SOCIAL CHANGE and

DEVELOPMENT
PERSPECTIVES
Social Change

 Refers to any significant alteration over time in behavior patterns

and cultural values and norms. By significant alteration, sociologist
mean changes yielding profound social consequences.
 The alteration of mechanisms within the social structure
characterized by changes in cultural symbols, rules of behavior,
social organizations or value system.
Development

 Is a process that creates growth, progress, positive change or the

addition of physical, economic, environmental, social and
demographic components.
 Is the gradual growth or formation of something.
 The act or process, or result of developing.
Development as Freedom

Amartya Sen, (born November 3, 1933, Santiniketan, India), Indian economist who was awarded the
1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice
theory and for his interest in the problems of society’s poorest members. Sen was best known for his
work on the causes of famine, which led to the development of practical solutions for preventing or
limiting the effects of real or perceived shortages of food.
 Development as Freedom is a popular summary of economist Amartya Sen's work on development. In it
he explores the relationship between freedom and development, the ways in which freedom is both a basic
constituent of development in itself and an enabling key to other aspects.
 No knowledge of economics is assumed — there is no mathematics at all, not a single equation — and the
more philosophically complex material is concentrated into a few places. And, while there's the occasional
historical analysis, most of the examples are recent or even current. Sen's prose does have a tendency to
the wordy, lacking concision, but the result is nevertheless broadly accessible. Covering a diverse range of
topics, it should have something for anyone involved with development.

 Rather than the common focus on income and wealth, or on mental satisfaction (by utilitarians) or
processes (by libertarians), Sen suggests a focus on what he calls capabilities — substantive human
freedoms. And he argues for a broad view of freedom, one that encompasses both processes and
opportunities, and for recognition of "the heterogeneity of distinct components of freedom".
 "An adequately broad view of development is sought in
order to focus the evaluative scrutiny on things that really
matter, and in particular to avoid the neglect of crucially
important subjects."
Though of course it is — and must be — a matter of debate as to what is important.
Freedom is both constitutive of development and instrumental to it: instrumental freedoms include political
freedom, economic facilities, social opportunities, transparency, and security, which are all different but inter-
connected. Sen ranges widely in illustrating this, considering the contrast between China and India, education
and basic health care as drivers of growth, and mortality reduction in 20th century Britain.

Chapter three is more theoretical, with Sen himself suggesting some readers may want to skip sections. In it he
explores different informational bases for evaluating justice — utilitarian, libertarian, and Rawlsian — and
argues for a focus on the capabilities of people to do and be what they value. He stresses that this is not an "all
or none" choice — that even if an approach has limited application, answers to some questions may be useful.
Further chapters apply these ideas to specific issues. Sen argues that capability deprivation is a better measure
of poverty than low income, because it can capture aspects of poverty hidden by income measures. Illustrative
examples include differences between the United States and Europe in healthcare and mortality, comparisons
between sub-Saharan African and India in literacy and infant mortality, and gender inequality and "missing
women".

In chapter five Sen ventures into some of the most contested areas of economics. He surveys the role of
markets, their efficiency, their ability to provide public goods, and their relationship with the state. And he
considers the targeting and means-testing of welfare, suggesting that capability-directed provisioning may
create less distortion of market incentives.
Economic needs are considered by some to be more important than political freedoms, but the opposition is,
Sen argues, mostly illusory. He also reminds us that democracy, as well as being an end in itself, plays an
instrumental role in giving people a voice and a constructive role in shaping values and norms.

"Political rights, including freedom of expression and discussion, are not only pivotal in inducing social
responses to economic needs, they are also central to the conceptualization of economic needs themselves."
It is also important to support the effective functioning of democracy: formal rules are not enough without
good democratic practice.
In chapter seven Sen summarises some of his best-known work, on famines. These are usually caused by a
lack of purchasing power or entitlements, not by actual food shortage — famine-struck areas sometimes
continue to export food — and are easy and cheap to avoid, with state employment schemes the most
straightforward approach. Large-scale famines have never happened in a democracy and, Sen argues, are
unlikely to: they can only happen in authoritarian systems lacking openness of information and transparency.
A similar analysis may be applicable to the Asian monetary crisis at the end of the 1990s.

Another focus of Sen's work has been the role of women in development. Here he argues that, while
improving their well-being is important, enhancing their agency is just as critical. One notable illustration:
women's literacy and employment levels are the best predictors of both child survival and fertility rate
reduction.
Looking at population growth and food supply, Sen counters doomsday predictions of imminent food
shortage. And he points out that Kerala has been more successful than China in limiting population growth,
suggesting that China might have done nearly as well without the use of coercion.

Turning to human rights, Sen briefly rebuts criticisms of the concept's legitimacy and coherence. He then
treats at length the "Asian Values" cultural critique. Looking at historical examples, he argues that "Western
traditions are not the only ones that prepare us for a freedom-based approach to social understanding" — and
that diversity and pluralism are the norm, not the exception.
Next comes some more theory, in the area of social choice and individual behavior. The conclusion to be
drawn from Arrow's Theorem is not that democracy is impossible, but that we need a richer informational
base, while Hayek's "unintended changes" may nevertheless be predictable. Against the idea that selfishness is
the only motivating force of importance, Sen stresses that capitalism itself requires other values, touching on
business ethics, contracts, the Mafia, and corruption.

In his final chapter Sen surveys the relationships between justice, freedom, and responsibility. And he
reiterates the advantages of capabilities over narrower measures of human development. The idea of "human
capital" is a step forwards, but is still too narrow in its restriction to effects on production; it fails to capture
the direct contribution of human capabilities to well-being and freedom and their indirect effects on social
change.
Social Development

 refers to how people develop social and emotional skills across the lifespan, with particular
attention to childhood and adolescence. Healthy social development allows us to form
positive relationships with family, friends, teachers, and other people in our lives. As we
mature, we learn to better manage our own feelings and needs and to respond appropriately
to the feelings and needs of others.
 The gradual development of the ability,
experience, intelligence, wisdom and skills within
an animal or human being that enables them to
interact socially with other animals or human
beings.
 Shankar Pathak has explained this in detail ha says that “Social development
includes programs for universal literacy or primary education, comprehensive
preventive health, measure and control of contagious diseases, housing, family
planning and preservation of ecological balance. Moreover, social development
philosophy assumes that a substantial investment is required for social services
for which economic development is essential.”
 Thus, social development is a comprehensive concept which implies major
structural changes political, economic, cultural and its goal is to create a new
society in place of the present where living condition of the people are
improved so that they do not suffer from hunger and they are not denied the
basic necessities of life.
 M.S.Gore-“The concept of social development is inclusive of economic development but differ from it in
the sense that it emphasis the development of totality of society in its economic, political, social and
cultural aspects. In this sense social development planning is not concerned with planning exclusively for
social services, any more than it is with the exclusive planning of economic growth. There are many areas,
apart from social or welfare services, wherein the “social” perspective has relevance. Prominent among
these are areas relating to population policy, policy relating to urbanization, industrial location and
environmental pollution, policies relating to regional development, policies of income growth, income
distribution and land reform, policies governing administration and peoples’ participation in planning and
the implementation of plans”.
 M.S. Rao-“Social development consists largely of efforts to improve
the social situation in regard to social development, housing, health
and nutrition, education and training, employment and working
conditions, social security, social stability and social welfare”.
 P.N.Sharma and C.Shashtri-“Social development has been
defined as a micro strategy of planned interventions to
improve the capacity of existing social system to cope with
demands of change and growth.”
 ASSWI (Association of School of Social Work in India)-“Social
development is a process of systematic change (values, attitudes,
institutions and practices) purposefully initiated through the
instruments of social policy and planning for enhancement of the
levels of living and quality of life of the mass of people especially
the weaker sections in an eco friendly, socially just and participator
environment”.
 Economic Development

 is the process by which emerging economies become advanced economies. In other words, the
process by which countries with low living standards become nations with high living standards.
Economic development also refers to the process by which the overall health, well-being, and
academic level the general population improves.

 During the development, there is a population shift from agriculture to industry, and then to
services.

 A longer average life expectancy, for example, is one of the results of economic development.
Improved productivity, higher literacy rates, and better public education, are also consequences.

 Put simply; economic development is all about improving living standards. ‘Improved living
standards’ refers to higher levels of education and literacy, workers’ income, health, and lifespans.
 “The process in which an economy grows or changes and becomes more
advanced, especially when both economic and social conditions are improved.”

 Development economics is a field of economics that examines economic

development.
 is the development of economic wealth of countries, regions or
communities for the well-being of their inhabitants. From a policy
perspective, economic development can be defined as efforts that
seek to improve the economic well-being and quality of life for a
community by creating and/or retaining jobs and supporting or
growing incomes and the tax base.
 the process whereby simple, low-income national economies are transformed
into modern industrial economies. Although the term is sometimes used as a
synonym for economic growth, generally it is employed to describe a change in
a country’s economy involving qualitative as well as quantitative
improvements. The theory of economic development—how primitive and poor
economies can evolve into sophisticated and relatively prosperous ones—is of
critical importance to underdeveloped countries, and it is usually in this context
that the issues of economic development are discussed.
Participatory Development

 “Participatory development is a process through which stakeholders can influence and

share control over development initiatives, and over the decisions and resources that affect
themselves.” - Framework for Mainstreaming Participatory Development Processes into
Bank Operations, ADB. 1996
 Sustainable Development

 "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present,

without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs.“
 Sustainable development is about finding better ways of doing things, both for
the future and the present. We might need to change the way we work and live
now, but this doesn't mean our quality of life will be reduced.