Development: Conventional Versus Critical Perspectives

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to make a distinction between conventional and the appropriate conception of development. The relationship between the two is contradictory with regards to means and ends. This paper argued that conventional development theory was responsible for the economic disparity between the developed and developing countries. The tendency to equate development with growth has led Third World to be developed into a state within the global economy, whereby vast quantities of its land and labour now produce for export while billions of its people remain poor and their ecosystems deteriorate. Many see development as a form of plunder. The failure of conventional development has provided the foundations of an alternative approach, especially one relevant to the Third World countries. This paper concludes by outlining thirteen basic principles of alternative development theory and practice.

Citation

Trainer, T. (2001), "Development: Conventional Versus Critical Perspectives", Humanomics, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 29-39. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb018857