion proposes some reconceptualizations of women's work and development. Modernization theorists analyze women's work in the cities within a variety of constructs, interpreting it as a backward manifestation of traditional society, a reflection of women's inadequate training for the modern sector, an indication of women's primary orientation to the family, or as a phenomenon that is too tangential to warrant examination. The primary assumption is that modernization improves women's status and the conditions of their lives as it brings greater productivity, more advanced technology, and more highly differentiated institutions. Assumptions concerning women's absorption into the modern sector and the equalization of work roles between men and women are not borne out by actual employment trends, which reveal the persistent concentration of women in domestic work, informal jobs, and the lower-paying service jobs. Despite their predominance, domestic service and informal jobs are infrequently included in employment statistics and are virtually ignored in studies of development, yet these 2 types of work are the primary forms of work for Latin American women. Even when modernization theorists recognize the proliferation of informal and domestic service jobs, they see it as part of a progressive development stage, with displaced rural laborers becoming incorporated into the modern sector by way of informal jobs. In most Latin American countries, rural women become a permanent part of the services and the informal labor market when they move to the cities. There is little sign of their transition to industrial employment. In general, capitalist development marginalizes Latin American women, who in several important ways lose status. The range of pursuits considered women's work should include their activities within the infromal labor sector. Informal work is still virtually unexplored, especially as it relates to wage work in underdeveloped countries. Informal labor is not registered in the census, nor is it included in the gross national product. Yet, it is a major component of women's work. Domestic service and infromal jobs should be seen in relation to other forms of labor and to total social production.     

Modernization theory and the sociological study of development∗

The focus of this article is methodological and macro‐sociological. Its purpose is to disentangle some of the issues which arise in the sociology of development, and to question the assumptions and implications of a particular mode of conceptualization based on the notions of modernity and modernization which has provided the characteristic theoretical framework of the sociology of development. The principal assumptions of modernization theory as understood here—often enough made explicit by those who use this approach—are (1) that modernization is a total social process associated with (or subsuming) economic development in terms of the preconditions, concomitants, and consequences of the latter; (2) that this process constitutes a ‘universal pattern’. Obviously among various writers there are differences of emphasis with respect to the meaning of modernization, partly due to its relationship with—or derivation from—that most contentious concept ‘development’. For Lerner modernization is ‘the social process of which development is the economic component’ (Lerner, 1967, p. 21); while Apter sees development, modernization and industrialization as terms of decreasing conceptual generality (Apter, 1967, pp. 67–9). Some writers stress structural aspects while for others ‘the concept of modernization has to do with a transformation of culture and of personality in so far as it is influenced by culture, rather than of some aspect of social organization or of human ecology’ (Stephen‐son, 1968, p. 265). It is hoped that the following discussion is both specific enough to convey the essential aspects of the type of theory under review, and flexible enough to allow for some of the variants on the basic theme in what is a highly condensed survey of a substantial body of literature.1 The critical approach adopted reflects certain ideas about societies and hence the questions social scientists should ask; these preoccupations cannot be discussed fully within present limits but are indicated in the suggestions contained in the concluding section. The first section serves to outline the context in which the concept of development studies arose. This is followed by a schematic outline of the central concepts and conceptual procedures of the sociology of development, and more specifically of modernization theory, which are then criticized on a number of counts. These criticisms lead on to an argument for the use of a historical perspective—moreover, one which results in a re‐examination of the concept of underdevelopment, relating it to the expansion of Western capitalism and the effects of this process on the diverse indigenous societies of what is now called the Third World. The relationships of dependence and exploitation created by the process are exemplified in the colonial situation as narrowly defined though this is by no means the only situation characterized by such relationships. This perspective, developed in the work of certain political economists, can serve as the basis of a sociological approach which would prove more fruitful both in understanding the nature of underdevelopment itself, and in assessing the range of possibilities of development in the Third World, than that generally employed in the sociology of development at present.     

When ‘development’ devastates: donor discourses,access to hiv/aids treatment in Africa and rethinking the landscape of development

If globalisation is the mighty tremor shaking the landscape of the ‘project of development’, then, in certain regions of the world, hiv/aids is surely its epicentre. Nonetheless, for all the burden of the disease, Western donor policy on hiv/aids still remains largely silent about the provision of anti-retroviral treatment. This paper seeks explanations for this pervasive medical neglect and donor preference for prevention programmes over treatment. The postcolonial approach taken in the paper is to regard donor policy on hiv/aids—as illustrated by the UK's Department for International Development and the Norwegian Agency for Development Co-operation—as cultural and political exchanges framed by prevailing representations of Africa. The different ‘logics’ which skew policies towards prevention are identified. For donors and African states alike, hiv/aids policies—like development interventions more generally—would benefit immensely by foregrounding the human right to health, including, critically, promoting treatment within a genuine ‘prevention–care–treatment’ policy continuum.     

Conditions of non‐development: The case of Lesotho

A peculiar combination of social and economic factors entailed by the proximity of South Africa creates, for Lesotho, a syndrome of non‐development that may usefully be visualised as a vicious circle in three parts—Poverty, Migration, Ideology—and is so described here. It is the purpose of this paper to demonstrate that the economic facts of village life in Lesotho (and in countries with certain characteristics in common with Lesotho) are perpetuated by their effect on the individual villager. The analysis enters a caveat to the theory of ‘aspiration effect’ [Firth and Yamey, 1963], extends the concept of frustration gap’ [McLoughlin, 1970] and adds a dimension to the cognitive map of migrant ideology [Philpott 1968].     

Capabilities,well‐being and human development: A survey

Economists have moved away from thinking of development in terms of growth of per capita GNP. The most influential alternative conception of development ‐ due to Amartya Sen ‐ involves judging the quality of life in terms of capabilities and viewing development as a ‘capability expansion’. This article argues that Sen's approach is an inadequate account of development. It is further argued that other versions of the approach ‐ involving the work of Nussbaum and Frankfurt ‐ also fail. The most promising foundation for an account of human development derives from James Griffin's recent writings on well‐being.     

Beyond budgetary support: pro‐poor development agendas for Africa

The latest fashion in a sequence of global interventions by donors, designed to make a difference to the lives of poor people, is the use of budgetary support mechanisms. These have emerged afresh at the start of the twenty‐first century as the increasingly dominant mode of desired aid delivery for many donors in the African context. However, this paper argues that such an approach to ‘development’, particularly when combined with an understanding of poverty largely as an absolute concept that can be eliminated through economic growth, will have damaging effects on the lives of the poor and marginalised across the continent. The time is ripe for a new global agenda that seeks to place as much emphasis on equity as it does on economic growth.     

The role of urban‐to‐rural remittances in rural development

One of the effects of rural‐to‐urban migration is the return of money and resources by the migrants to their respective home areas. Recently, it has been argued by several authors that such remittances represent a significant means for removing supply constraints to improved productivity in agriculture. In this paper the authors examine critically the available evidence on the rural impact of remittances. Subjects covered in the paper include the extent of the urban‐to‐rural remittances, the determinants of such financial flows and the use made in the rural areas of the money received. The paper concludes there is little evidence that urban‐rural remittances have been a significant means to rural economic development.     

Marketing Development: celebrity politics and the ‘new’ development advocacy

Politics and culture, once considered separate, are now fusing in new and interesting ways. Political activism is becoming popular, particularly through the expansion of a new kind of development advocacy made highly visible through celebrity involvement. Theorists of globalisation celebrate the democratisation of civil society made possible by new information and communications technology; critical theorists will note the various ways in which ict ambivalently makes the contradictions in global capitalism more obvious and has become the means by which globalisation is contested. Some metropolitan governments have sought to capitalise on this new knowledge economy by making knowledge for development part of their strategies to produce ‘global citizens’ necessary for the global economy. This paper examines the linkages between celebrity and government-funded development advocacy in Australia, which comprise the introduction of free market principles to form a marketing campaign for neoliberal globalisation.     

Putting the ‘rights‐based approach’ to development into perspective

This paper seeks to unravel some of the tangled threads of contemporary rights talk. For some, the grounding of rights‐based approaches in human rights legislation makes them distinctively different to others, lending the promise of re‐politicising areas of development work—particularly, perhaps, efforts to enhance participation in development, that have become domesticated as they have been ‘mainstreamed’ by powerful institutions like the World Bank. Others complain that like other fashions, the label ‘rights‐based approach’ has become the latest designer item to be seen to be wearing, and has been used to dress up the same old development. We pose a series of questions about why rights have come to be of interest to international development actors, and explore the implications of different versions and emphases, looking at what their strengths and shortcomings may come to mean for the politics and practice of development.     

Improving organisational performance—some thoughts on the role of management development

This article addresses the issue of local citizenship in the context of shifting urban structures. Drawing on the literature on modes of responses to local public policy based on Hirschman's (1970) model of Exit, Voice and Loyalty, the study offers the concept of urban civic worlds as an explanatory concept for local citizenship behavioural manifestations. The hypotheses regarding urban civic worlds are tested in a survey in the city of Tel Aviv. Eight types of urban civic worlds are examined. The implications of the multiplicity of urban civic world on the governance in localities is discussed.     

The Mexican political system: A case‐study in political development

I report a remarkable finding, that regulatory authorities, who have no a priori knowledge of Rabin’s 1993 fairness axioms (associated with a very specific utility function), have always proposed legal fares in the auto-rickshaw (three-wheeler) market in New Delhi that satisfy them. Regulated fares are ignored by auto–rickshaw drivers and customers. They bargain on prices among themselves. Newly announced fare hikes are effective enough to ensure the prevalence of legal uniform (non-negotiated) prices for a considerable amount of time. I suggest that the two of the most recent hikes have satisfied Rabin’s fairness axioms. The results, I report, are robust to different cooperative games of bargaining.     

Misrecognitions and missed opportunities: post‐structuralism and the practice of development

Over the past 20 years post‐structuralist scholars have produced critiques of the field of development. In some circles it is now quite broadly accepted that this approach is futile and that we ought to move into a ‘post‐discourse’ era. By way of counterpoint, this paper argues that such exchanges are based on misrecognitions whose acceptance forecloses possibilities that both critics and their detractors would welcome. The paper is broken into two sections. The first engages problems ascribed to post‐structuralist critiques that seem to have been particularly successful in discouraging further engagement. The second explores three aspects of a single moment of post‐structuralist thought that have been obscured by current debate. Engaging these aspects, while bringing difficulties of its own, may secure conditions necessary for the emergence of the sorts of partnerships often claimed as necessary both by developers and by their post‐structuralist critics.     

Second‐hand machinery in development,or how to recognize a bargain

In the literature on economic development and planning, much is made of the problem of ‘choice of technique'—choosing either capital or labour intensive techniques. In this paper the focus is on another aspect of this problem—the choice among capital inputs, the selection of new or second‐hand equipment. As much of the investment in the less developed countries depends on imported machinery, the problem becomes that of making the most efficient use of foreign exchange. The question is relevant as a number of developing countries have imposed prohibitions on the importation of used machinery.

First we examine the theoretical implications of the availability of both new and used machines for the production possibilities and the effects of various trade policies on the selection of production technique. Integrating this question of new versus used machines with investment criteria, we then examine situations in which used machinery might be preferable to new.     

Turkish economic development: The first five year plan, 1963–67

This article evaluates the effectiveness of Turkey's First Five Year Development Plan (1963–67) in achieving both its domestic and its international objectives.

A target of 7 per cent for the G.N.P. growth rate was nearly achieved, but individual sectors diverged from the plan. Agricultural and manufacturing output increased only about three‐quarters as fast as planned, while the construction and service industries exceeded the planned rate. In agriculture, neither new investment nor, more important, the dissemination of new techniques proceeded as rapidly as expected. Insufficient amounts of well‐organized investment projects, foreign exchange, and domestic savings (especially in the public sector) impeded the full achievement of the desired manufacturing capacity. In addition to failing to raise public revenue as much as planned, the principal shortcomings in policy formulation and execution were an overvalued currency which necessitated exchange controls and distorted the allocation of resources, the continued reliance on price regulation, and the failure to reform adequately the State Economic Enterprises. Reliance on foreign aid was reduced, but more aid will still be required before sustained growth is achieved.

In spite of these shortcomings, substantial progress was accomplished during the First Plan without the inflationary pressures and other imbalances which characterized the 1950s. However, Turkey could be developed more rapidly if more appropriate policies were followed.     

Small business in Russia—factors that slowed its development: an analysis

In Russia the growth of small business has been much slower compared with the leading transition countries (Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary). In Poland, and to a lesser degree in the Czech Republic and Hungary, this sector has been the engine of the economic recovery. A natural question is why Russia differs. Apart from the fact that in contrast to these countries Russia does not have an entrepreneurial tradition and has experienced communist rule longer what is especially distinctive about Russia has been the strong influence of interest groups during the transition process which favoured the allocation of entrepreneurship to largely unproductive activities.