The world view of

development
Uniline Non-
ar Unilinear
Dev. is Harmonious Development is Neo – Marxist
Populist Paradigm
Contentious Paradigm
Mainstre Non -
am Interventi Structuralist Orthodox
Or onist or Paradigm Paradigm
Intervent Counter –
ionist Revolution
Paradigm Paradigm

Unilinear World View of development

 It means that underdevelopment is a condition preceding development.

 All developed countries are late comers to the process of development, which had already
taken place in the developed West. The Western developed countries followed some
kind of processes, and, they have achieved a kind of standard of living.

 Due to these reasons, the Western Countries have become the role models of
development for the underdeveloped and developing countries.

 Therefore, the development is becoming more like the West or like the already developed
countries.

Theories follow under the unilinear world view can be divided into two categories: a)
Development is Harmonious/ non - contentious and b) Development is contentious.

Development is Harmonious

According to this perspective, development process benefits all rich as well as poor people, and
rich as well as poor countries. There is more harmony between different groups of people and
different countries.
Mainstream Paradigm

 It states that state intervention is very much needed for the development of the country.
 Here the focus was on the increased savings and capital accumulation as these were the
key measures to determine the development in any country at that time.
 It also suggested that the developed countries will provide the developing countries with
the capital and other things, which will be a big push to the developing countries which
will help them to become developed.
 It is of the view that to achieve a balanced growth, the government of any
underdeveloped country needs to make large investments in a number of industries
simultaneously.
 If a country has more capital, they will invest more which would further lead to increase
in the production then increment in the living standards of people which would further
lead to increase in consumption and hence, more GDP and GNP. Like this, this vicious
cycle will continue.
 Then people should focus more on the savings and the capital accumulation so as not to
be dependent on the developed countries for the capital.

Counter Mainstream Paradigm

 Counter mainstream paradigm works against the mainstream paradigm and hence the
name suggests. It came in 1980s.
 It says that state intervention is not needed. State intervention is one of the major causes
of inefficiency.
 State intervention in licensing and regulation leads to corruption and red tapism.
 Instead, it focuses on the efficiency of the market or market forces that determine
demand, supply, cost, pricing, production of goods, commodities etc. in promoting the
development and favors free market for development.

Development is contentious:

These theories refer to the rich exploiting the poor as much as the rich countries exploiting the
poor countries.

Structural Paradigm

 This paradigm was based on the Latin American countries.

 It suggests that the main hindrance to development is the internal distortion and
international structuralism. There is a fault in the internal system which is back firing the
development.
  Internally, the less developed countries are totally dependent upon the production and
export of primary products (raw materials like oil, sugar, tea, rubber etc.).
 These theories suggest that if the less developed countries want development, they are
required to change the structure (system) of production increasingly in favour of
manufactured goods through capital based technology and industrialization.
 There is a much complexity between the Centre and the Periphery and is lack of
participation by the periphery in the decision making by the centre which prevents
development.

Orthodox Marxist Paradigm

 This paradigm focuses on the shift from feudalism to the capitalism. It says that
development is only possible with the help of capitalism.
 Karl Marx says “a country which is more developed, shows the less developed countries
the image of their own future”.
 It suggests that Capital colonial expansion will lead to the development in capitalism. But
here also the capital is generated only for the upperclass or the feudal class while the
peasants and the lower classes are still deprived of capital and are underdeveloped.
 It also considers the fact that conflicts and clashes can hinder development which can
only be resolved through a revolution.

Non Linear View of Development

Populist Paradigm

 Populist paradigm is a shift from the capitalism and industrialization view of

development and was an alternative for the mainstream paradigm. It was non systematic
in nature.
 This paradigm was larger in public interest and hence the name populist paradigm.
 It is based on the Gandhian and EM Schumacher philosophy. The paradigm questions
either the need or possibility of the less developed countries or developed countries
developing on the lines of the already developed capitalist countries.
 Gandhiji suggested that industrialization will not lead to development. Industrialization
will lead to various evils such as immortality, crime and cultural degeneration.
 Instead, Gandhiji came up with the village centric view which says that development will
only occur if we develop the villages.
 There is no need of urbanization because it will lead to mass immigration from rural to
urban parts of the country which will lead to mass unemployment.
 There is a need to develop the rural parts of the country. He also focused on the Gram
Swaraj which means that the development should be village centric.
  This paradigm is of the view that to develop our country we need to have dual economic
policies- different for both rural and urban areas. We cannot imply the same economic
policy to both.

Neo Marxist Paradigm

 The paradigm says that the measures for development of underdeveloped countries and
developed countries are totally different from each other and the less developed societies
can’t develop like western societies have developed.
 It stresses the interconnectedness of development and under development, of traditional
and modern, and indeed many other social and political and economic factors.
 Paul Baran (1950s) who was a neo-Marxist underdevelopment theorist developed Lenin’s
ideas of imperialism by saying it was in the interests of capitalism to keep the third world
as an ‘indispensable hinterland’ because it provided the West with raw materials.
 AG Frank disagreed: The cause of underdevelopment is rooted in the metaphor of
metropoles and satellites where metropoles are large merchant capital and satellites are
underdeveloped countries.The sole purpose of the satellites is for feeding the
requirements of the metropoles through the distribution of resources from the satellites to
metropoles.