Understanding development, 2nd edition

Contents
Cover
Dedication
Title Page
Copyright
Preface to the Second Edition
Acknowledgements
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Introduction: Understanding Development
A brief history of development
Development and the United Nations system
Conceptualizing development
Summary
RECOMMENDED READING
WEBSITE
Notes
1 Theorizing Development
From three worlds to the North–South divide
Major economic approaches to development
The East Asian ‘miracle’
Conclusion
Summary
RECOMMENDED READING
WEBSITES
Notes
2 Approaching Development
Culture and development
Anthropology and development
Post-development perspectives

Conclusion
Summary
RECOMMENDED READING
Notes
3 Health, Education and Population
Population and development


Population and development
Health and development
Education and development
Conclusion
Summary
RECOMMENDED READING
WEBSITES
Notes
4 Gender and Development
A brief history of gender and development
Women and development
Gender and development: critical debates
Gender and development: future trajectories
Summary
RECOMMENDED READING
WEBSITES
5 Conflict, Security and Development
The merging of development and security
Fragile and failing states
Human security
Peacekeeping
Post-conflict development

The reform of the United Nations system
Conclusion: conflict, security and development
Summary
RECOMMENDED READING
WEBSITES
Notes
6 Trade and Development
The free trade debate
Fair trade and development
The WTO and the world trading system
Trade and development: a complex relationship
Summary
RECOMMENDED READING


WEBSITES
Notes
7 Participation and Representation in Development
Participatory development
NGOs and development
International institutions and representation
Civil society, social capital and development
Summary
RECOMMENDED READING
WEBSITES
Notes
8 Financing Development: Foreign Aid and Debt
The debt crisis in the developing world
Dealing with debt
Foreign aid

Does aid work?
The G8 Gleneagles agreement
Enhancing the effectiveness of aid
Global development cooperation
Summary
RECOMMENDED READING
WEBSITES
Notes
9 Sustainable Development
Development and the global environment
Globalization, development and the environment
Global governance and the environment
Sustainable development
Conclusion: global sustainable development
Summary
RECOMMENDED READING
WEBSITES
Notes
10 Globalization and Development
Approaching globalization


Globalization and the developmental state
Globalization and development
Globalization and the network society
Globalizing cities and uneven development
Conclusion
Summary
RECOMMENDED READING
WEBSITES

Notes
11 Migration, Displacement and Humanitarianism
Displacement, development and the refugee crisis
Conclusion: displacement, development and the refugee crisis
Humanitarianism and development
Conclusion: humanitarianism and development
Migration, remittances and development
Summary
RECOMMENDED READING
WEBSITES
Notes
12 The UN Millennium Development Goals
The UN Millennium Development Goals
Criticism of the MDGs
MDGs – the achievements
How effective were the MDGs?
Conclusion
Summary
RECOMMENDED READING
WEBSITE
Notes
13 The UN Sustainable Development Goals
The formation of the Sustainable Development Goals
The Sustainable Development Goals: critical perspectives
The need for a data revolution
Financing the Sustainable Development Goals
The prospects for the Sustainable Development Goals


Conclusion

Summary
RECOMMENDED READING
WEBSITE
Notes
Conclusion: Development – Future Trajectories
What has development actually achieved?
In defence of development
Development: future trajectories
Conclusion
RECOMMENDED READING
WEBSITES
Notes
Bibliography
Index
End User License Agreement

Figures
5.1 UN peacekeeping budget
10.1 Percentage of individuals using the internet in 2016
11.1 UNHCR’s persons of concern
11.2 International humanitarian response, 2000–2015
11.3 International migration trend, 2000–2015

Boxes
1.1 Walt Rostow’s stages of economic growth
1.2 A critique of Rostow’s thesis
3.1 The gender imbalance in some developing societies
3.2 The Ebola epidemic in West Africa
3.3 South Africa and HIV/AIDS
3.4 The Six Education for All Goals

4.1 Gender and development policy approaches: 1950 onwards


4.2 The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
4.3 MDGs Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
4.4 MDGs Goal 5: Improve maternal health
4.5 The Millennium Development Goals Report 2008
4.6 Criticisms of WID
4.7 Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN)
5.1 The peacekeeping record of the UN
5.2 The Brahimi Report of 2000
5.3 Peacekeeping in Darfur
5.4 Who are the UN peacekeepers?
7.1 Robert Chambers – ‘putting the last first’
7.2 Participatory approaches to development
7.3 The Kribhco Indo-British Farming Project
8.1 G8 Summit results in relation to aid, debt and trade
8.2 Debt cancellation at Gleneagles
9.1 The costs of China’s rapid development
9.2 The Rio Earth Summits Agreement
9.3 MDGs Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
9.4 The Brundtland Report and sustainable development
10.1 The return of the developmental state?
11.1 Definition of a refugee
11.2 The role of the UNHCR
11.3 The Dadaab refugee camp, Kenya
12.1 Key targets for MDG 1
12.2 MDG 1 achievements by 2015
12.3 Key target for MDG 2
12.4 MDG 2 achievements by 2015

12.5 Key target for MDG 3
12.6 MDG 3 achievements by 2015
12.7 Key target for MDG 4
12.8 MDG 4 achievements by 2015


12.9 Key targets for MDG 5
12.10 MDG 5 achievements by 2015
12.11 Key targets for MDG 6
12.12 MDG 6 achievements by 2015
12.13 Key targets for MDG 7
12.14 MDG 7 achievements by 2015
12.15 Key targets for MDG 8
12.16 MDG 8 achievements by 2015
13.1 The 17 Sustainable Development Goals


For Mum, Shaun, Tracey, Emma and Anna
and in memory of my Dad


Understanding Development
Issues and Debates
Second edition

PAUL HOPPER

polity

Copyright © Paul Hopper 2018
The right of Paul Hopper to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First edition published in 2012 by Polity Press
This second edition published in 2018 by Polity Press
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Title: Understanding development / Paul Hopper.
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Preface to the Second Edition
This revised and expanded edition of Understanding Development incorporates the key
recent events and trends that are shaping international development, such as
international migration, humanitarianism, population displacement, the global refugee
crisis, the rise in the number of fragile states and the contested nature of trade and trade
deals. This second edition also covers development in relation to global policy formation,
focusing on the end of the UN Millennium Development Goals in 2015 and the start of
the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which will run until 2030. Three new chapters
are added to this second edition dealing with these matters. However, the book builds on
the framework of the original edition which presented a comprehensive introduction to
the multidimensional and evolving nature of international development.


Acknowledgements
I am extremely grateful to Dr Louise Knight and Nekane Tanaka Galdos, and their
colleagues at Polity Press, for their helpful advice and professional assistance at every
stage in the production of the second edition of this book. I would also like to thank my
anonymous reviewers who provided me with extensive notes on my manuscript and
much to think about. Tony Inglis, my co-director at the Future Policy Organisation, and
my brother, Shaun Hopper, helped me with the design of the graphics. My students on
the BA (Hons) Globalisation: History, Politics, Culture and the MA Globalisation: Politics,
Conflict and Human Rights at the University of Brighton deserve special mention both for
allowing me to course-test this book and for their enthusiasm. I thoroughly enjoyed
teaching and working with you all. As with my previous books, I dedicate this book to my
family.

Acronyms and Abbreviations
AAA

Accra Agenda for Action

AAPPG

Africa All Party Parliamentary Group

ACP

Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific region

ADB

African Development Bank

ADF

African Development Fund

AFTA

ASEAN Free Trade Area initiative

AGE

advisory group of experts

AIDS

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

AIIB

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

AOAV

Action on Armed Violence

ART

anti-retroviral therapy

ARV

anti-retroviral

ASEAN

South East Asian Nations

ASI

Adam Smith Institute

ATPC

African Trade Policy Centre

AU

African Union

BNA

Basic Needs Approach

BRICS

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa

BWIs

Bretton Woods Institutions

CAP

Common Agricultural Policy

CAR

Central African Republic

CBDR

‘common but differentiated responsibilities’

CBOs

community-based organizations

CFCs

chlorofluorocarbons

CGD

Commission on Growth and Development

CHS

Commission on Human Security

CPEs

complex political emergencies

CSD

Commission on Sustainable Development

CSOs

civil society organizations

DAC

Development Assistance Committee

DAWN

Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era

DDR

disarmament, demobilization and reintegration


DFID

UK Department for International Development

DPKO

UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations

DRR

disaster risk reduction

ECLA

Economic Commission for Latin America

ECLAC

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

ECOSOC

United Nations Economic and Social Council

EFA

Education for All

EJM

environmental justice movement

EPAs

Economic Partnership Agreements

ERM

European Exchange Rate Mechanism

ESAF

Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility

EU

European Union

FDI

foreign direct investment

FFD3

Third Financing for Development summit

FIDES

Fonds d’Investissement pour le Développement Economique et Social

FLO

Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International

FTAs

free trade agreements

G-77

Group of 77 countries

G8

Group of 8 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the
United Kingdom and the United States)

G20

Group of 20 countries.

GAD

Gender and Development

GATT

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

GDI

Gender-related Development Index

GDP

gross domestic product

GEF

Global Environment Facility

GEG

global environmental governance

GEM

Gender Empowerment Measure

GHI

Global Hunger Index

GII

Gender Inequality Index

GNI

gross national income

GNP

gross national product

GOARN

Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (part of the WHO)


GPEDC

Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation

HDI

United Nations Human Development Index

HIPC

Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative

HLF

High Level Forum

HLP

High-Level Panel

HSRP

Human Security Report Project

HSU

UN Human Security Unit

IATI

International Aid Transparency Initiative

ICANN

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

ICC

International Criminal Court

ICPD

International Conference on Population and Development

ICTs

information and communication technologies

IDA

International Development Association

IDC

International Development Committee (UK)

IDPs

internally displaced persons

IDPS

International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding

IDS

Institute of Development Studies (Brighton, UK)

IEAG

Independent Expert Advisory Group

IFIs

international financial institutions

IFPRI

International Food Policy Research Institute

IGO

international intergovernmental organization

IISS

International Institute for Strategic Studies

ILO

International Labour Organization

IMF

International Monetary Fund

INGOs

international non-governmental organizations

IOM

International Organization for Migration

IPA

International Peace Academy

IPCC

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

IPD

infectious and parasitic disease

IPFA

Information Project for Africa

ISI

import-substitution industrialization

ITU

International Telecommunication Union

KRIBP

Kribhco Indo-British Farming Project


LA21
LDCs

Local
Agenda 21countries
least developed

LEDCs

less economically developed countries

LRRD

linking relief, rehabilitation and development

MDGs

Millennium Development Goals

MDGGTF

MDG Gap Task Force

MDRI

Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative

MEAs

multilateral environmental agreements

MEDCs

more economically developed countries

MERCOSUR Southern Cone Common Market
MMR

maternal mortality rate

MNCs

multinational corporations

MRG

Minority Rights Group International

MSF

Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders)

NAFTA

North American Free Trade Agreement

NAM

Non-Aligned Movement

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NGOs

non-governmental organizations

NICs

newly industrializing countries

NIEO

new international economic order

NNGOs

northern non-governmental organizations

NPA

New Policy Agenda

NSDS

national sustainable development strategy

OCHA

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

ODA

official development assistance

ODI

UK Overseas Development Institute

OECD

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

OPEC

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

OWG

UN Open Working Group

P2DT

Post-2015 Data Test initiative

P5

Permanent Five members of the UN Security Council (China, France,
Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States)

PAR

participatory action research

PBC

Peacebuilding Commission


PPA
PPPs

participatory poverty assessment
public–private partnerships

PRA

participatory rural appraisal

PRGF

Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility

PRSs

poverty reduction strategies

PUA

participatory urban appraisal

PWC

Post-Washington Consensus

R2P

responsibility to protect

RRA

rapid rural appraisal

SADC

Southern African Development Community

SAF

Structural Adjustment Facility

SAPRIN

Structural Adjustment Participatory Review International Network

SAPs

structural adjustment programmes

SARS

severe acute respiratory syndrome

SDGs

Sustainable Development Goals

SDSN

Sustainable Development Solutions Network

SDT

special and differential treatment

SMS

short message service

SNGOs

southern non-governmental organizations

TB

tuberculosis

TNCs

transnational corporations

TPP

Trans-Pacific Partnership

TRIPs

Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

TTIP

Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

UN

United Nations

UNAIDS

Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS

UNAMID

African Union/United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur

UNCED

United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

UNCTAD

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

UNDESA

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

UNDG

United Nations Development Group

UNDP

United Nations Development Programme

UNDPKO

United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations


UNECA
UNEF

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
United Nations Emergency Force

UNEP

United Nations Environment Programme

UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UNFPA

United Nations Population Fund

UNGA

United Nations General Assembly

UNHCR

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

UNICEF

United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund

UNIFEM

United Nations Development Fund for Women

UNMD

United Nations Millennium Declaration

UNOCHA

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

UNPD

United Nations Population Division

UNPROFOR United Nations Protection Force
UNSC

United Nations Security Council

USAID

United States Agency for International Development

WAD

Women and Development

WB

World Bank

WBIEG

World Bank Independent Evaluation Group

WCED

World Commission on Environment and Development

WED

Women, Environment and Development

WEO

World Environment Organization

WFP

World Food Programme

WHO

World Health Organization

WHS

World Humanitarian Summit

WID

Women in Development

WTO

World Trade Organization


Introduction: Understanding Development
A brief history of development
Development and the United Nations system
Conceptualizing development
International development has undergone significant changes in the five-year period
since the publication of the first edition of Understanding Development in 2012. Most
notably, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that framed international
development for a 15-year period came to an end in 2015 to be replaced by the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), which are designed to be achieved by 2030. These important
episodes are addressed in two new chapters at the end of this second edition (chapters 12
and 13, respectively). Likewise, other key recent events and trends that are shaping
international development – international migration, humanitarianism, population
displacement and the global refugee crisis – are examined in the other new chapter of this
edition (chapter 11).1 These chapters not only deal with new topics, but also the range of
material that they cover serves to update some of the original chapters. For example,
chapter 11, ‘Migration, Displacement and Humanitarianism’, builds on the conflict,
security and development themes covered in chapter 5. Likewise, chapter 13 on the SDGs
addresses recent changes in relation to international development finance, and in doing
so it updates chapter 8 (‘Financing Development: Foreign Aid and Debt’).
Most importantly, the book continues to problematize development, highlighting and
exploring its contested and plural nature. Each chapter deals with the main issues and
debates surrounding a particular development topic, including conflict and security,
gender, foreign aid and debt, health and education, the environment and globalization.
However, before analyzing these issues and debates, we need to understand the meaning
and nature of development. A useful starting point in this regard is to survey the history
of development.

A brief history of development
The origins of development are disputed, but for many writers on this subject its
intellectual roots lie within the European Enlightenment of the eighteenth century.2 The
themes that run through this particular episode in human history, notably those of
progress, rationalism and modernity, have exerted an enormous influence upon
development and for some (for good or ill) they underpin the whole project.3 Indeed, the
notion of becoming modern and modernizing are often viewed as both the goal and
process of development. Further contributing to this mode of thought were the dominant
themes of the nineteenth century in the form of science, capitalism, industrialization and
imperialism.

1940s and 1950s


Development in its contemporary guise emerged after the Second World War, with the
creation of the United Nations (UN) and in particular institutions like the World Bank
(WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that were designed to bring about postwar reconstruction and international economic stability, respectively (see Helleiner
2006).
However, some of the development approaches and policies of the 1940s and 1950s had to
an extent been outlined in the 1920s and 1930s, although putting them into practice was
disrupted by the Great Depression and then the Second World War. More specifically, the
emergence of some aspects of development policy and practice can arguably be traced to
colonial development prior to 1940. For example, the contemporary practice of aid
provision dates to this period. In 1929, the Colonial Development Act was passed in the
United Kingdom, which set up a Colonial Development Fund to allocate relatively small
amounts of British government money to colonial economic development. There were
parallel developments in France, with the creation of the Fonds d’Investissement pour le
Développement Economique et Social (FIDES) in 1946. Indeed, such policies led into the
‘developmentalist colonialism of the 1940s and 1950s’ (Cooper 2002: 197). In the case of

Africa, what has been termed a ‘second colonial occupation’ began with increased
investment by Britain and France in the transport infrastructures, education systems and
agricultural production of their African colonies. In this vein, Uma Kothari has sought to
reconstruct ‘the colonial genealogies of development’ (2005: 50) by interviewing former
colonial officers who subsequently worked in development. She argues that mainstream
development neglects its colonial past and is, perhaps unwittingly, seeking to portray
development as something distinct and ‘good’.
But it is important not to overstate the relationship between colonialism and
development, especially as they are driven by different motives. Thus the ‘second colonial
occupation of Africa’ has also been viewed as an attempt by the colonial powers to
develop their colonies as trading partners that contributed to the colonial economy.
Others see it as a way of Britain and France trying to nullify the growing domestic and
international criticism of colonialism. Likewise, the Colonial Development Act has been
viewed as the United Kingdom’s response to the economic crisis caused by the Great
Depression, rather than as an example of British philanthropy. In sum, for its critics,
colonialism was an exploitative and extractive enterprise whose association with
development is therefore questionable.
For many, a defining moment in the history of development was the inaugural address
given by President Truman on 20 January 1949. In his speech, Truman announced his
plan for a ‘fair deal’ for the rest of the world, declaring that: ‘We must embark on a bold
new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress
available for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas. The old imperialism
– exploitation for foreign profit – has no place in our plans. What we envisage is a
program of development, based on concepts of democratic fair dealing (Truman 1967).
Many writers identify ‘underdeveloped areas’ as the key phrase in this speech, viewing it


as the moment when the condition of underdevelopment emerges and the task of
development begins (e.g., Dodds 2002; Escobar 1995b; Esteva 1992; Potter et al. 2004).4
For critics, the real purpose of Truman’s speech was to get developing countries to look to

the United States as a source of support and as a model to emulate, and in doing so he
was preparing the way for American hegemony in the post-war period (Esteva 1992: 6).
This claim formed part of a wider critique of the West which was that it was engaged in
establishing a range of neo-colonial relationships through development (Nkrumah 1965).
Indeed, for many in the South, development was simply a continuation of the forms of
trusteeship pursued by some European powers towards the end of their colonial rule.5
From their perspective, development was a patronizing project that enabled the West to
continue dictating to the non-western world. Furthermore, modernization theory, the
dominant development approach in the 1950s, was considered to be a part of this process
as it promoted a European conception of development.
Even at this early stage, counter-theories and approaches to the domination of
development by the North existed. In this period, it took the form of structuralism, which
emerged from Latin America. Indeed, structuralists advocated protectionism and forms of
disengagement from the international economy, such as import-substitution
industrialization (ISI), in order to nurture development in the region. Likewise, many
anti-colonial and nationalist leaders – like Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi in India,
Kwame Nkrumah (1965) in Ghana, and Julius Nyerere (1967a, 1967b) in Tanzania –
articulated positions on development as part of their drive for autonomy and
independence.

1960s
Modernization theory continued to define development as the 1960s – the first United
Nations Development Decade – began. As the decade progressed, another significant
trend in the history of development emerged in the form of increasingly critical
perspectives being articulated by writers from the South (e.g., Samir Amin, Arghiri
Emmanuel and Andre Gunder Frank).6 This criticism was reinforced by the fact that
anticipated levels of economic growth had failed to materialize in the South and, in
countries where growth had been achieved, the benefits were unevenly distributed. For
southern writers, the plight of their countries was due to the nature of the international
economic system, which had established the South’s dependency upon the North by

creating unfair terms of trade, among other measures (see chapter 1).

1970s
In the 1970s, the appeal of dependency theories was strengthened by the persistence and
deepening of global inequalities, with some countries were showing little sign of breaking
free from ‘underdevelopment’. International agencies like the International Labour
Organization (ILO) and the World Bank responded by turning their attention to
‘redistribution with growth’ and ‘basic needs’. These philosophies continued to stress the


necessity of economic growth, but placed greater emphasis upon gearing development
towards meeting the needs of the poor. The decade was also marked by certain other
changes of focus within development. In particular, there were signs of greater
appreciation of the ways in which gender is implicated in development, as well as the
different experiences of underdevelopment for women and men. Similarly, growing
environmental awareness was encouraged by the 1972 UN Stockholm Conference on the
Human Environment. Finally, economic growth and development for all countries was
profoundly shaped by disputes over energy, and specifically the oil crises of this decade,
which contributed to recession, inflation and debt (see chapter 8).

1980s
A notable feature of the 1980s was the debt crisis faced by developing countries,
especially in Africa and Latin America, as they struggled to cope with high interest rates
(chapter 8). Debt servicing was made more difficult by the weak international demand for
their exports and declining commodity prices, a by-product of the slowing down of the
world economy in the late 1970s, which became a global economic recession in the early
1980s. Both Africa and Latin America were also confronted with declining foreign direct
investment (FDI), which was a consequence of unfavourable lending conditions during
this period (Hewitt 2000). All of this meant that many developing countries sought
financial assistance from international financial institutions (IFIs), like the World Bank

and the IMF, during this period. This context and the widely perceived shortcomings of
statist theories of development, a view encouraged by the collapse of the state socialist
regimes in Eastern Europe, contributed to neo-liberalism becoming the new orthodoxy
within development. The shift to neo-liberalism was confirmed by the World Bank/ IMF’s
structural adjustment programmes (SAPs), which meant that financial assistance for
developing countries was conditional upon them reducing state socio-economic activity
and participating in global markets.
The 1980s was also the decade when the concept of sustainable development gained
increasing acceptance within development circles. Indeed, in 1987 the World Commission
on Environment and Development was held, out of which emerged the influential
Brundtland Report, Our Common Future (chapter 9). Interestingly, at the very time that
sustainable development was being articulated in development conferences, countries in
East Asia were starting to enjoy rapid export-oriented economic growth.

1990s
During the 1990s, with neo-liberalism continuing to guide official thinking, postdevelopment perspectives began to gain currency, with the nature and purpose of
development increasingly questioned. Above all, the cultural bias of development was
emphasized, with many writers highlighting its European Enlightenment roots and
arguing that such Eurocentrism could only be challenged by turning to grass-roots
approaches and valuing indigenous knowledge. Indeed, culture became an increasingly
important theme within development (see Schech and Haggis 2000).


Outside of debates within academia, the unpredictability of development was highlighted
by the Asian financial crisis of 1997, the effects of which were felt far beyond this region.
Nevertheless, the economic rise of China and India continued, as did environmental
concerns over fossil fuel-driven economic growth. The signing of the Kyoto Accord in
1997 was an attempt by much – though not all – of the international community to
address the serious issue of global warming caused by carbon dioxide emissions and other
greenhouse gases (chapter 9). Towards the end of the decade, as a result of the

widespread criticism of SAPs, the World Bank began to employ the vocabulary of local
engagement, participation and poverty reduction. This shift was reflected in the World
Bank’s promotion of poverty reduction strategies (PRSs), which place the onus upon
developing countries themselves formulating their own development approaches based
on local consultation. However, critics have questioned the amount of local input that
goes into these strategies and argue that the neo-liberal emphasis upon markets and a
minimal state persists within the documents and policies of the IFIs.

The new millennium
Today, as we move further into the twenty-first century, the contested and plural nature
of development has never been more apparent as neo-liberalism, participatory
approaches, post-development perspectives and sustainable development all compete to
define contemporary development theory and practice and do so within the context of
globalization, world population growth and environmental decline. Furthermore, issues
and debates that came to the forefront in the final years of the twentieth century, like
debt, the international terms of trade, the role of aid, conditionality, ‘good governance’,
human security and the environment, look set to continue to be important in this
century.

Development and the United Nations system
In the post-war period, a number of international institutions have been set up to
facilitate development. Indeed, when the UN was created in the aftermath of the Second
World War, the need to address development and related issues was acknowledged in its
charter. However, this commitment was broadly defined and expressed, and arguably it
was not until the early 1960s, with the launch of the UN First Development Decade, that
the UN began to engage seriously with development. Reflecting the emerging critical
literature of the time, a literature that was to evolve into dependency theory, figures
within the UN, such as Raúl Prebisch and his colleagues at the UN’s Economic
Commission for Latin America (ECLA), began to urge the organization to take a more
sympathetic stance towards the plight of developing nations, and for northern

governments to do more to help them (Thomas and Allen 2000: 200).
Concern about the nature of the economic relationships between developing countries
and the West led to the setting up of the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD) in 1964. Its task is to integrate developing nations into the