Why are people still poor in the 21st Century? Flashcards

1
Q

Why minimise poverty?

A
  • Development as capability expansion
  • Sen argues that human freedom (like
    human rights) is both intrinsically
    and instrumentally important
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2
Q

How is development a capability expansion?

A
- 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
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3
Q

What did Sen mean by freedom if both intrinsically and instrumentally important

A
- 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
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4
Q

What is absolute poverty?

A

“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”

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5
Q

What is relative poverty?

A

“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”

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6
Q

What is the status quo in regard to poverty?

A

Poverty is the rule rather than the exception over time

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7
Q

What measures of wealth and inequality are used?

A
  • GDP
  • PPP
  • GINI
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8
Q

What is PPP?

A

A calculation of purchasing power that takes account of the relative cost of living and the inflation rates of different countries

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9
Q

What is GINI?

A
  • 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
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10
Q

How do realists explain patterns of development?

A
- 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
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11
Q

How do liberals explain patterns of development?

A
  • 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
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12
Q

What are Walt Rostow’s stages of growth?

A
  • Traditional socities
  • Preconditon for takeoff
  • Takeoff
  • Drive to maturity
  • High mass consumption
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13
Q

What are the major critical theories in regards to development?

A
  • World Systems theory
  • Environmental theory
  • Neo-Marxists
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14
Q

What is the World Systems theory?

A
  • Critical development theory
  • Sees global
    division of labor
    • Core (West)
    • Semi-peripheral (Brazil, China,
      India)
    • and peripheral areas (Russia,
      most of Africa)
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15
Q

What is the Environmental theory in regards to development?

A

Environmental theorists critique focus on growth as being unsustainable and a primary cause of global environmental degradation

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16
Q

What is the Neo-marxist approach to development?

A
- Neo-Marxists often focused on
  external rather than internal
  explanations - Dependency theory
    - Resources flow from the periphery
      to the centre
    - Dependency theory
        - Colonial powers forces
          specialisation
        - From colonialism to
          neo-colonialism
        - Northern developed states
          exploit lesser developed
          Southern states for their
          primary commodities
        - The World Bank, IMF, and
          other IOs help perpetuate
          inequalities through tough
          loan conditionality
        - Remedy is to delve own
          economy through
          import-substituting
          industrialisation (autarckial)
        - Therefore an increased role
          for the state in the economy