LESSON 1.

Development
theories,
models,
concepts
Making connection…
In our previous lessons, we discussed about:
§ Societal problems and underdevelopment
§ The meanings of development
§ Some approaches to development
§ Indicators of development
Making connection…
Before we will continue with this presentation, can
anybody try to:
§ Describe what to you is development?
§ Identify the approaches to development that have been
used in projects that you are familiar with?
§ Identify some indicators of development that we use to
gauge the development level of a country?
This lesson’s objectives
At the end of this lesson, you are expected to be able to:
§ Describe some theories of development based on their
assumptions about the nature and process of
development;
§ Choose a theory or model that you may want to use as
basis in conceptualizing a development project.
Some development theories,
models and concepts
1. Modernization theory (MT)

A theory used to explain the

process of modernization that
a nation goes through as it
transitions from a traditional
society to a modern one.
 Stages of Economic Growth
Theory

§ A modernization theory proposed by American

historian W.W. Rostow
§ Famous in the 1950s – 1960s after the 2nd WW
§ Process of development was seen as a successive
stages through which all countries must pass
Rostow’s 5 stages of economic growth
 Stages of Economic Growth
Theory

Main obstacles to development:

•Low level of new capital formation or
investment in most poor countries
•Backwardness of the culture of the poor
countries
 Stages of Economic Growth
Theory

Assumption
§ Right quantity and mixture of savings, investment
and foreign aid are all that is necessary to enable
third world nations to proceed along an economic
growth path historically followed by the more
developed country.
 Stages of Economic
Growth Theory

Meaning of Development
§ Economic growth, and modernization of third
world people’s culture
§ Key indicator: INCOME
Criticisms of Modernization
Theories
§ Tricks of development proposed in the theories did
not always work
§ Savings and investments were not sufficient
conditions for development
§ Assumptions of Western economic theory were
inappropriate for the conditions of the 3rd world
countries
Criticisms of Modernization
Theories
§ Income is not a sufficient indicator of development
§ There are other factors limiting development, not
just savings and investments
§ Many third world countries that attempted to
follow the modernization theory were not able to
rise above poverty
2. Dependency Theories
• Gained support in the 1970s due to disenchantment with
the Stages of Growth and the Structural Change Models
• Key ideas:
• Developing countries are poor because of a history of
exploitation by the West – through slavery and colonialism
• Developing countries remain poor because of Neo-
Colonialism (economic exploitation)
2. Dependency Theories (DT)
• While MT depicted the First World as a
benevolent force, DT depicted the First
World as hindering the development of the
Third World.
• Propose that resources flow from a
"periphery" of poor and underdeveloped
states to a "core" of wealthy states,
enriching the latter at the expense of the
former.
2. Dependency Theories
How can development be achieved?
• Developing countries need to break away from Western
influence and find their own paths to development
• There should be an economic and political
restructuring to produce a more even distribution of
rewards and resources within and between societies.
 International Structuralist
Model

§ An example of Dependency Theory

§ Views underdevelopment in terms of international
and domestic power relationships, institutional
and economic rigidities, and the resulting
proliferation of dual economics and dual societies
both within and among the nations of the world.
 International Structuralist
Model

• Emphasizes external and internal institutional

constraints on economic development
• Has two major streams of thought:
◦Neo-colonial dependence model
◦False paradigm model
 International Structuralist
Model

Neo-colonial dependence model

§ Outgrowth of Marxist thinking
§ Posits that co-existence of rich and poor countries in an
international system dominated by such unequal power
relationships between the center and the periphery renders
attempts by poor countries to be self-reliant and
independent of their development efforts difficult and
sometimes impossible.
 International Structuralist
Model

False paradigm model

§ Attributes 3rd world underdevelopment to primarily
faulty and inappropriate advice provided by well-
meaning but often uninformed international expert
advisers from both develop-country assistance agencies
and multi-national donor organizations such as WB,
UNESCO, ILO, UNDP IMF.
 International Structuralist
Model

False paradigm model

§ Inappropriate advice leads to inappropriate policies, which
often serve only the vested interests of existing power
structures, both domestic and international
§ Local experts trained abroad were influenced by the
Western concepts of development
 International Structuralist
Model

Meaning of development
§ Radical changes in institutional, social and
administrative structures as well as in
popular attitudes, customs and beliefs
(Todaro and Goulet)
3. Liberation or Monastic Theories
• Derive largely from the liberation theology of
Paulo Freire (1970)
• Prioritize personal and communal liberation from
oppression as the keys to self-reliance, which is
the goal of development
• Followed by some religious groups like the
Buddhists, Taoists, etc.
3. Liberation or Monastic Theories
• Development
• Education for social
justice
• A process towards
humanization; rising
above oppression to
attain freedom and self-
reliance
3. Liberation or Monastic Theories
• Human development
• The process of enlarging people's freedoms and
opportunities and improving their well-being.
• It is about the real freedom ordinary people have to
decide who to be, what to do, and how to live
4. “Another Development” Theories
• Development is conceived as satisfaction of basic
needs and building up of self-reliance (Bagicha Minhas)
• Political objective of development should be to
make modernization successful without repression
or use of extremist rules
 4. “Another Development” Theories

• Development should be
geared towards Satisfaction
of Basic Needs
• Reliance on strengths of
societies that undertake it
• Harmony with environment
(Dag Hammarskjold Foundation, 1975)
4. “Another Development” Theories
Minimum Basic Needs:
• Food, clothing, shelter,
household furniture
• Essential services –
drinking water, sanitation,
public transport, health,
education
4. “Another Development” Theories
Self reliance:
• Not necessarily rejection of foreign aid
• Choice of development should be relevant to the
initial conditions of a country
• Strategies can be executed without risking the
country’s long term interests
4. “Another Development” Theories
Collective self reliance:
• Mutual cooperation among poor countries can lead
to faster growth
• Exports be oriented towards economic
independence
4. “Another Development” Theories
Development strategies
• Reallocation of resources to meet basic needs
• Reduce inequality internally and dependence externally
• Increase the scope and depth of participation in decision
making
• Raise the level of productive forces
Philippine examples: 4Ps, free education
5. David Korten’s Concept of Sustainable
Development

Concept:
• Development is creating economies that equitably meet
human needs without excessive extraction of resources,
expelling waste in excess of the environment’s regenerative
capacity
• Need for sustainable human institutions that assure both
security and opportunity for social, intellectual and spiritual
growth
5. David Korten’s Concept of Sustainable
Development

Indicators:
• Increased availability, accessibility and quality of
sustainable natural resource flows to meet human
needs
• Political, institutional and technical capacity to use
resources efficiently and to distribute benefits
equitably
5. David Korten’s Concept of Sustainable
Development
Strategies:
• Responsible resource stewardship
• Reallocate use of sustainable resource flows; reduce per capita
resource consumption among high consumers
• Reform production systems; minimize inputs; maximize
recycling
• Eliminate inequality by distributing resource control more
equitably
5. David Korten’s Concept of Sustainable
Development

Strategies:
• Internalize all costs of production
• Provide people with sustainable livelihoods
• Maintain balanced trade relations
• Assure accountability of both government and market for
public interest (need for vigilant and vigorous civil society)
6. Participatory/Empowerment
Theories/Models

Development lessons:
• People’s participation is important in all phases of
any development program.
• Development is a process that has to be undertaken
by the society as a whole (Jacobs and Cleveland, 1999)
6. Participatory/Empowerment
Theories/Models

Development lessons:
• Development can be stimulated, directed or assisted
by government policies, laws or special programs,
but it cannot be carried out by administrative or
external agencies on behalf of the population (Jacobs
and Cleveland, 1999)
6. Participatory/Empowerment
Theories/Models

Development lessons:
• Government and development agencies may
propose, but people in the end will dispose (Quebral,
2002)
• People develop themselves
6. Participatory/Empowerment
Theories/Models

Participatory development model

• Development process that involves people and
groups from different stakeholder groups – and
their ideas, skills and knowledge(Mayo and
Servaes, 1994)
6. Participatory/Empowerment
Theories/Models

People Empowerment (Horacio Morales)

§ Empowerment is the process of shifting the
balance of social power from one social class or
group of classes to another, which may include
the shift in economic and political importance
between areas or regions, resulting in power
configuration
People Empowerment

Concept of Development
• Development is national unity and progress as well
as empowerment
• Facilitated when all people will be liberated from all
structures of oppression
People Empowerment

Concept of Development
• Involves people participation, self-reliance, power
redistribution and self management
• Need for three types of organizations – community
organization, peasant organization, cooperatives
People Empowerment
Strategies for empowerment
• Formation of POs
• Capacity building
• Role of gov’t: provide appropriate policy directions
for people empowerment; encourage bottom up
planning; shredding off bureaucratic orientation
People Empowerment
Indicators of development
•Changes in effective control
•Access or ownership of key resources
6. Participatory/Empowerment
Theories/Models

Rural Development (Jerome Sison & Jaime Valera)

• Development is seen as a process which leads to a
continuous rise in the capacity of rural people to
control their environment, accomplished by a
wider distribution of benefits resulting from such
control.
Rural Development
Development targets:
• Landless rural laborers
• Upland farmers
• Subsistence fishermen
• Rural women and youth
Rural Development
Indicators:
• Measurable targets – goods and services to meet
minimum basic needs
• Unquantifiable cultural values – decent burial,
respect for tribal lands, liberating education for
women and children
Rural Development
Strategies:
• Increasing employment
• Increasing efficiency of production
• Sustainability of resources
• Equity
• Empowerment (adopting Morales’ proposal)
SUMMARY
• Development means different things to different people
• There are a number of theories, models, strategies and
approaches to development
• The choice of theories, models, strategies and
approaches to be used to attain development depends
on the perspective or lens from which people concerned
view development
Assignment 4: Choosing development theories/models to
use for development projects
1. If you are given the chance to be part of a team tasked to design a
development project to help a poor community with high prevalence of
malnutrition, which of the development theories/models presented here will
you use as basis in conceptualizing your project? Explain why you have decided
to use this theory/model (50 points).
2. Name your project, then outline the steps that you will do in conceptualizing
and implementing the development project (50 points).
Prepare a written and an oral report for this activity. Present your report orally
during the next meeting; then submit the written report to your professor
through email at edithcagasan@vsu.edu.ph; or through our virtual classroom
(https://elearning.vsu.edu.ph/course/view.php?id=2817)