International Development (2022-2023)
Study guide including summaries of all the required readings and lecture notes on all
lectures (Total: 72 pages)
Content:
Lecture 1: Introduction: What is development?
Lecture 2: Geography
Lecture 3: Institutions
Lecture 4: The role of the state
Lecture 5: Culture and History
Lecture 6: Why good policies aren’t implemented
Lecture 7: Does aid do more harm than good?
Lecture 8: Distortions for votes: clientelism and corruption
Lecture 9: Resistance: vested interests and identities
Lecture 10: Accountability
Lecture 11: Collective action
Lecture 12: Representation
Lecture 13: Leadership and coalitions
,Lecture 1: What is development?
Reading ‘Development as Freedom’:
In "Development as Freedom," Amartya Sen argues that development should be understood
as a process of expanding the capabilities of individuals to lead the kind of lives they value.
Sen contends that development is not merely about increasing GDP or industrialization, but
about enhancing people's freedoms and abilities to live fulfilling lives.
In the first section of the book, Sen outlines the importance of freedom in development. He
argues that development should be evaluated in terms of how it expands people's freedoms,
rather than simply increasing material wealth. Sen introduces the concept of "capabilities,"
which refers to the opportunities that people have to do what they value. He argues that the
goal of development should be to increase people's capabilities and expand their freedoms,
so that they can live the lives they want to lead.
In the second section of the book, Sen examines the role of markets and economic growth in
development. He argues that markets can be a powerful tool for expanding people's
capabilities, but they must be regulated and balanced with other social institutions in order to
ensure that they serve the common good. Sen also emphasizes the importance of
addressing inequality and social exclusion in the pursuit of development, arguing that these
factors can limit people's freedoms and capabilities.
Overall, Sen's argument is that development should be focused on expanding people's
freedoms and capabilities, rather than simply increasing material wealth. He emphasizes the
importance of balancing economic growth with social institutions and addressing inequality in
order to create a more just and equitable society.
Reading ‘The Development Dictionary’:
In the introduction to "The Development Dictionary," Wolfgang Sachs argues that
development is a deeply political process, shaped by the interests of different groups and the
historical context in which it occurs. He contends that the language and discourse of
development are powerful tools used to legitimize particular forms of economic and political
power, and that the concept of development itself is deeply flawed.
Sachs introduces the idea of "development as a discourse," which refers to the dominant
way of thinking about development that has emerged since the post-World War II period. He
argues that this discourse is based on a narrow understanding of progress that is defined
solely in terms of economic growth, and that it is used to justify policies that often benefit the
wealthy and powerful at the expense of the poor and marginalized.
Sachs also examines the historical origins of the development discourse, tracing its roots
back to European colonialism and the idea of the "civilizing mission." He argues that this
history has shaped the way we think about development, and that it has created a legacy of
inequality and dependency that continues to shape the world today.
Overall, Sachs argues that the concept of development is deeply flawed, and that it has
been used to justify policies that have often done more harm than good. He calls for a more
critical and nuanced approach to development that takes into account the political and
,historical context in which it occurs, and that is based on a broader understanding of
progress that encompasses social, cultural, and ecological dimensions.
Reading ‘Rich countries’ climate policies are colonialism in green’:
In her article "Rich Countries' Climate Policies Are Colonialism in Green," Vijaya
Ramachandran argues that the climate policies of wealthy countries are perpetuating a form
of "green colonialism" that is deeply unfair to developing nations. She contends that while
these countries claim to be taking action to address climate change, their policies are
actually exacerbating global inequalities and imposing a burden on the world's poorest
people.
Ramachandran begins by pointing out that the wealthiest countries are responsible for the
vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions, and that they have benefited the most from the
industrialization that caused those emissions. She argues that these countries therefore
have a responsibility to take the lead in addressing climate change, and to ensure that their
policies do not harm vulnerable populations.
However, Ramachandran contends that the climate policies of wealthy countries are often
designed in ways that benefit their own economies at the expense of others. She cites
examples such as carbon trading schemes that allow companies to continue polluting by
buying offsets in other countries, and renewable energy projects that are built on land taken
from indigenous people without their consent.
Ramachandran argues that these policies are a form of "green colonialism" that perpetuates
the same kinds of injustices that colonialism did in the past. She contends that developing
nations are being forced to bear the costs of climate change, even though they have
contributed the least to it, and that the policies of wealthy countries are exacerbating poverty
and inequality.
Overall, Ramachandran argues that wealthy countries need to take a more just and
equitable approach to addressing climate change. She calls for policies that prioritize the
needs and perspectives of vulnerable populations, and that are designed to support the
development of clean and sustainable economies in developing nations.
Lecture notes:
The exam is 50% multiple choice and 50% open-ended essay questions. The readings are
especially to help you answer the essay questions. The stuff highlighted in the lecture is the
stuff that is most important for the exam.
Course introduction
There are huge contrasts between developed and not developed.
Course objectives:
1) Explain why some places are more developed than others.
2) Diagnose why development initiatives frequently fail.
3) Propose solutions that have proven evidence of success in boosting development.
Definition ‘Politics’ = how public decisions are made about who gets what (Who gets what,
when and how - distributive question). How do we make these collective choices?
,What is development?
How have other people thought about development? There are barbaric definitions, natural
definitions, basic definitions, and definitions that say that there is no good definition of
development. To define what development is, we have to know ‘who’ we are developing. For
everyone working for a development agency, the answer to this question is different.
Actually, the question is: aren’t we all developing constantly? And another question is: what
are we developing?
● Economic development - e.g. GDP per capita
● Political development - e.g. Democracy
● Social development - e.g. improving healthcare, education
● Subjective development - e.g. happiness, personal well-being
How do you bring these types of development together? We can use the ‘Modernization
Theory’, which claims that there is a linear transition from the same ‘traditional’ start to the
same ‘modern’ end. GDP, urbanization, education and more factors start to increase. Things
naturally progress in this type of way. We go from a rural to an urban society.
Subjective development = how development is culturally specific, this differs for every
country. The currency and the value of what is valued is different in every country. So
development can’t be defined in a macro-definition. There is a micro-definition necessary.
We can also look at development as freedom. We can view this as a top-down process. We
have freedom to do the following things:
1) Participate in politics
2) Engage in economic transactions
3) Social opportunities through education and healthcare
4) Transparency during interactions
5) Security of life
But, what limits our freedom to do these things?
● Poverty
● Violence/Repression
● Poor public services (healthcare, education, infrastructure)
● State restrictions on activities (media, traveling)
● Lack of opportunities
How does this help us explain this top-down process of explaining development? We are not
defining the different values and norms of people from different cultures. Why does freedom
matter as the concept to explain development? There are different reasons for this.
1) Intrinsic reason: freedom matters in itself
2) Instrumental reason: freedoms promote other freedoms
e.g. Democracy prevents famine, but democracy also matters for political freedom in itself
which is valuable.
e.g. Markets promote wealth, but they also represent economic freedom in itself which is
valuable.
Development is about complementarities, not trade-offs (= Modernization theory). But
freedoms let people choose what they value, which is in line with the concept of subjective
development.
Freedom is also used interchangeably with the word capabilities. So it’s not just about being
free from interference (which is negative freedom), but it is also seen as positive freedom.
,The capability to live a long life, or to become a teacher. It is not just about income, because
we cannot buy everything that we value on the market. Resources are converted into
capabilities and from that we can choose specific functionings (what we want to become,
where we study etc).
Development is about freedom, expanding the capabilities for people around the world.
However, people have different opinions on what freedom is, what the capabilities that
people value are. There is a lack of consensus on what freedoms/capabilities people value
the most. When thinking of development, it is hard to think about which matters the most.
Sen’s answer to decide which freedoms/capabilities matter the most is democracy.
Collectively choosing what the definition of valuable for development is. This could be
climate, political freedom, community etc. But how do we choose these freedoms for
countries under authoritarianism? These are deeply challenging issues. We have to answer
this question to help the people in need. Freedoms/Capabilities are different for all people,
because everyone has different circumstances, so development can’t be agreed on. People
value different things, and what development means to them. As long as development is
seen as freedom, it will always be conflicting.
How do we measure development?
Different people want different things.
Sustainable development = development that meets the needs of the present generation
without compromising the ability for future generations to meet their own.
Strong sustainability says that natural capital does not fall, weak sustainability says that the
sum of natural and physical capital does not fall. We need to look in more detail, to see when
development is sustainable. We could try the ‘development’ route to sustainability.
● Rapid technological innovation will help us solve problems like climate change.
● Wealth and education reduce fertility, reducing environmental pressures.
● The Kuznets curve.
Theory: as long as we develop fast enough, we can solve environmental problems.
We could also use the ‘Sustainability’ route to development.
● Tackling environmental challenges will stimulate new innovations and investments
● Conserving assets improves their productivity, e.g. new medical cures in the
rainforest.
● Avoiding climate stresses prevents conflicts and boosts yields.
In practice, how do we know if something is sustainable? How do we know if development is
sustainable? Some people will win and some will lose.
Should Norway finance a natural gas terminal in Mozambique? What ‘freedoms’ are at
stake? The risk of security of life. Cheap energy provides a lot of freedom and capabilities.
Natural gas is good for health. Norway says that there is a restriction of freedom on them,
because it is bad for the environment.
Post-development critiques:
1) The discourse of developments makes people think of themselves as
underdeveloped, poor or lacking. Poverty is a myth, a construct and the invention of
, a particular civilization. Rejecting the Modernization Theory: we are not all traveling in
the same direction and more is not always better.
2) Development is an imposition of power and hierarchy
- A weapon of the cold war and post-colonialism.
- Development as planned poverty.
- A top down ethnocentric and technocratic approach.
- Westernization and eradicating diversity.
3) Development has failed on its own terms
- Rising inequality
- Delusions and disappointment, failures and crimes have been steady
companions of development and they tell a common story: it did not work.
4) Development is an industry
- $152,8 billion
- Governments, NGOs, BINGOs. for-profit companies, foundations
- Reliant on the continuation of poverty
- Lobbying governments for new contracts
- Governments seeking markets for their companies
- A career for you? To what extent are you working for your own interest? And
to what extent are you really solving the problem?
Even though it is a challenging definition, people try to measure development. However,
there are some challenges to the measurement.
● Multi-dimensional, frequent
● Lack of data collection capacity in the countries that matter most
● Representative data on the most vulnerable is challenging
● Hard to attribute progress to specific policies when many things change at the same
time
The Human Development Index is one of the most famous measures of development. The
problem with this is that we need to find a way to aggregate the data, how do you combine
the number to end up with one number that tells us something about development.
There is also the Multidimensional Poverty Index. There are 10 categories, and when you
lack 3 or more of these things you are considered poor. A measure like this matters, there
are big differences between the HDI and this measure. Both these measures say anything
about sustainability (freedom in the future). ANother measure we can try to use is the
ecological footprint. This measures how much biologically productive area (land/water) it
takes to provide for all the competing demands of people. Right now, the US uses 5 earths.
There are countries that are sustainable, but they are not developed. And vice-versa.
Are we making progress in development?
After we have looked at all these measures, do you think that we are making progress in
development? In Sub-Saharan Africa, development is going backwards, there is an increase
in people living in poverty. There are also countries that are poorer than they were in 1960,
even after 50 years of globalization and development, so are we going backwards?
However, the ecological footprint of European countries has fallen. So there is progress
being made. Arguably, this is an optimistic story. Thanks to Covid however, there are more
people living in extreme poverty than ever.
, Conclusion:
1) What is development?
- Contested: development as competing interests of many possible freedoms
- Including freedoms of future generations: sustainability
- Development actors are not neutral
2) How do we measure development?
- Many imperfect measures: all are simplifications and value judgements
3) Are we making progress in development?
- Quickly, but very unevenly and with recent reversals
- Poverty is increasingly concentrated in Africa
