Why are people still poor in the 21st Century? Flashcards
Why minimise poverty?
- Development as capability expansion
- Sen argues that human freedom (like
human rights) is both intrinsically
and instrumentally important
How is development a capability expansion?
- Kant said that rational human being should be treated as an end in themselves and not as a means to something else - Therefore the fact that we are human has value in itself - Amartya Sen argues that a focus on economic growth often treats humans as a means of development rather than an end
What did Sen mean by freedom if both intrinsically and instrumentally important
- Intrinsically important - Freedom is important for its own sake. It is a goal in and of itself - Instrumentally important - Freedom is important as a means to achieving something else - Economic growth and development also are seen (by some political actors) as being intrinsically important - Sen thinks that economic development is instrumentally important. Economic prosperity is but one way to enrich people’s lives
What is absolute poverty?
“A standard of poverty that is based on an income level or access to resources, especially food, clothing, and shelter which are insufficient to keep body and soul together”
What is relative poverty?
“A standard of poverty in which people are deprived of the living conditions and amenities which are customary in the society to which they belong”
What is the status quo in regard to poverty?
Poverty is the rule rather than the exception over time
What measures of wealth and inequality are used?
- GDP
- PPP
- GINI
What is PPP?
A calculation of purchasing power that takes account of the relative cost of living and the inflation rates of different countries
What is GINI?
- Measure of inequality
- “The extent to which the distribution
of income or consumption expenditure
among individuals or households
within an economy deviates from a
perfectly equal distribution
How do realists explain patterns of development?
- No explicit theoretical approach per se because development is not the focus or power (realism) - When explaining differential development the focus is on merantilism - 16-18th European theory advocating government regulation to enhance state power - Encourage higher tariffs and positive balance of trade - Mercantilism thus sees a strong role for the state including in intervention/protectionism
How do liberals explain patterns of development?
- Focus more on economic liberalism
- Policy approach is more market
orientated, which is argued to be
self regulating - Often associated with modernisation
theory- All countries go through roughly
similar stages of development - Walt Rostow’s stages of
development - State governments should
facilitate economic development
through minimal regulation - A structuralist approach to
development
- All countries go through roughly
What are Walt Rostow’s stages of growth?
- Traditional socities
- Preconditon for takeoff
- Takeoff
- Drive to maturity
- High mass consumption
What are the major critical theories in regards to development?
- World Systems theory
- Environmental theory
- Neo-Marxists
What is the World Systems theory?
- Critical development theory
- Sees global
division of labor- Core (West)
- Semi-peripheral (Brazil, China,
India) - and peripheral areas (Russia,
most of Africa)
What is the Environmental theory in regards to development?
Environmental theorists critique focus on growth as being unsustainable and a primary cause of global environmental degradation