Week 4 dev theory and poverty Flashcards
Productivity
- requires investments in people and an enabling macroeconomic environment in which people can achive their maximum potential
- many East Asian societies have accelerated their growth through tremendous investment in their human capital
- Japan and Republic of Korea have emrged as the most effiecient exporters of steel and steel products, without possesing any iron or coal-investment in their human productivity
- productivity like humans should be part of HD with equal importance given to the other 3 pillars. People must always be regarded as the ultimate end of development
Approaches to human development
The income approach
- this is one of the oldest approaches to human development
- human development is linked to income
- the idea is that the level of income reflects the level of freedom an individual enjoys
- higher the level of income, the higher is the levek of human development
Did you know:
Theres a direct link between how much money parents earn and how well their children do in school at an early age. Children from lower-income families do less well and have poorer health. This in turn can lead to fewer job oppertunities and lower income when these children reach adulthood.
Capabilities approach
- this approach is associated with Prof. Amartya Sen
- building human capabailities in the areas of health,
- education and access to resources is the kry to increasing human development
- 3 central concepts
1. funstioning: is a valuable activity or state that makes up people’s wellbeing
2. capability: is a person’s ability to do valuable acts or reach valuable states of being
3. agency: is a person’s baility to pursue and realise goals she has reason to value
The welfare approach
- looks at human beings as beneficiaries or targets of all development activities
- argues for higher government expenduture on education, health, social secondary and anemeties
- the government is responsible for increasing levels of human development by maximising expenditure on welfare
Social grants in SA are used in several ways by recipiants:
- to increase the labout force paryicipation rates (PFPR) amongst women
- old age pension is spent on eduaction in poor houselholds.. as a result higher school enrollment rates for girls
- improves access to nutrition
Empowerment
- the HDP is neither paternalistic nor based on charity or welfare concepts
- focus is on development by the people- participation is essential
- empowerment means that people can exercise choices of their own free will
1. it implies a political democracy- people can influence decisions about their lives
2. it requires economic liberalism- people are free from execessive economic control and regulations
3. it meas decentralisation of power so that all members of CSO. particularly NGO’s, paryicipate fully in making and implementing decisions - empowerment of people requires action on several fonts
1. investing in education and health of people
2. ensuring an enabling environment that gives everyone access to credit and productive assets
3. empowering both women and men so they can compete on an equal footing
Equity
- equity= equity in access not necesarilly results
- people must enjoy equitable access to oppetunitiues
- development without equity meas a restriction in the choices of many indidviduals in society
- equity in access to oppertunities demands a fundemantal restructuring of power in many societies
1. progressive fiscal policy, aimed at transferring income from rich to poor
2. credit sytems may need to change, to enable the poor to access credit
3. political oppertunities may need to be equalised throiugh voting rights reform and other measures to limit excessive political power held by a minority
4. sociala and legal barriers that limit the access of women or minority groups in a society needs to fall
Central argument: Human Development
The true aim of development is not only to boost incomes but also to maximise human choices by enhancing human rights, freedoms, capabilities and oppertunities and by enabling people to lead long, heathy and creative lives.. p14
“people are both beneficiaries and dfrivers of hman development as individuals and groups”
Early philosophers
Context
“wealth is evidently not the good we ae seeking, for it is merely useful dor the sake of something else” Aristotle (384-322B.C)
“so, act as to treat humanity, whetger in ther own perosn or in that of any other, in very case as an end withal, never as means only” (Immanual Kant, 1724-1804)
Argued:
- social arrangements must be judged by the extent to which they promote “human good”
- the nature of political arrangments must be evaluated in its success o failures in enabling people to live a flourishing life
Human development paradigm as a holistic development model p20
- the HDP covers all aspects of human development, but the vantage point is the widening of people’s choices and the enrichment of their lives
- On some aspects within this paradigm there is broad agreement
1. development must put people at the ecntre of its concerns
2. the purpose of development is to enlarge all human choices (not just income)
3. concerned with both building human capabilities and using those capabilities
4. there are 4 basic pillars, equity, sustianability, productivity, empowerment
5. defines the ends of development and analyses at length the link with human lives and questions its long term sustainability - there does, however, also exist an erroneous view that this view is anti-growth and only encompasses social development.. p21
Feautures of policy packages linking economic growth with growth in people choices.. p16
- people are moved to the centre stage
- development is anlysed and understood in terms of people- level of participation and benefit from the development..1994 RDP
- its about how peole’s lives have improved not jusr how production processes have improved - HD is assumed to have 2 sides
- one is the formation of human capabilities and two is the use people make of their acquired capabilities
- society must build human capital and ensure equitable access to oppertunities - careful distinction is maintained between ends and means
- people are regarded as the end, and GDP growth is an essential means for expanding human options
- economic growth is assesed against the yardstick of enriching the lives of people - embrace all of society- not just the economy
- political, cultural and social factors are given as much attention as the economic factors - people are both the means and the ends of development
- people are not just ‘human capital’ in production processes they are the ultimate end of development
Sustainability
- the next generation deserves the oppertunity to enjoy the same wellbeing we now enjoy
- sustainability in this paradigm is more than the renewal/proetction of natural resources
- in essence this means sustaining all forms of capital- physical, human, financial and environmental
- its about the equitable distribution of resources/oppertunities
- sharing development opportunities between present and future generations- thus intragenerational and intergenerational equity in access to opportunities
- Policy implications of such a view of sustainability include:
- Ensure that we dont sustain present levels of poverty
- re-examine wide disparities in lifestyles within and between nations
- an adjustment in the consumption and lifestyles of the rich nations and a major redistribution of the world’s income and resources are inevitable
Obstacles of human development-claims
- lack of capability and freedom to make even basic choices
- inability to acquire knowledge
- their material poverty, social discrimination
- inefficiency of institutions and other reasons
- the necessity for development:
1. building people’s capabilities in the areas of health, eduaction and access to resources
2. if people do not have capabilities in these areas, their chooces get limited
Recap of sustainable development
Context:
- sustainable development
- 1970s intellectual movement
- UN commissions
Argument:
- meeting present needs- 4 types of debts
- three pillars
Tools:
- UN Millenium Development Goals (17)
Policy implications
- how should it be achived
Who is responsible for attaining or ensuring sustainable development is on the agenda/implemented/achived?
How is ‘needs’ defined? Present and future generations’ needs?
Income and human choices p14-15
Human development paradigm redefines choice to be more than economic choices/income
Enlargement of all choices (economic, social, political or cultural
- possible uneven distribution of income- economic vulnerable have restrained choices
- lack of trickle-down effect
- dependance on national priorities chosen by the society or its rulers (guns or butter, politcal authoritaranianism or political democracy, a command economy or participatory development)
- no automatic link between income and human lives- accumulation of wealth not necessary for the fulfilment of all type sof human choice
- unless societies recognise that their real wealth is their people, an execssive obsession with creating material wealth can obscure the goal of enriching human lives
Leading theorists on HD
- Amartya Sen said that an increase in freedom is the main objective of development
- to improve HD, people need to build on certain capabilities (the range of things they can do and be)
- some of thes einclude access to knowledge, leading long and healthy lives and particupating in decsions that affect their lives - Mahbub-ul-Haq- The basic purpose of human development is yo enlarge people’s choices
- objective of human development is to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long healthy and creative lives
- people are the real wealth of nations, therefore its about people having more choices to lead the life they valued
Defining poverty
- There is no “one” way of measuring or defining poverty
- How poverty is defined and measured depends on the indicators employed
Need to study poverty to get the cause (not short term solutions) and create a sustainable solution. Big difference between aiding and development.
Aiding: look at challenge and give short term solution
Development: longer process, integrate system that delivers in the long run
Poverty is an indicator of where development must take place
Two forms of poverty:
- Case poverty: focus on the individual/household in more affluent societies where the poverty of the former is visible, compared to the living conditions of individual an households in surrounding areas
- Community poverty occurs when almost everyone in the community lives in poverty
However, poverty can also be classified according to the level of disadvantage experience:
- Absolute poverty: where income is so low that even min standard of nutrition, shelter cannot be maintained
- Relative poverty: expression of poverty of one entity in relation to another entity. Basic needs are met but in terms of other people, still disadvantaged
Equilibrium/cycle of poverty
Poverty in itself, maintains the forces that leads to continuation
- poverty alleviation projects do bring some relief but state of poverty returns and poor remains as poor as before
- Why? Approach and Implementation
implementation in the Socio Economic position of a community/society are obliterated by some or other factor operating in society
- cultural practices, natural disasters, normality of poverty (chronic crises)
- savings from development aid are spent on means of survival and not invested in productive enterprises
Reasons for continuation of poverty
- Past- capitalism, colonialism, neo-colonialism
- new challenge- ecological aspects that require consideration
- Sustainability of interventions/long term vs short term impacts
Typs of consumers of natural resources
All the natural resources are shared by 3 Socio-Ecological classes of peopel
- Over-consumers
- Marginals
- Sustainers
- Over-consumers
North/industrialised countries
travel by car or plane
diets for example: meat and bottled beverages
Groceries sand consumer goods are packaged, disposable products
To a large extent. Overexploitation of nature; resources can lead to global ecological damage exploitation: fast fashion, SeaSpiracy)
Dualism
- Marginals
- Live below subsistence levels- they’re usually absolute poorest
- travel by foot, have standard and meatless diets of low nutritional value
- - Sustainers
- Make sensible use o scarce resources and could be compared with those defined as “relative poor”
- travels by bike, train, bus, taxi (public transport)
- diet (healthy grains, vegetables, small amounts of meat)
- Have access to and use clean water for personal use\Instead of bottled water and canned beverages, they drink homemade drinks
- Waste is recycled and lives in modest to adequate shelter
Spatial distrubutions of poverty in the 3rd world
- poverty: seen as rural phenon=memon, which cuties seen as an oppertunity for escape
but reality?
reality shows urbanisation results in the densification of urban poverty
urbanisation: process/movement of people and concentration of services and economic opportunities
- causes of urbanisation
rural deprivation
“push factors”: lack of income and genral oppertunities, lack of services
service and economic oppertunities in cities act as “pull factors”
Role of Urban Bias- government policy favors investment
Support of urbanisation process
Conceptualisation and its importance
- conceptualisation= provides frameowrk for development of definitions and measurement
- operationilisation= assists in meausure of abstract concepts (identify: who is poor? how many are poor? intensity of their poverty?)
- why are definitions and measurements important:
1. understanding what concepts mean (conetxt)
2. definition determines evalusation
3. measurement dacilitates accountability
Two approaches in conceptualising/ defining poverty
- “objectivist” - poverty is external reality. Sociologists/social analyst needs to go out to meausure
- forms of measurement
1. monetary approach
2. capabilities approach
3. inequality approach
4. social exclusion - “subjectivist”- internal experince/reality
- seek the participation of various stakeholders including the poor in defining their circumstances
- form of measurement
1. participatory approach
- Monetary Approach to meausuring Poverty
- poverty is understood as a short fall in income or consumption from a determined poverty line
- build o assumption of uniformity in needs of all individuals
- situation and Shelter, their reality, their consumption needs and satisfaction thereof
- Basic needs:
1. basic nutritional diet
2. clothes
3. rent - sometimes include the following
1. transport cost
2. educational cost
3. health services
Operationalising Poverty as per Monetary Approach
- calculate the total market value of a specific basket of the minimum of essential items in a particular context
- market value of basket= poverty line/threshold
- collect data on people’s expenditure/income (wages+subsidies+grants)
- individuals with an income below the market value of the basket of minimum resources are regarded as poor
World Bank definition:
“The inablity to attain a minimum standard of living measured in terms of basic consumption needs or income required to satisfy them”
NB: poverty lines are not universal
- multiple poverty lines set by individual countries at a level of consumption per capita (per person)
- annual use of goods and services by each person
- calculation= quantity of goods and services used/total population
- Principle of Purchasing Power Parities (similarities) (PPP)
- standardised measure that allows for comparisons among countries
- conetxt specific to each country
### From Monetary Approach to Inclusion of Basic Needs
Monetary approach critiqued:
- focus on Individual and Household
- expansion needed to focus the basic needs of larger units/communites
- Realtive Poverty started influencing the defintiion and conceptualisation of poverty
- focus on their subsistence needs
- Capability Approach to Measuring Poverty
- focus: quality of life/human development Paradigm (freedom to make own choices)
- greatly influenced by the contributions of Amartya Sen- economist
- these devlopments influenced how the United Nations Human Development Report reports on Poverty including the notion of Human Poverty at the hand of the Human Development index (HDI)
- HDI- summary measure of average achivement in key indicators/dimensions of human development
- three indicators of HDI:
1. health
2. education
3. economic metric - HDI ranges from 0-1 (0=poor quality of life, 1=good quality of life)
- Inequality Approach to Poverty
Individuals, families and groups in the population can be said to be in poverty when they lack the resources to obtain the types of diet, participate in the activities and have the living conditions and the amenities which are customary, or at least widely encouraged or approved, in the societies to which they belong. Their resources are so seriosult below the commanded by the average family that they are, in affect, excluded from the ordinary living patterns, customs, and activities.
Peter Townser (1979)
- Social Exclusion Approach to Poverty
- focus: on complete or partial exclusion of people from full participation in the society in which they live
- excluded seens as distuinguishable collectives: race or ethnic groups, the aged or handicapped, rather than excluded individuals
- emerged in Europe’s rich industrial countries with well developed welfare state practices (examples?state delivery?)
- basis of welfare state practices are the recognition and realisation of social and economic rights- thus adress social and economic exclusion
- Social Exclusion approach aims to transcend poverty’s narrow focus on monetary or material resource distribution
- Research usually on Relative Poor
