Development Theories

Darshini Mahadevia
(Course: Theories and Evolution of Planning)
Semester II
Faculty of Planning and Public Policy
CEPT University, Ahmedabad
 Why Study Development Theories as a Student
of Planning?

 Planning is for Change and in the modern world we talk of

planned change, through planners.
 Deliberately engineered social change oriented to specific
goals.
 But, in development theory, there is also now a new major
strand (stream of argument) that challenges the
assumption of superiority of planned change in contrast to
change through open political debate (negotiations of the
stake holders)

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Change vs. Stability
 In history, over short period of time, one finds rapid
and continuous change
 On the other hand, over long period of time, one finds
long periods of stability
 What is primary? Change of stability?
 That depends upon one’s world view, whether it is
optimistic or pessimistic, optimistic view looks at
change and pessimistic view looks at ‘Good Old
Days’

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Change vs. Effective Change

 Change is something that is permanent (a

statement that is a paradox)
 Term effective change is value-laden

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And so there is ethics of change
 Most important ethical term associated with
discussion of change is ‘Progress’
 Term ‘Progress’ has many versions.
 There are three versions of term ‘Progress’ (Now
even four from the perspective of the South)
These are: (i) Eighteenth Century version
(ii) Nineteenth Century version
(iii) Post-Second World War version

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Major development theories are informed
about the Western ethics of ‘Progress’ as the
Change indeed begun from the industrial
societies of the West. Now, when the
developing world is industrialising, question
of ethics has become important here as well
and hence this course.

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 Broadly, there are two main positions from which
‘Progress’ is analysed
(i)Liberal-democratic – Change as evolution, in which
man viewed as ‘consumer’, that is humankind is seen
acting in selfish wants (desires). A fairly pessimistic
position.
(ii) Radical-democratic – Sees humans as doers
(actors) and humankind acting in light of social goals,
arguing that positive change is possible. A fairly
optimistic position.

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 Change, Social Change is viewed with two
perspectives (metaphors)
(i) Continuity, that is evolutionary change –
Social evolution, that is the survival of the
fittest, which Darwin had stated in
‘Biological evolution’
(ii) Rupture, that is radical change

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 Evolutionary Social Change perspective

 Very convenient argument for those arguing for a ‘laissez faire’ in

economics, that is those pursuing indiscriminate pursuit of wealth.
 Summarized in five points
(i) The object of enquiry is the whole
(ii)Idea of cumulative change – that there is no sharp discontinuity
(iii) Idea of endogenous change – that the change arises from
within the system and not through external impetus
(iv) Idea of increasing complexity – there is shift from simple forms
to complex forms
(v) Idea of unitary direction of change.
 Liberal-democratic theories fall here.

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 Rupture as a perspective of social change

 Very different from evolutionary

 Predominantly Marxist – Society is inherently build of
groups that have conflicting interests and hence are in
social conflict. These conflicts provide motor for change.
 For example, Marxists argue that capitalist
entrepreneurs destroyed the local historically outmoded
social forms and created new forms of social
organisation in a society.
 Radical-democratic theories of change fall here.

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Liberal-democratic theories
(i) Liberal-market theories
(ii) Social-market theories

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 Liberal-market theories – These are earlier group of theories.
Within these there are three streams:
(a) An early UK/UN line which is heavily influenced by economics
(b) A line mixed in more sociology with economics, which is more
US product
(c) Neo-classical (resembling early economic theories) which
emphatically asserted the priority of market in human affairs and
sub-ordination of ‘state’ to market.
(State is considered external intervention in market processes)

 Development or progress is equated with economic growth

 Amenable to technical characterisation
 A relationship of super and sub-ordination legitimated
 Development theories coming from those who are developed,
through experts of the developed countries

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 Social-market theories – Reject the above
model and sociologized economics. Progress
is not just equated with economic growth but
with planned, ordered, social reform.
 Progress is ordered social reform
 Produced by other than economists and is
pragmatic, humane and plausible

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 Radical-democrat theories – Democratic ethic and
historical materialism strategy of analysis. Marxist.
Historical materialism is: society under constant
change, moving from one level of material well-being
to another, the move carried out through conflict of
classes.
 Human is considered a doer or an actor in this social
change process. Process of change built around
‘objective conditions’ of change and ‘subjective
forces’ of change.

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 The liberal-market and social-market theories
together are called orthodox theories
 They tend to take the whole business of development as
technical or/and obvious.
 Liberal-market see development as a matter of building
appropriate physical, social and economic structures,
largely as a matter of acquiring characteristics familiar
with the experience of developed nations.
 Social market see development as a business of
organising decent lives for people living in the Third
World, mainly disadvantaged groups among them.

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 But, the notion of development is not purely
technical and is certainly not obvious (that is
development will take place). It is an ethico-
political notion. Hence, the process of
bringing change, ‘planned change’ or
‘planned progress’ is not technical.

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 Methods of Change
(i) either through political action by a range of
agents
(ii) or through planning intervention for ordered
change

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 Actions for Ordered Change

i) State action to secure change – Intervention

by the State. It is the approach of agencies
committed to planning in pursuit of development
goal. Pursued by international agencies linked to
UN, by governments of new nations. Was an
influential approach during early phase of
decolonisation. Approach centres around
agencies of planned change.

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ii) Spontaneous through market – Argues for
spontaneous order and development generated through
free market. The markets are self-regulatory (not
regulated by the state) and there is mimimal rule-setting
by the state. Development (economic growth) through
maximization of economic, social, political and cultural
benefits.

Institutions promoting this approach are the international

financial institutions such as the IMF, World Bank, Asian
Development Bank, etc.

This approach has failed to promise realisation of

maximum benefits to the poor of the Third World. But,
has a strong intellectual backing, as development
institutions continue to be dominated by the economists.
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iii) Political power for development – Central role is
allocated to public sphere within which rational dialogue
can lead to change. The institutional vehicles for change
are the NGOs, charities, and social movements. In
Europe, support has come from media, political activism
and academia. Critics point out that this approach cannot
resolve the situation when conflicts arise.

A radical version of this is Marxist version of class

struggle. But, that does not remain a planned change.
The process to attain state power becomes a political
struggle which is radical, and subsequent ordered actions
are by the state agencies.

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 Rise of Social Science

1 Planning is an extension of Social Sciences

- Town Planning has antecedent (ancestry) in Physical
planning and greatly influenced by architects/engineers
- Modern, democratic society, we use term urban and
regional planning and not town planning and is seen as
an extension of Social Sciences for the success of the
discipline
- Today, urban and regional planners work in different
capacity than just town planners and hence, this overview
of history of social science discipline is essential.

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2 Rise of social sciences is rooted very much
in the European experience, particularly of
three streams through 17th to 19th centuries:
i) English enlightenment – Hobbes and Locke
ii) French enlightenment – Rousseau and
Saint-Simon
iii) Scottish enlightenment – Adam Smith
These efforts resulted in rise of modernist
paradigm (theory) of development and urban
and regional planning emerges as epitome of
modernist paradigm.

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Enlightenment movements in Europe
i) René Descartes – Early 17th century. A French
mercenary (some one working only for money).
 Descartes gets a dream. The dream says, (a) doubt
everything that presents itself to mind, (b) dissect the
problem into many parts as possible, (c) reconstruct the
whole process through step-by-step inductive process
(reasoning developed from observed examples or from
empirical observations and (d) enumerate and record
everything.
 Descartes sets the stage for abstractions, analysis,
synthesis and control.
 Descartes’s vision was unitary (formed of singular units
added up together), universal and absolutist (complete
and final without any alternative).

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 He said, there is only one answer to any problem and
there is only one truth.
 This is very much modernist paradigm, which stated that
there is only one way development can take place and
there is only one definition of development.
 This is the beginning of scientific reasoning and
rationalism. Prior to that, knowledge was controlled by
theology. Science had not developed.
 By mid-20th century, this Cartesian vision was at the
unconscious level as the fundamental assumption of a
global culture of modern institutions and bureaucratic
decision making. Human societies are abstracted as
expanses of space awaiting planning, inputs, and
infrastructure, to be arranged and rearranged according to
circumstances and calculations.
 Cartesian vision was a very much mathematical and
geometric vision of human society.
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ii) Sir Francis Bacon – Early 17th century. Contemporary
of Descartes
 Emphasises use of human reason in inquisition of things,
that is use of deductive logic, unlike inductive methods
(empiricist method) of Descartes.
 Development of logic as a discipline is attributed to
Bacon.
 Bacon argues that the method of understanding anything
is to analyse it by breaking it into pieces, and by due
process of exclusion and rejection lead to inevitable
conclusion. The purpose is not to win argument with
academician (like Indian philosophers have been
portrayed doing it), but for commanding nature in action.
 He suggests that only with the division of labour and
specialisation “men will begin to know their strength,
when instead of great numbers doing all the same
things, one shall take charge of one thing and another of
another.
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 He emphasises instrumental role of reason and
knowledge. (Once again, in theology controlled system
of knowledge – one where India is now moving to –
reason has no place and the knowledge is given).
 For Bacon acquisition of knowledge is for purchasing
everything, including power. Bacon’s vision of modern
knowledge was one of power, of domination of nature
and domination over others (those lacking knowledge).
(This indeed was stated by many colonialists, for
example, Sir Cecil Rhodes who conquered and created a
country called Rhodesia – now called Zaire – said that
through his knowledge, he wanted to civilize the
barbarians.)
 Bacon argued that what makes some humans (men) god
over others is the invention, the technology. Hence,
Bacon is called prophet of technocracy.
 In Bacon’s vision, the knowledge and technology are
only in the hands of the few. His knowledge is equated
with utility (control over nature and people) and power.
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English Enlightenment - Isaac Newton
(1643-1727)
 Defined parameters of western science. Later half of
17th century was a period of unprecedented scientific
discoveries, and setting up of British Royal Society and
French Academy of sciences. (This was also a period of
setting up of state-sponsored institutions to promote
economic development and Bank of England, first
national central bank founded in 1694.)
 Newton moves Aristotelian metaphysics to modern
physics, the move from religious and Aristotelian
reasoning about world to modern stress on attention to
natural world as route to knowledge.
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Move from
- theistic to materialistic explanation of nature of human and
other living creatures’ existence,
- medieval scholasticism to modern rationalism and
empiricism as nature of knowledge
- abstract theoretical reflection to the use of experimental
method of generating knowledge, and
- contemplative acquiescence (acceptance) to generating
knowledge to a notion that effective action flows from the
deployment of practical reasoning.

The Newtonian science gets tied to the rise of bourgeois

(middle-class) mercantile (commercial) capitalism. The
new rising bourgeoisie needed natural science against the
church-led feudal status quo. The French Enlightenment
shrugged off religion completely from public sphere.
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French Enlightenment
 French Enlightenment produced a series of thinkers who were
committed to political change in France and they saw themselves as
in alliance with the rising bourgeoisie in France.

Rousseau (1712-78) is one known face of French Enlightenment.

- Rousseau affirmed general rationalism and determinism.
(Determinism is theory that actions are determined by forces
independent of will, that is actions are a result of objective
conditions and not subjective will).
- He argued that human freedom depended on clear understanding of
the laws of nature and society. And any deviation form these laws
would have negative impact on the individual.
- He looks for an ideal moral/social order.

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- He believes that the social contract, that was originally designed
to protect members has become twisted into inegalitarian forms.
He argues for a social reform for the citizenship in republican
democratic politics. (Republic is where the supreme power is held
by people or their representatives). Notion of equality brought.
- Rousseau is considered the theorist of the French Revolution.

French Enlightenment was followed by French Revolution, which

incidentally was very bloody. There was time in Europe when
people who considered themselves as democrats were viewed
with someone who had blood on their hands as a consequence of
French Revolution. It gave way to Napoleon and through who
bourgeoisie came to power and there was a gradual shift to
industrial liberal democracy through the nineteenth century.

Same thing happened in UK and liberal democracy began with

the beginning of the industrial societies. In USA, with an open
continent, economic growth and liberal democracy went straight
into practice.
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 Saint-Simon – the first planner (1760-1825)

 Saint-Simon – a French count, named Claude Henri de

Saint-Simon.
- Mission to work for the improvement of humankind.
- Material, industrial production, and technology would be
the means to accomplish this improvement, and for him,
these three words became synonymous.
- This meant total reorganisation of society.
- Saint-Simon was truly the modernization project.
- Like Descartes and Bacon, who displayed desire to control
nature, Saint-Simon, believed in it and not only that he did
not find anything wrong with it. He declared
“desire to dominate which is innate in all men has ceased
to be pernicious, or atleast, we can foresee an epoch
when it will not be harmful any longer, but will become
useful”.
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- Saint-Simon and his followers envisaged a society
reorganised to channel human aggression into massive
development projects and incessant industrial growth.
They envisaged government as applied economics, and
politics to be replaced by technocratic, instrumental
reason, by science of production.
- Key to this transformation was to be the organisation of
all material activity in the society through a unitary and
directing bank, which would be depository of all riches,
total fund of production. This bank would oversee, credit
institutions that would be responsive to localised
production needs.
- He can be called the first development planner. He
travelled to USA to participate in American Revolutionary
War in 1783. Then he went to Mexico to unsuccessfully
convince the Spanish Viceroy to invest in plan to
construct a canal across Isthmus of Panama.
- He proposed European unification.
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- After his death, his followers initiated a journal, Le Globe,
which was read over whole of Europe.
- Saint-Simon had a vision of creating a ‘Supreme Council
of Newton’, in which 21 men of science and artists would
govern the world and assume the moral authority, which
was at that time was with the Church. Saint-Simonians,
too floated a vision, through Le Globe, to have economic
and political union of Europe and Far East, linked
together by a system of railroads and canals and to be
financed by new industrial development banks. (Does
this sound familiar?)
- Many Saint-Simonians were engineers, graduates of
École Politechnique in Paris, as we as chemists,
geologists and financiers. In history of European
development, particularly with respect to railroads and
banking, their influence was immense.
- Saint-Simon unleashed a technocratic utopia,
(technocratic faith or what one now calls modernisation
ideals).
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- But, they also had realised that in fulfilling these ideals,
private property and inheritance laws came in the way.
Thus, Le Globe invented the new philosophy ‘socialism’
in 1832. And the Le Globe took a turn towards socialist
principles, mainly based on the ideology of abolition of
private property. (Remember that the French
enlightenment movement considered owning of private
property as a natural law, which was getting challenged
somewhat later in France, through the ideology of Siant-
Simonians.
- Tremendous influence of Saint-Simonians is found in the
leaders of the Third world, after the independence of
these countries from European colonial rules. (Which we
will see later.)

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 Adam Smith (1723-90)
 Known for economic thought, called classical
economics
 He affirmed Newtonian method of proceeding
from first principles to reconstruct the complexity
of the observed world.

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Key ideas of Smith’s economic system are:
a) Division of labour, where specialization in production
coupled with technical innovation allows vastly increased
production and economic growth.
b) The notion of market, where products are offered to
consumer and which acts as an institutional structure
where the buyers and sellers meet and agreements on
price of land (through rent), labour (through wages) and
capital (through profit) give signal to all parts of the
economic system of how the future is to be rationally
ordered.
c) The postulate of economic rationality, the ideas that the
buyers and sellers are rational agents (actors) who know
their wants.

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d) The notion of spontaneous order whereby the
pursuit of individual satisfactions generates via
the mechanism of the invisible hand optimal
societal benefit. The invisible hand is the social
structure.
e) The idea of economic progress over time as
the market freed of mercantilist restriction
worked to secure wealth of the nation.
Smith’s work pre-dates industrial revolution
and does not anticipate industrial society.

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Impact of Smith’s work on social sciences is that:
a)The sphere of market can be investigated
naturalistically because it is the realm of
economic causes and effects
b)The technical knowledge of economic science
will enable actors to order their activities better.
c) His notion of rational economic man is still used
in economics as an ideal type whereby
economic activity can be analysed.

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 Adam Smith’s theory articulates the interests of the rising
industrial capitalists. They were attracted to the following
arguments of Smith:
i) The free pursuit of private gain can act to raise the levels of
living of the entire community.
ii) How individuals in a community can be pursued to take up
activities that would benefit both the individuals as well as
the whole community.

With regards to wages of the workers, he says that the

wages should be natural wages. Natural wage was a rate
that just allowed the workers to survive and reproduce. If
wages fell below subsistence levels than the workers would
die and there would be fewer workers whose wages would
then have to increase and by that wage rates would
increase. If more wages then improvement in living
standards and more workers (either by more of their
children surviving as he said or more becoming workers),
that would bring down the wage.
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 Smith was also father of Public Finance, which
was then picked up by Pigou. Smith did say
that there was role of government. He said
how the government could raise its revenues.
That was done to generate high economic
growth rate. That was to be done through
taxation. He laid down four maxims/ rules for
taxing the public:
(i) Taxes should be proportional, every one
should pay the same proportion of their
income as taxes (unlike today as many of the
taxes are progressive) (when Smith was
writing, most taxes were regressive and a
proportional tax would have reduced the tax
burden on the low income families) 40
(ii) Tax payers should not be kept in dark about
their taxes, they should know in advance how
much they have to pay and that the tax laws
should not be changed radically from year to
year.
(iii) Taxes should be levied at a time and in a
manner that is most convenient for people to
pay. Eg. Current practice of levying capital
gains tax when it realised and not when it is
accrued is best example of this maxim.
(iv) Best tax was the one that was least expensive
to collect.
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Smith’s political economy
i) There is increasing interdependence of people within a
society as the production system advances.
ii) Wealth was derived from creative human labour working
on available natural materials in order to produce useful
objects. (Labour theory of value subsequently developed
by Marx). The value of goods traded in the market place
derived from the labour embodied in them.
iii) The key to increase in wealth of nations is the rise in
labour productivity associated with the increasing
division of labour. As the tasks of production are broken
into specialist parts on the basis of advances in
productive techniques and machinery then both the
overall output of the economy increases and the
interdependence of the various elements of the economy
increases.
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iv) How were these individual actions ordered (organised) so
that there was no anarchy and the overall harmony was
maintained? That was through the market place, through the
rewards of land, labour and capital.
v) How are the prices of each of the factor of production, land,
labour and capital determined? Aruges Smith, through what
is the social circumstance of each of the actor in concerned,
the labour, the capitalist and the landowner. Smith is dividing
the population into different classes and analysing their
position in the overall economy. (This class analysis, Marx
takes forward to give his analysis of society and social
change.) Orthodox economists look at individual behaviour
and not classes.

Smith’s economics is called classical economics. From there

the term neo-classical comes, one who pick up the market
part of Adam Smith’s theory and not the political economy
part. (The classical economics grapple with the grasping of
structural dynamics underlying surface market
phenomenon).
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 Neo-classical economists or what is called the New Right
emerges from the Adam Smith’s theory of free market.
This is a misleading treatment of Adam Smith. They
make an overarching claim that the free markets
maximize human welfare. They argue that:
i) Economically, free markets act efficiently to distribute
knowledge and resources around the economic system
and that leads to maximization of material welfare (The
current regime of IPRs do not efficiently distribute
knowledge)
ii) Socially, as action and responsibility for action resides
with the person (individual), then the liberal,
individualistic social system ensure that the moral worth
is maximised.

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iii) Politically, as liberalism offers a balanced solution to
problems of deploying, distributing and controlling
power then liberal polities ensure that political freedom
is maximised.
iv) As the whole package is grounded in genuine positive
scientific knowledge then in such a system there
would be effective deployment of positive knowledge.
Free market comprises of atomistic individuals who
know their own individually arising needs and wants
and who make contracts with other individuals through
the marketplace to satisfy their needs and wants. The
market is a neutral mechanism for transmitting
information about needs and wants and goods that
might satisfy them.

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 According to the New Right, this model is a satisfaction-
maximising asocial mechanism in which:
a) There is legally guaranteed private ownership of means
of production,
b) There is pervasive perfect completion amongst the
suppliers who operate in complex division of labour.
Perfect market is where there is abundance of suppliers
and consumers, there is perfect information of buyers
and sellers and commodities and there is no monopoly.
c) The suppliers are aiming to meet the demands of
sovereign (independent) consumers
d) Everything is ordered through the market.

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 Track record of the New Right. The World Bank and the IMF are
part of this New Right.
i) In UK and USA, that has led to unemployment, reductions in
general welfare, declining manufacturing production and mountains
of debt. (Something that has begun to happen in India).
ii) Other alternative models have succeeded, such as social market
system, which is based on consensus-centred corporatism, or east
Asian experiment of state-assisted development, the latter being
particularly being cites as a great success.
iii) In the third world, post-1980s, the neo-classicism has governed the
policies of the government, which was not so immediately after the
second World War, when the newly independent third world country
governments were aware of their political-economic, social-
institutional and cultural weaknesses.
iv) Increase in hunger (see Africa) through permanent damage done to
the fragile economies of the Third World. (Susan George’s work)

These programmes of liberalisation, have usually required

parallel programmed of political repression. (In India, it is
accompanied by communalism, a method through which political
freedom get curtailed, of the minorities directly and of the majority
through shrinking of political space.)
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 Karl Marx
- Dialectics of Historical Change

Dialects is investigation of truths in philosophy. The

dialectal method assumes that everything is under
constant change and only thing that is the final truth or
universal or permanent is the constant change. (This
sounds paradoxical). And hence, there is nothing that is
given. In contrast, there is opposing view in philosophy
that says that there are certain truths that are permanent
(constant) and which do not change and one of that is
‘God’. ‘Dialectics of Nature’ written by Fredrick Engels,
talks about this constant process of change in the daily
processes of nature. At the end of a process of change,
a thing transforms itself into its opposite. (Day becomes
night, hot becomes cold, and so on)

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- Materialism (Historical Materialism)
Materialism as a science argues that there is
material basis for everything. That is, the people
make their lives in their routine productive
activity. This productive activity is taken to be the
central business of human social life and around
it more abstract concerns, such as law, religion,
art, etc. cluster.

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“In the social production of their life, men (and women)
enter into definite relations that are indispensable and
independent of their will. relations of production which
correspond to a definite state of the development of their
material productive forces. The sum total of these
relations of production constitutes the economic
structures of society, the real foundation, on which rise a
legal and political superstructure and to which
correspond definite forms of social consciousness. The
mode of production of material life conditions the social,
political and intellectual life processes in general. It is not
the consciousness of men that determines their being,
on the contrary, their social being that determines their
consciousness” (In preface to A Contribution to the
Critique of Political Economy in 1859) by Karl Marx).
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Religion is the superstructure, that he calls is opium of
the masses.

Know a person through his/her actions and not words as

the true identity is in the material being (material actions)
and not in consciousness.

Marx has a materialist conception of History, where is

makes human production to analysis of human life. The
history is interpreted through physical evidences found
and not from the epical works written by saints, etc. He
argues that human beings make their own patterns of
life. (A book called Man’s Worldly Goods by David
Liberhan that is the materialist interpretation of history).
This materialist thsis of history is not widely and routinely
accepted as a basis of social science except the
religious fundamentalists of all hue, Hindu, Muslim,
Christian, etc.)
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- Marx gave a philosophical and economic critique
of the capitalist economic system, which was the
economic system of his time. The new industrial
economic system was based on capitalism. He
uses his materialist philosophy to argue out that
capitalism is not the final economic system and it
was not given. It is bound to change and move
towards socialism. (Remember, socialism as a
philosophy had come into being in France with
the work of Rousseau and then Saint-Simon
followers).

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- Marx’s critique of capitalist economic system is that in this
system, the labour becomes a routine factor of production
and the worker’s labour is controlled by the others.
Because of the division of labour, work specialization,
routinization of work, and the external control of labour,
the worker gets alienated from the product of his labour
(that is alienated from the product he makes). This leads
to destruction of human creativity. And hence, worker
becomes an element in the capitalist production system.
And hence, the labour goes to work for wages and not
because he/she identifies with this work. This alienation of
worker from the work is the essence of capitalist system of
production. Also human beings are alienated from their
‘species being’ as capitalist social relations degrade the
collective human creation of self and society. Thus, there
is an overall alienation that takes place in the system.

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- But, this alienated labour in the capitalist system is not
voluntary, but in a sense is forced.
(This alienation process, in the current world is
addressed by law and order machinery. In the earlier
forms of society, it was the identity of individuals with the
production system and by that with each other, that kept
society in stability. What we now call social controls.)
But, this alienation also frees the labour from societal
controls. The labour becomes a free labour, not tied to
land or any asset. Labour becomes a proletariat (those
earning from wages by selling their labour). Proletariat
having no other asset but their own labour power to sell.
- According to Marx, the production system in
capitalism is social, that is through social division of
labour, (no one individual produces any single
commodity or product), but the value produced
through labour is appropriated (taken by force) by
individuals, that is by capitalists, the owners of capital.
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Marx’s economic analysis, that is analysis of economic
dynamic of capitalism. The main features are:
i) Capitalism is historically novel because in it the
production is oriented not to the satisfaction of social or
human needs but to the requirements of the market
exchange of commodities.
ii) Each commodity has a use value (the function of
commodity) and exchange value (the value of
commodity in market).
iii) Value is created by expenditure of labour (like Adam
Smith).
iv)In a day, the labourer sells his labour (calls labour
power) at the market price produces a surplus over his
replacement needs.
v) A labour (worker) sells his power to labour and hence it
is the labour power that has value and not the worker
who has value.
55
vi)A labourer (worker) gets the price for his labour power
that is just enough to provide the labourer’s conditions of
existence (food, housing, basic welfare, and so on).
vii) The labourer gets the wages that are much lower
than the value created by the labour power of that
labourer. That is, the labourer creates value, over and
above value required to subsist that labour.
viii) The additional value created by the labour in this
process is called surplus value of labour and that is the
basis of profit in a market place, which is earned by the
capitalist, one who deploys capital in the production
system.
ix)The capitalist system therefore is inherently exploitative.
Ratio between labour necessary to reproduce labour
(called necessary labour) and surplus labour, is called
the rate of exploitation.
56
x) Capitalist system is competitive and thus technically
innovative. In the process, the system reaches a stage
where the technical innovations lead to more and more
deployment of capital and becomes capital-intensive.
The labour is replaced by capital. On one hand, the
addition of surplus value of labour decreases by this and
hence the profits fall. On the other hand, the labour are
squeezed and their wages (value given to the labour) fall
due to surplus labour in the market. It leads to reduction
in purchasing power of commodities by the labour. This
leads to a situation of overproduction in the capitalist
system. This leads to fall in wages, closure of factories,
production decline and thus depression. The great
depression of the thirties is the result of the over
production in the capitalist system.
57
This overproduction leads to capitalist seeking newer and newer
market (which the colonialists did through capture of the third
world). By the First World War, the globe was divided by the
colonialists in their colonies. Germany was the new entrant in the
capitalist system by early 20th century. And so was Japan. To be
able to have a share of the global cake of colonial countries,
Germany wages the Second World War, under the leadership of
Hitler.

Today’s system is also a crises of global capitalism. There is

overproduction of various goods and services, including food, but,
there are no buyers. People do not have adequate wages to buy
even food, which leads to hunger deaths in many parts of the
world. Today’s technology has reached a stage that it can
produce everything in abundance, but, the economic system is
such that there are no adequate buyers of these goods. (Hence,
the system of privatisation in services, e.g. of water supply,
sanitation, etc. in cities, would lead to situation where there would
be no buyers of these goods)

58
xi) The crises in capitalism on the other hand
causes misery for the proletariat, which fosters
class consciousness in them and which would
ultimately lead them to organising to over throw
capitalism.
xii) The basic contradiction in the capitalist
system is, as mentioned, the production is social
but, the profits and property ownership is private.
Through organisation, the labour would
overthrow such a system and remove this
contradiction, and create a system where there
is no private ownership of property.

59
Marxian view of state, party and revolution
Each dominant economic class of any system, has the state through
its law and machinery, working in the benefit of the dominant
economic class. And the ideology or the theory of that dominant
economic class becomes the ideology or the theory of the state.
This is why, in the pre-industrial periods, the feudal classes and
then the mercantile classes had theories to support their
dominance. Which, Adam Smith overturned and whose theory the
rising industrial class made their own.
Thus, executive of the modern state is a committee for managing
the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie. “State is a machine in
the hands of the few wealthy to oppress the majority in the process
of appropriation (taking by force) the benefits produced by the
majority.” Lenin, the father Russian Bolshevik Revolution gave this
theory of state and used the same in establishing proletarian state in
Russia. It is argued that the overthrowing of the bourgeois state is
the only way to establish a state of the proletariat. And this
overthrowing of bourgeois state would be necessarily violent.
(Overthrowing of feudal state in France was through French
Revolution, that established the power of industrial capital over the
feudal lords). The theory of state gets the name Marxism-Leninism,
implemented in a new way in China by Mao-tse-tung.
60
Impact of Marxism
i) This Marxist approach to analyse a societal system is something
that is new and has captured the social scientists. That is, looking at
the system as a whole and analysing the society from the
perspective of class analysis. The system of exploitation as inherent
in the capitalist system is the beginning of the economic analysis of
a society.
ii) Role of state was what has gripped the planners. Only in socialist
countries, the cities are planned as the way planners have planned.
iii) The middle path between socialist state and capitalist state is the
welfare state where the state acts as a welfare distributing
mechanism, thereby capitalist keeping the control of state and
thereby over the private property whereas ensuring that the labour
are not pushed to such a stage of penury that they organise on
class lines to over throw the state.
iv) Marx’s work encompasses a body of social scientific ideas and
related subsequent social movements. Social movements often do
not take place spontaneously. Leaders, that is, subjective forces are
required for any social movement to take place. An organisation is
required to carry out social movement. The leaders and cadres in
such organisation come with this new understanding of the social
reality, the reality of exploitation, that leads to a social movement.
61
v) Marxism has been a very powerful ideology that has attracted the
oppressed, the Third World Countries (all national liberation
struggles in the third world were led by leaders influenced by
Marxist ideology of socialism and communism), the labour
movements, and even women’s movement. Within each movement,
women’s movement, environmental movement, which has led to
changes in development paradigm globally, there is a very strong
presence of Marxists.
vi) Academics, throughout the world, especially in Europe and the Third
World, have been influenced by these ideas. A stream of social
scientists, called the structuralists emerge from the Marxist school of
thought.
vii)Theories of imperialism ‘as highest stage of capitalism’ were
mounted by the Marxists. It is from this understanding, theories of
‘finance capital’ and current global economic system comes. From
here emerges the core-periphery theories in global development.
viii) Theories for analysing cities, the primate cities, the global
cities, settlement hierarchy, and city planning efforts, are all Marxist
legacy (much as we may not like to acknowledge it).
62
David Ricardo (1772-1823)

- Theory of Comparative and Absolute

Advantage
- Theory of Differential Rent
1. Smith said, trade occurs when there is
absolute advantage.
2. Ricardo’s contribution is about comparative
advantage and he said that trade will occur
even if there is comparative advantage and
not absolute advantage.

63
US 64
 Japanese workers are more efficient at
producing cars. US workers are less efficient
in producing car and producing rice. But, US
workers are relatively less inefficient in
producing rice.
 US and Japan will benefit from specializing in
what they are relatively better at producing
and then trading with each other.

65
Differential Rent Theory
i) Most productive land always brought first into use. E.g.
Land A of 1 hectare produces 100 tons of wheat. When
next best (B) is brought into use, which produces 75
tons/hectare of wheat then the value of Land A will be 25
tons worth of wheat. When land C is brought into use, its
productivity being 60 tons/ha, the value of land A will be
40 tons and of B will be 15 tons. And it goes on. More
the land brought into use, higher will be the value of A

In urban land, the most productive land is the most

accessible, with best facilities, etc. When next best land
is brought into use then, the price of best land goes up.

With city expansion, price of best-located lands go up.

66
 Arthur Cecil Pigou (1877-1959)
Welfare Economics & Concept of Public Goods

 For some goods, all production costs are borne by the consumer via
the price of the good
 For some goods, part of the costs of the goods is passed on to the
society in the form of social costs. E.g. pollution.
 If that is possible, then firm may produce too many goods that would
create pollution, which will increase the pollution. Firms may use old
technology so that pollution continues. There is no way the firm can
be made to change the technology. These are called negative
externalities
 There are goods whose production can exceed the benefits that the
consumer gets. E.g. Police, fire protection, national defence, health
care spending, education spending.
 If an individual buys a medicine for cold, to remedy his/her cold, the
individual benefits. But, this person’s taking of medicine stops
infecting others, then there are social benefits of private benefits.
67
 Divergence between social costs and private costs are called
‘externalities’, ‘spill-over effects’ and ‘third-party effects’.
 Divergence between private and social costs might justify
government intervention in the market place.
 When there are large positive externalities, people gain whether
they pay for it or not. This ability to obtain benefits without paying for
it is called ‘free rider problem’. If I do not pay, it will get done in
any case attitude.
 If no one pays but everyone gains then there is loss to every one in
the long run. To overcome this, government must tax everyone so
that such public goods are provided by the government.
 In case of privately provided goods, if there are negative
externalities, that good is taxed. If there are positive externalities
then that good gets subsidy.
 Costs of externalities have to be internalised in the cost of
production of goods.
 Sometimes, non-economic measures, such as legal measures are
adopted for negative externalities

68
 John Maynard Keynes (1883 – 1946)

Called the practical saviour of capitalism, proposer of

short-run solutions to economic problems.
Inflation
 Warned of practical problems of inflation. Said that
central government must intervene in the issues of
inflation by controlling money supply. Some economists
opposed it saying that inflation will take care of itself in
the long run. Keynes said: “In the long run we all will die”.
 Keynes said that short-run interventions are necessary in
the economy and these interventions have to be by the
government. Some economists have criticised him for
thinking about short-run solutions. Keynes believed that
it is better to solve the problems now.
69
Unemployment
 If there was more demand, for goods, then, economies
would prosper, businesses would expand, and hire more
workers (create demand for more workers) and
unemployment would cease. If demand is low, the firms
would be forced to cut back on production and then on
hiring and there would be lay-offs and unemployment
and then depression.
 Great depression of 1920 to 1930s in US was handled
by Keynes
 Keynes asked for comprehensive socialisation of
investment decisions, which a government take through
the central bank through interest rate policies, high
interest rate will reduce investment and by that
production would decline and vice versa.

70
 Some thought that Keynes was asking for total control of
government over business investment decisions. What
Keynes was asking for is government spending policies
to stabilise aggregate level of investment in the
economy.
 Keynes’s contribution is important for the macro
economy.
 Way out of depression is to create more of housing,
more schools, more hospitals, more roads, etc. When
private investments in these was low, government must
invest. If government does not have money then
government must borrow (and run budget deficit) and
engage in public investments in construction.
 When business investments were high, government
must cut-back spending and borrowing.

71
 Gunnar Myrdal (1898-1987)

 Considered the main architect of Swedish Welfare State

 Myrdal convinced the then Finance Minister of Public Works and to
run budget deficits in order to reduce unemployment
 Theory of Cumulative Causation as an alternate to Equilibrium
Analysis
 Introduced Ex-Ante and Ex post distinction in economic analysis. Ex-
Ante or expected is before hand; before the event analysis that gives
estimations and forecasting. Ex-post is after the fact, analysis. Ex Ante
gives estimates of expected outcomes and Ex post gives measures of
the actual outcome.
 Theory of Cumulative Causation – involves a positive or negative
feedback involving two or more variable. It can be contrasted with uni-
directional causal change, in which, A causes change in B, but B has
no further impact on A; the change stops at B. The system reaches
new equilibrium with changed values of variables A and B.

72
 Cumulative Causation means that variables A and B impact each
other in a process of change. Variable A impacts B and Variable B
in turn impacts A and both reach a new level. The system is under
constant change and there is no equilibrium at any point.
 When A and B both increase, they are in virtuous cycle of positive
feedback loop; when A and B both decline then we have vicious
cycle or negative feedback loop. He used this idea to explain
poverty and race relations.
 He showed that how entire American society suffered from low
socio economic situation of the Black Americans, now called African
Americans. He said, discrimination breeds discrimination. This
analysis showed that this situation can be remedied in one of the
many ways and improvement in any one area would initiate the
virtuous cycle of improvement. But, where to start? He looked to
American institutions to break into this vicious cycle of discrimination
against the blacks. Measures he proposed:

73
1. Organisations such as churches, schools, trade unions
and the government to play an important role in
improving the socio-economic conditions of the blacks.
2. Expansion of the role of the Federal government in the
areas of education, housing and income security.
3. Laws making it easier for the blacks to vote.
4. Advocated migration from the South to the industrial
North, the latter having more jobs in the new economic
sector than the latter that provided jobs on the farm
land.
5. Use of fiscal policy to achieve full employment (like
Keynes)

74
 Myrdal used this theory to explain poverty in South Asia (Asian Drama,
1968). A way out was suggested:
1. To spend more on education
2. To spend more on sanitation and, by providing clean water and
developing other public amenities.
3. Income support programmes to address the problem of income
inequality.
4. While most economists argued that there was trade-off between
equality and growth, Myrdal held that there was no such trade-off and
that greater equality would lead to more rapid growth (A good example
of that is China, in the hind-sight – not stated by Mrydal). He said that
inequality leads to slower growth because of physical and
psychological consequences of poverty, as the poor are unable to
utilise their talents. A welfare state that redistributes income would lead
to higher demand and hence more rapid economic growth.

Myrdal criticised the social scientists in general and economists in

particular for not being able to speak and write in the language that the
ordinary person can understand. He also criticised the economists’
attempt to hide their value or normative assumptions behind the façade
of objectivity. He was not opposed to economists making value
judgements but was opposed to their refusal to accept that.
75
 Milton Friedman (1912- 2006)
Two main themes of his work
(i) Money matters – Because only changes in money supply can
affect economic activity and inflation results from too much money
in the economy.
(ii) Freedom matters – Because economies run better when the
governments do not attempt to control prices, exchange rates or
entry into professions.
 Known for his work against Keynsianism. He argued against the
use of stabilisation policies to control either inflation or
unemployment. He said that the fiscal policy would not work and
a monetary policy would worsen the business cycle and lead to
greater inflation.
 Friedman has opposed all forms of government intervention in an
economy, as that is viewed as curtailment of political freedom. He
argued that capitalism is the best economic system because it
promotes political freedom and market can help offset political
power.
76
 He opposed all government programmes that came in
the way of individual decision-making. Such as:
(i) Wage and Price Controls
(ii) Social security (because it breaks down family bonds
and is actually a transfer from the less well-off to the
wealthy, the latter tend to live longer than the former.
(iii) Government support for higher education (because it
primarily benefit the well-off).
 In contrast he has supported:
(i) All volunteer army
(ii) Education vouchers to all parents to allow them to select
the school where they would send their children.

77
 The New Right – Neo-Liberalism in 1980s

 This is called counter revolution by some, especially by those

coming from the left and centrist traditions
 This is eclipse of the welfare state.
 Roots in the crises of the metropolitan heartland of the global
capitalist system that emerged in 1970s. In 1973, US took a
decision to come out of the Bretton Woods system and allow its
dollar to float. This went hand in hand with collapse of US authority
globally by the emergence of Japan in the east and European
economy. Since then, Asia has risen, reducing global importance of
USA.
 After the election of Reagan in US and Thatcher in UK that the New
Right firmly took power. [In a way it can be seen as protecting one’s
own turf, if New Right is seen as a regressive movement.]
Progressive view of it is that this provided new ideas of democracy,
relieving people from the clutches of the state.
 The New Right theorists claim that the modern free-market capitalist
system is maximally effective in producing and equitably distributing
the economic, social, political and intellectual necessaries of
civilised life.
78
 The claims of New Right are:
 Economically – free markets act efficiently to distribute knowledge
and resources around the economic system, then the material
welfare will be maximized
 Socially – as action and responsibility for action reside with the
person of the individual, then liberal individualistic social systems
will ensure that moral worth is maximised.
 Politically – as liberalism offers a balance solution to the problems
of deploying, distributing and controlling power, then liberal polities
ensure that political freedom is maximised.
 Epistemologically – as the whole package is grounded in genuine
positive scientific knowledge, then in such systems the effective
deployment of positive knowledge is maximised.

79
 The New Right
 The substantive core of the thinking is that free market comprises of
atomistic individuals who know their own autonomously arising
needs and wants and who make contracts with other individuals
through the mechanism of the marketplace to satisfy those needs
and wants. The market is a neutral mechanism for transmitting
information about needs and wants, and goods which might satisfy
them around the system. A minimum state machine provides a
basic legal and security system to underpin the individual
contractual pursuit of private goals.
 This position has informed the policies of the World Bank, the IMF
and the US government. When the World Bank and the IMF forced
these policies on the borrowing governments, these were called
Structural Adjustment Programmes. The World Bank forced upon
the borrowing countries to privatise their structures and the IMF
forced them to reduce fiscal deficit (through minimising the role of
state in the economy and society). The latter resulted in cutting
down of government expenditures even on public goods.

80
 The policy package that came to the developing countries
was:

 Any regulation of the market has to be avoided, save for crises

and the removal of malfunctions or inhibitions to full functioning.
 Any intervention in the market is to be avoided, save to remove
causes of price distortions, so subsidies should be abolished
should be abolished, tax rates adjusted to encourage
enterprise, tariff barriers removed along with non-tariff barriers
or disguised restrictions.
 Any government role in the economy should be avoided, as
private enterprise can usually do a better job, and when
governments do become involved it should be both market-
conforming, short-term and involve a minimum of regulations
 Any collective intervention in the market should be avoided, so
labour unions must be curbed.
 International trade should be free trade with goods and currency
freely traded.

81
Alternative successful models
Needless to mention, the developing countries
did not benefit. Instead, two alternatives models
that were successful were being discussed.
 Social market system of Germany in place of
consensus-centred corporatism.
 State-assisted development, or ‘Developmental State’
Model of Japan and East Asia, that brought in much
higher economic growth rates than what market
would have. The ‘Developmental State’ model also
comes out of ‘Bismarckian’ State of Germany and
‘Meiji Restoration’ in Japan, where the State took on
role of welfare as well as promotion of rapid
economic growth.
82
 Track record of the New Right

The World Bank and the IMF are part of this New Right.

 In UK and USA, that has led to unemployment, reductions in general

welfare, declining manufacturing production and mountains of debt.
(Something that has begun to happen in India).
 Other alternative models have succeeded, such as social market
system, which is based on consensus-centred corporatism, or east
Asian experiment of state-assisted development, the latter being
particularly being cites as a great success.
 In the third world, post-1980s, the neo-classicism has governed the
policies of the government, which was not so immediately after the
second World War, when the newly independent third world country
governments were aware of their political-economic, social-
institutional and cultural weaknesses.
 Increase in hunger (see Africa) through permanent damage done to
the fragile economies of the Third World. (Susan George’s work)

83
Max Weber

 Weber's ideas are complex and about

many dimensions of development. He is
primarily concerned with analysis of
capitalism but at the same time sceptical
of modernist project. For example, the
modernist institutions have become
bureaucratic. And "bureaucratic
administration means fundamentally
domination through knowledge" wrote
Weber.
84
 He sees that patterns of social relationship would be
stable and that is because it is believed that these
relationships are in a legitimate order.
 That there are three types of legitimate orders and these
orders of authority are accepted. These are: a)
Traditional authority, b) legal authority and c) charismatic
authority
 According to Weber, the modem capitalism is governed
by legal authority. The social institution that embodies
such legal authority is the modem bureaucracy.
 Contemporary capitalism cannot function without the
bureaucratic organisation. He thinks that the
bureaucratic authority tends to be conservative and
expansionary. In modem capitalist society, ever greater
areas of social life are subject to legal-rational rules.
85
 This is the key to understanding modem capitalism. He
calls bureaucracy a gatekeeper of the capitalist systems,
who provide or deny opportunities to individuals to
access the benefits of the system.
 Politically, he speaks of the iron-cage of bureaucracy. He
is sceptical of bureaucracy.
 Weber also found that the formal organisations that grew
out of modernity's desire to power, are highly
bureaucratic structures. The thrust of these
organisations is towards greater calculability,
effectiveness and control. But, in this process, these
organisational issues become more important than the
substantive (important) values and ends that the
organisation can serve and are meant to serve. In fact,
the bureaucracy in these organisations subvert the
substantive values and ends it might serve in light of the
functional efficiency of the organisation for which they
are there.
86
 World Bank is a great example of such a bureaucracy,
argues Bruce Rich in his book titled 'Mortgaging the
Earth'. For example, World Bank might consider the
issue of staff leaking the documents more serious
organisational matter than the organisation itself taking
up projects that have horrendous, often foreseeable,
environmental and social consequences. In fact, the
World Bank has been quick to tack on to the prevailing
development philosophies, for example, poverty
alleviation under McNamara, to global environmental
management in the recent years. But, if there are failures
on this front or if the World Bank's intervention has led to
worsening of the situation (which it has in many
instances that have been well recorded), then no one is
accountable. But, these themes crop up in the Banks'
activities because these fit well into Bank's formal logic
and institutional needs.

87
 And the Third World countries, through their bureaucracies started
borrowing from the World Bank for huge projects to realize the
"ideals of modernization", no one had heeded to Max Weber's
gloomy warnings. Most Third World leaders dreamed of and even
dream of now, of replicating Tennessee Valley Authority, great
highways and public works of American cities and other public
works of world's most powerful and economically successful
nations, argue Bruce Rich.
 A way out of the grip of this bureaucracy is emergence of a
charismatic leader, according to Weber. From time to time, a
charismatic political leader is thrown up, who would be elected by
the masses, and who would correct the bureaucratic controls on
modem institutions. This is Weber's belief in individualism, that an
individual will correct the system from time to time. That finally the
values will rule over facts.
 For Weber, it is from the ranks of the bourgeoisie that the leader
would be thrown up and not from the working class as Marxists
argue.

88
Critique of Modernity
 Although modernity had its origins in the 17th century, it
triumphed worldwide in social and economic transformations
only two centuries later, in the 20th century. Also, inherent in the
implementation of modernist paradigm were many
contradictions.
 Though, freedom and democracy was a part of the philosophy
of modernity, but, that was subverted from within. The modernist
paradigm was the building of empire of man over things and
was from the beginning rooted in the will to power and
domination. It entailed, empire of men over other men and men
over women, of Western societies over all others. (Now we use
the term North over South. )
 The liberation of individual and society from previous constraints
left the world and society empty for new, more total forms of
control.

89
Critique of Modernity - conti

 Max Weber found that in the project of modernisation and

rationalisation, bureaucratisation has taken place. And
"bureaucratic administration means fundamentally domination
through knowledge" wrote Weber.
 Weber also found that the formal organisations that grew out of
modernity's desire to power, are highly bureaucratic structures.
The thrust of these organisations is towards greater calculability,
effectiveness and control. But, in this process, these
organisational issues become more important than the
substantive (important) values and ends that the organisation
can serve and are meant to serve. In fact, the bureaucracy in
these organisations subvert the substantive values and ends it
might serve in light of the functional efficiency of the
organisation for which they are there.

90
Critique of Modernity – contd.

 World Bank is a great example of such a bureaucracy, argues

Bruce Rich in his book titled 'Mortgaging the Earth'. For
example, World Bank might consider the issue of staff leaking
the documents more serious organisationa1 matter than the
organisation itself taking up projects that have horrendous, often
foreseeable, environmental and social consequences. In fact,
the World Bank has been quick to tack on to the prevailing
development philosophies, for example, poverty a11eviation
under McNamara, to globa1 environmenta1 management in the
recent years. But, if there are failures on this front or if the World
Bank's intervention has led to worsening of the situation (which
it has in many instances that have been well recorded), then no
one is accountable. But, these themes crop up in the Banks'
activities because these fit well into Bank's forma1logic and
institutiona1 needs.

91
 Critique of Modernity – contd.
 And the Third World countries, through their bureaucracies started borrowing
from the World Bank for huge projects to realize the "ideals of modernization",
no one had heeded to Max Weber's gloomy warnings. Most Third World leaders
dreamed of and even dream of now, of replicating Tennessee Valley Authority,
great highways and public works of American cities and other public works of
world's most powerful and economically successful nations, argue Bruce Rich.
 Technically large project~ have invariably led to displacement, be it in
developed world or the developing world. For example about 60000 people
were displaced for construction of 7 mile Cross Bronx Highway in New York
City in 1952. This was because of Robert Moses, a public planner in the city,
whose built his empire from 1930s onwards to 1960s. This project is typica1ly a
20th century technocracy at work.
 According to Lewis Mumford, in the early 20th century, influence of Robert
Moses on the cities of America was the greatest.
 Foundations of Moses Empire was lack of political and financial accountability
and control through withholding of information (something sounding familiar to
us?)
 Moses empire was built through numerous autonomous development agencies
that generated their own revenues.
 Robert Moses was a developer with his empire spanning over nearly half the
area of New York City at that time.

92
 Critique of Modernity – contd.
 This approach to development, Bruce Rich compares with the way
the World Bank functions. It creates numerous independent
autonomous project authorities in the developing world, for example
NTPC in India. These agencies were not often open to normal
legislative and judicial scrutiny, operated according to their own
charter and rules (mostly coming from the World Bank) and staffed
with technocrats (bureaucrats) often sympathetic, "even beholden"
(pp. 227) to the bank.
 In globalisation phase, development is being pursued through such
special institutions.
 Modernisation proceeds on the path of technological transformation
of nature and society. Technology and technocracy as organising
principal of a human society appear to take an autonomous dynamics
of its own.

93
 Critique of Modernity – contd.

 Modernisation and its application on human societies and

ecosystems is - abstraction, analysis, reconstruction and control.
(Control through bureaucracy)
 It is control of man over nature, of capital over people (represented
through ideology of economic growth over improvement in human
quality of life), of men over women, of developed world (North) over
South, of urban over rural, of core over periphery. This analysis
comes out the consciousness and analysis of those not benefiting
from modernity's projects, such as type of urban development, type
of infrastructure development, etc.
 Modernisation has worked through a potent combination of
rationalized bureaucracy, economic organisations (that favour
capitalism with its philosophy of neo-classical economics) and
technological organisations that are politically unaccountable.
 Nature has revolted against the gains of modernisation. For
example, real looming threat of climate change, imbalanced food
security, rising health burdens because of wide spread use of
hazardous materials, etc.
94
 Critique of Modernity – contd.

 The local communities dependent on nature, that is the indigenous

societies dependent on the ecosystems have revolted.
 Environmental degradation is severe. Minimum of environmental
resources, such as water, is on the decline. Per capita water
availability is on the decline a time will come in Third World countries
when there will be nearly no drinking water. India is one of them.
 Many small Third World Countries have devastated public finances,
as they are highly indebted to the World Bank, in the process of
pursuit of modem projects. Instead of economic progress, many Third
World countries are steep in debt. Instead of self-sustained growth,
these countries are upto ears in debt. Problems of unemployment,
housing, human rights, poverty and landlessness are increasing.
 Global inequalities have increased. In 1960, the ratio between the
world's riche and poor countries was 20:1, which increased to 46:1 in
1980 and went up to 60:1 in 1989.200 hundred years ago, this ratio
was 1.5: I! This is the achievement of modernization process!
 Third world countries also have devastated environment. For
example, long famine in Ethiopia, which has resurfaced this year.
95
 Critique of Modernity – contd.
 In any case, the modemisation did not take place in most Third World
Countries. It did not bring in scientific temper, even though many of the
Third World leaders, immediately after their independence embarked on
large modem technocratic projects. For example, Nehru said; "Industries
are the temples of modem India". And in India, "We have taken a Tryst
with Destiny".
 "Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny and now the time comes
when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very
substantially. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when
we step out from the old to the new.
 "That future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving so that
we may fulfil the pledges we have so often taken and the one we shall
take today. The service of India means the service of the millions who
suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and
inequality of opportunity. .. To bring freedom and opportunity to the
common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end
poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous,
democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and
political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every
man and woman. "
96
Critique of Modernity – contd.
 The scientific temper did not emerge and on the contrary, religious
fundamentalism is on the rise globally, more so in the Third World.
 Poverty has not been eradicated and it is on the rise in many parts
of the world. Hunger deaths are on the increase inspite of food
surpluses.
 Improvement in quality of life of people all across the Third World
has not taken place. For example, IMRs, MMRs, are quite high.
There is no full literacy achievements. After SAP, there have been
reversals in achievements in these indicators in many African
countries. The decade of 1980s is therefore called a lost decade
from the perspective of development.
 Neo-classical economics, pursued in all developed countries, (with
shades of mix ofwelfarism), and communism are both perceived as
modernist projects of control over nature, etc.
 Feminists have revolted through calling 'modernist project', modern
development projects as 'white Caucasian men located in the
capitalist countries of the North' dominated projects.

97
Positive achievements
 Could we have done without modernism? No. This
modernism, its economic system as capitalism and
its political system as liberal democracy (with its
limitations), is the beginning of much radical
transformations.
 It was necessary to move away from agrarian
systems, which are very closed and irrational
systems, with mind sets based on religious and
super-natural beliefs. On more scientific than
theological basis of knowledge.

98
Alternative Theories

99
 What is development
 Neo-classical economists would say that development is economic
growth. That is, per capita increase in income (Per Capita Income
-PCI)
 How is income measured?
 Wages * Workers
 Production = Sum total of all production

It is assumed that with increase in income,

 people will have more resources at their command and that they
would consume more that would lead to utility and therefore
satisfaction.
 Income will give people command over resources that will lead to
people spending on basic needs, including education, health and
housing.
 Income will increase the self-esteem and self-respect of the people
and which will also give satisfaction

100
Alternative view
 Economic growth or increase in per capita income does not
mean increase in welfare and improvement in either quality of
life or improvement in well being or improvement in human
capabilities.
 Improvement in capabilities women as much as of men
 Development has to be viewed from only one perspective and
that is development of people and not of things. That is
development takes place only when people's development or
human development takes place.

101
 Other alternative concepts/ measurements of development

 Social Statistics, Social Accounting and Social Reporting - These are statistics
on social aspects of development
 Level of Living, Living standards and State of welfare Index -These are
statistics that represent standard and level of living enjoyed by people,
represented by various consumption related indicators.
 Quality of Life - the quality of life people enjoyed in the context of
environmental pollution, deteriorating safety and security and declining living
standards. Quality of life concept also includes psychological factors and
individual perceptions. "How do you do?"
 PQLI (Physical Quality of Life Index) - This is a Quality of life Index referring to
LEB, IMR and basic literacy - primarily meant to measure poverty of developing
countries.
 Social Progress Index -Genuine Progress Index etc. - That is only positive
parameters of development are added to the income and negative parameters
are deducted. Therefore, expenditure incurred on military and war would be
deducted. Of violence, genocide, etc. would be deducted. Of environmental
degradation would be deducted. But, of care, affection, etc. would be added.

It is important to know what gets added and what does not get added to the
income. The debate between Lester Thurow and Robert Chambers.

102
 Human Development
 Human Development is the process of expansion of choices in life.
i.e. HD enhances capabilities of people that enables them to lead
the life they value (and want)
 HD is not just quality of life - It is a development paradigm
(approach), a development mode. It is not a static concept, but it is a
dynamic concept that refers to a development path that ensures
human development.
 Human development is a goal as well as a paradigm. Economic
Growth does not automatically get translated into human
development. It needs an enabling environment.
 In development theory, this is a new area that is being developed by
scholars.

103
 Human Development Index (HDI)
 This is a measurement of the choices available to people
through improvement in their capabilities.
(HDI) - A composite index of three basic human
capabilities:
i) Capability to lead a healthy life (LEB)
ii) Capability of enjoying knowledge (adult literacy rate
and average number of years of schooling, and
iii) Access to good standard of living: per capita income

104
 GDI/ GEM
 Gender Related Development Index (GDI):
- It is the HDI adjusted for gender equity. It measures the same basic
capabilities
in the context of gender inequity

 Gender Empowerment Index (GEM):

- It measures women’s empowerment in the context of the same of the men. It
is a composite index of

1. Women’s power over economic resources (share in per capita income)

2. Access to professional opportunities and participation in economic decision
making. ( % of women in technical, professional, managerial job)
3. Access to political decision making (% of women in the national parliament)

105
 Other Indices of UNDP
 Capability Poverty Measure (CPM):
- A measure of the lack of three basic capabilities, a measure of human poverty

1. % of underweight children (under 5 years)

2. % of births unattended by trained personnel
3. % of females illiterate

 Human Poverty Index (HPI):

- A composite index of basic deprivations.

1. % of people not expected to survive to age 40 years

2. Adult Illiteracy Rate
3. Deprivation of economic provisioning
- % of people without access to safe drinking water
- % of people without access to basic health services
- % of underweight children under five

106
 A Critique of the HDI/GDI
O The HDI is too narrow
O The HDI has ideological underpinnings
O The HDI ignores the concerns of the South
O The HDI is not engendered
O Selection of variables and indicators not right
O Why separate GDM/GEM
O Exclusion of Patriarchy
O GEM is too narrow
O Measuring gender inequity

107
 Alternative Human Development Measures
* Human Development Measure - 1 (HDM-1)
1. Control over resources:- Consumption expenditure as far as possible
2. Access to knowledge, Adult literacy rate, combined enrolment rate
3. Access to healthy life, Life Expectancy at Birth (LEB), Incidence of
Disability, Incidence of Morbidity
4. Access to Housing
- % of households having durable dwelling
- % of households with three basic facilities: water supply, electricity
and sanitation
5. Right to life
- Incidence of crime
- Incidence of crime against dalits, women
6. Participation
- Economic participation
0 workforce participation
0 % of workers in non-farm employment
- Political participation
0 % voting in panchayat/assembly/parliament elections
0 % contesting in panchayat/assembly/parliament elections
- Other participation 108

0 % participating in cooperatives, trade union, political parties etc.

* Human Development Measure - 2 (HDM-2)
1. Environment/Ecology
environmental depletion and degradation
- % wastelands
- % degraded forests
- % area under DPAP/DDP
2. Basic Services
Not in the state but at the local level
- % villages with a primary school
- % villages with any health facility
- % villages with electricity
- % villages with all weather approach road
3. Structural Inequalities and disparities
- Regional disparities in infrastructural development
4. Patriarchy
- % women marrying before 14 years and before 18 years
- juvenile sex ratio
0 before birth discrimination
0 after birth discrimination 109
0 discrimination in childhood
Three Rules of Promoting Social/Human Development

1. Enabling development path

- employment intensive
- equitable
- environment friendly

2. Persistent direct efforts for decades

- Kerala and Gujarat (wide gap)
- Some Saurashtra districts

3. Synergies in policies/programmes
- literacy and health
(female literacy and IMR, MMR)
- environment and health/education
- capital and revenue expenditure 110
 Proponents of human development concept, Mahabub-ul-Haq
(once upon a time education minister in Pakistan), but when he
was in the UNDP, Amartya Sen with his concept of capabilities.
Now even Lord Meghnad Desai associated. People from South
Asian Continent.
 This concept draws heavily from a very famous saying of
Gandhi: "There is enough in this world for every persons' need
but there is not enough in this world for even one person's
greed.
 Number of alternative development 'approaches, such as small
is beautiful (E.F. Schumacher), have this Gandhian influence.

111
 Environment and Human Development
i) Environment friendly development is sustainable
ii) Environment friendly development tends to be employment intensive and
reduces poverty
iii) Environment friendly development tends to be equitable
- region and person wise
- Common Property Resources & equity
- Growth of agro-based unites of smaller size
iv) Environment friendly growth ensures better quality of life
- fuel, fodder and water and drudgery of women - implications for health
- fuel, fodder and water and migration
- potable water and health
v) Environmental degradation and education and literacy
- enrolment of girls
- migration and drop outs or low enrolment
- teachers not willing to stay
vi) industrial and vehicular pollution and health - pollution of air and water

112
Human development is part of macro
economic growth path

113
Table 8.1 Indicators and their weightages of HDM/GDM – 1

Indicator` Weightage
I Income and poverty 20%
1 Per capita consumption expenditure for HDM – 1 at state level 100%
Per capita income for GDM – 1 at district level
Percentage population above poverty line for HDM – 1 at district level
Per capita agricultural wages for GDM – 1 at district level
II Education 20%
2 Adult literacy rate 50%
3 % Children attending school (age 6-14 yrs.) 50%
III Health 20%
4 Life expectancy at birth for HDM/GDM –1 at state level
Child mortality rate – 5 for HDM/GDM –1 at district level 50%
5 Disability rate 25%
6 Total Fertility Rate 25%
IV Housing 20%
6 % households having access to all three basic facilities 100%
V Participation 20%
Economic participation
7 Per cent non-farm workers 50%
Political participation
8 Percent of voting in last state assembly + parliament elections 25%
9 Contestants per lakh voters in last state assembly + parliament elections 25%

114
Table 8.2 Indicators and their weightages of HDM/GDM - 2

Indicator W eightage
I Environment and Ecology 25%
1 Percentage area under wastelands for HDM/GDM – 2 at state lev el 100%
Percentage area under DDP and DPAP for HDM/GDM – 2 at district
lev el
I Basic services 25%
1 Percentage v illages with prim ary school 33%
2 Percentage v illages connected by all weather road 33%
3 Doctors per lakh population for HDM/GDM – 2 at state lev el 33%
Percentage v illages with gov ernm ent m edical facility for HDM/GDM – 2
at district lev el
III Structural Equalities 25%
4 Inter-district v ariation in relativ e index of dev elopm ent for HDM/GDM – 2 100%
at state lev el
CMIE’s relativ e index of dev elopm ent for HDM/GDM – 2 at district lev el
IV Patriarchy 25%
5 Juv enile sex ratio 50%
6 Percentage ev er m arried wom en in age 6-14 years 50%

115
Table 8.4: Ranking of states in HDM – 1

States Income Education Health Housing Participation HDM - 1

& Poverty Index Index Index Index
Index
1 Andhra Pradesh 7 11 8 10 9 9
2 Assam 12 9 11 12 4 11
3 Bihar 14 15 10 14 13 14
4 Gujarat 6 5 9 2 6 5
5 Haryana 2 6 5 5 2 3
6 Karnataka 10 7 4 6 5 8
7 Kerala 3 1 1 13 1 1
8 Madhya Pradesh 13 12 14 11 14 13
9 Maharashtra 5 3 3 3 8 4
10 Orissa 15 10 13 15 15 15
11 Punjab 1 4 2 1 11 2
12 Rajasthan 4 14 15 8 10 10
13 Tamil Nadu 8 2 6 9 7 6
14 Uttar Pradesh 11 13 12 7 12 12
15 West Bengal 9 8 7 4 3 7

116
Table 8.5: Comparing income, HDM – 1 and HDI ranks

States Per Capita HDM - 1 Income HDI

Income Rank Rank - HDM – 1 Rank**
1995-96 1991-92 Rank* (1991-92)
1 Andhra Pradesh 7 9 -2 9
2 Assam 12 11 1 10
3 Bihar 15 14 1 13
4 Gujarat 4 5 -1 5
5 Haryana 3 3 0 4
6 Karnataka 6 8 -2 7
7 Kerala 8 1 7 1
8 Madhya Pradesh 11 13 -2 14
9 Maharashtra 2 4 -2 3
10 Orissa 13 15 -2 11
11 Punjab 1 2 -1 2
12 Rajasthan 10 10 0 12
13 Tamil Nadu 5 6 -1 8
14 Uttar Pradesh 14 12 2 15
15 West Bengal 9 7 2 6
* Negative rank means poor performance in human development as compared to economic
growth.
** Calculated by A. K. Shiva Kumar, using the UNDP methodology (Shiva Kumar 1991).

117
T a b le 8 .8 : R a n k in g o f sta te s fo r in d ic e s o f G D M - 1

In c o m e E d u c a tio n H e a lth H o u s in g P a rtic ip a tio nG D M - 1

In d ex In d ex In d e x In d e x In d e x
1 A n d h ra P ra d e s h 3 11 8 10 8 10
2 A ssam 8 9 11 12 3 9
3 B ih a r 13 14 10 14 15 14
4 G u ja ra t 2 5 9 2 9 7
5 H a ry a n a 10 6 5 5 4 5
6 K a rn a ta k a 4 7 4 6 6 6
7 K era la 12 1 1 13 1 1
8 M a d h y a P ra d e s h 6 12 14 11 14 11
9 M a h a ra s h tra 1 3 3 3 10 2
10 O ris s a 9 10 13 15 13 12
11 P u n ja b 11 4 2 1 5 3
12 R a ja s th a n 7 15 15 8 11 15
13 T a m il N a d u 5 2 6 9 7 4
14 U tta r P ra d e s h 14 13 12 7 12 13
15 W est B enga l 15 8 7 4 2 8

118
Table 8.9: Comparing income, HDM – 1, GDM – 1 and GDI ranks

States Per Capita HDM - 1 GDM - 1 Income HDM - 1 GDI

Income Rank Rank minus GDM minus GDM Rank**
Rank - 1 Rank* - 1 Rank*
1995-96 1991-92 1991-92 1991-92 1991-92 (1991-92)
1 Andhra Pradesh 7 9 10 -3 -1 8
2 Assam 12 11 9 3 2 10
3 Bihar 15 14 14 -1 0 14
4 Gujarat 4 5 7 -3 -2 3
5 Haryana 3 3 5 -2 -2 9
6 Karnataka 6 8 6 0 2 5
7 Kerala 8 1 1 7 0 1
8 Madhya Pradesh 11 13 11 0 2 12
9 Maharashtra 2 4 2 0 2 2
10 Orissa 13 15 12 1 3 11
11 Punjab 1 2 3 -2 -1 4
12 Rajasthan 10 10 15 -5 -5 13
13 Tamil Nadu 5 6 4 1 2 6
14 Uttar Pradesh 14 12 13 1 -1 15
15 West Bengal 9 7 8 1 -1 7
* Negative rank means poor performance in gender related human development as compared to
economic growth and HDM – 1.
** Calculated by A. K. Shiva Kumar, using the UNDP methodology (Shiva Kumar 1996).

119
T a ble 8 .11: R an kin g o f states in g en d er equ a lity ind ex

In c o m e E d u c a tio n H e a lth P a rticip a tio n G E I G D M -1

In d e x In d e x In d e x In d e x
1 A n d h ra P ra d e sh 3 10 6 8 9 10
2 A ssa m 6 4 10 4 4 9
3 B ih a r 9 14 15 15 14 14
4 G u ja ra t 2 7 5 9 8 7
5 H a rya n a 13 9 9 10 12 5
6 K a rn a ta ka 4 8 2 6 5 6
7 K e ra la 12 1 1 3 1 1
8 M a d h ya P ra d e sh 5 12 12 14 11 11
9 M a h a ra sh tra 1 5 3 12 7 2
10 O rissa 10 11 13 5 10 12
11 P u n ja b 14 2 4 1 2 3
12 R a ja sth a n 7 15 11 13 15 15
13 T a m il N a d u 8 3 7 7 6 4
14 U tta r P ra d e sh 11 13 14 11 13 13
15 W e st B e n g a l 15 6 8 2 3 8

120
T able 8.15: R anking of states in H D M - 2, states

S tates E cology & B asic R egional P atriarchy HDM - 2

E nvironm ent S ervices D isparity Index
Index Index index
1 A ndhra P radesh 8 8 12 3 4
2 A ssam 11 9 10 4 6
3 B ihar 7 11 4 14 9
4 G ujarat 13 2 9 10 7
5 H aryana 4 4 6 5 3
6 K arnataka 6 7 11 13 8
7 K erala 1 3 3 2 2
8 M adhya P radesh 12 12 5 11 12
9 M aharashtra 14 6 15 7 14
10 O rissa 5 14 1 9 5
11 P unjab 3 1 2 1 1
12 R ajasthan 15 13 8 15 15
13 T am il N adu 10 5 13 12 11
14 U ttar P radesh 9 15 7 8 10
15 W est B engal 2 10 14 6 13

121
 HDI rank of India

Source: Economic Survey, 2006-07, India

122
 Health status comparisons

Source: Economic Survey, 2006-07, India 123

 Gender Development
 If advances in welfare (utility), education, health and general quality of
life, self-esteem and self-respect of women does not take place, then, it
is not development.
 Gender Analysis is a Bi-focal view of society. It is believed that:
a) The development benefits are not equally shared between men
women. Men have benefited more from the modernist approach to
development. Hence, in all development indicators, women are behind
men. This is not a biological outcome but a social construct.
b) The development burdens also are not equally shared between
men and women. Women share more burdens of mal-development than
men. For example, in times of displacement or environmental
degradation, it is women who suffer more than men.

124
Gender Inequality

 What unites countries across many .cultural,

Religious, Ideological, Political and Economic divides
is their Common Cause Against Equality of Women.
i) Right to travel
ii) Right to marry
iii)Right to divorce
iv) Right to property and inheritance
v) Right to acquire nationality
vi) Seek employment

125
 Comparing HDI with GDI

HDI Values
GDI Values

126
Indicator values in GDI

127
 Some Statistics
 Estimated 1.3 billion people live in poverty in the world and 70% of
them are women.
 In South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, the men live longer than
women (longevity measured by LEB). In rest of the world, on an
average, women live longer by five years than men.
 There are more than 100 million women missing in the world. These
missing women are mainly in China (FMR 940) and India (FMR
933). In rest of the world, including Sub- Saharan Africa (1020),
FMR is above 1000. This is indication of killing of women or neglect
of health of women so that women die.
 Out of every three illiterate in the world, two are women.

128
Some statistics – contd.
 Women earn less than men.
a) In agriculture, women earn 3/4 that of men.
b) In Bangladesh women earn 42% that of men. In USA 75%,
in Vietnam 91.5% and in Sri Lanka 89.8%
 There is occupational segregation. Only 14% of the total
administrative and managerial jobs in the world are held by
women.
 vii) Only 5% of the multilateral banks' rural credit reaches
women allover the world. In India, only 11 % of the borrowers of
the major banks are women.

129
 Term Gender is a Social Construct. Terms men and
women indicate biological differences between two
sexes. But, the term gender indicates social
relationship between the two.
 Gender relationship has been such that in the social
relationship between men and women, women are
systematically subordinated. (Most people do not
want to believe this).

130
Gender Relations

Politico-
economic
system
131
 Gender relations
 Men and Women perform distinct roles in society with respect to
three spheres of interaction
i) Production sector
ii) Reproduction sector (Social reproduction sector)
iii) Community sector
 These distinct roles are performed because of the above mentioned
framework
 Gender inequality stems from gendered division of labour in the
above three mentioned fields.
 Mental labour is more valued than physical labour
 Most important labour is valued the least
 Productive labour is more valued than reproductive labour (What is
reproductive labour?)

132
 Why? Because development is economic growth and hence economic
activities that bring income are more valued than activities that are of
importance for ‘making of a human being’.
 Are there economic activities that do not bring income? Many in the
developing countries. For example, subsistence agriculture. Collection
of water, fodder and fuel. And so on.
 Manv of the activities carried out by women are essentially economic in
nature but are not paid for and hence not considered economic and by
that the output of these activities do not get into the national income
statistics. Women performing these activities are not considered
workers and hence are not paid for and hence also do not receive that
respect/status.

133
 Secondary status of women or unequal
gender relations are because of:
i) Socialisation process
ii)Religious sanction
iii) Unequal resource allocation in
development programmes
iv) Definition of what is value because of the
definition of development itself

134
Why women (feminists) are critical of
modernisation process?

 Scientific knowledge brought control of man over nature. But, it

indeed was man's control and not control of all human beings.
 Women have not enjoyed as much loot of the nature as men
have as women's consumption of goods and services have
been much less than that of men. See any of the indicators.
 Modernisation brought mechanisation in some areas but in
many activities that women taken up, have not benefited out of
mechanisation. Classic example is agriculture. Also, women are
engaged in labour-intensive and low paid activities in the
manufacturing sector.

135
 Modernisation has brought in expansion of capitalism, which has
subjugated the countries of the South. This has led to increase in
inequality. Wherever overall inequalities have increased gender
inequalities have increased much more.
 Whenever there is deprivation, the burden of deprivation has been
passed on to the women. And modernisation has increased
deprivations in many parts of the world, mainly through the transfer out
of natural resources from the Third World to the First World through
various mechanisms. Capital and natural resources are transferred out,
directly during the colonial period and indirectly in the current era
through trade rules and markets.
 Modernisation has not reduced women's double burden, of productive
sector and reproductive sector responsibility.

136
 Modernisation has segregated productive and reproductive sectors of
the economy and relegated the reproductive sector to the secondary
position as this sector does not produce national income because of the
very definition of income and hence, women, who are predominantly
found in the reproductive sector are relegated to the secondary' position.
 It has brought bureaucratisation and women not much literate are
unable to get through the bureaucratic labyrinth for benefiting form
development programmes and policies.
 Modernisation has also pitted people against the people and in this
increased conflicts women suffer the most. Rape is used as a powerful
weapon during the ethnic conflicts to humiliate the other.
 Modernisation has adversely affected environment and women who are
more directly connected to the environment are worse sufferers.

137
 Gender inequality starts from the household sector or the domestic sector
and gets extended to other sectors.
 Modernisation brought separation of household reproduction sector from
economic production sector and that brought in sharp division of labour
between men's work and women's work.
 Women being made solely responsible for reproductive sector (social
reproductive sector) of the society, found it hard to perform these dual tasks.
Hence they got further and farther away from the productive sectors, ones
termed as productive sectors by the capitalist economy.
 The gender inequality is not only confined to the household and family, but
is also reproduced across a range of institutions, including international
donor agencies. the state and the market. Institutions ensure the production,
reinforcement and reproduction of social relations and thereby social
difference and social inequality.

138
 Institutions are framework of rules for achieving certain social or
economic-goals. Organisations refer to the specific structural forms
that the institutions take
 In the widely accepted definition of development, "a major section of
working women of the world disappear into a 'black hole' in
economic theory." The planning interventions therefore do not
recognise and therefore value the non-market activities of the
women, which are otherwise of economic and social relevance but
are not important of GDP/GNP estimates.
 In cities, there are no interventions to support these activities of the
women. On the contrary, planning tools, such as landuse planning
make clear distinction between work place and residence place,
emphasis on pricing of basic services, and so on.

139
 There is hierarchy of production and which influences and then
legitimizes resource allocation in a hierarchy.
 Women are underrepresented in activities at the 'tip of the iceberg',
where development efforts and resources are concentrated; they
appear in large numbers in informal sector and subsistence
activities. They are pre-dominant ... in the reproduction and activities
(labour) nurturing of human life, the neglected sectors in policy
domain.
 This skewed representation demonstrates graphically the
convergence of power and ideas in the field of development.
 It ensures that women are positioned within the policy debate as
unproductive 'welfare' clients, and that their claims on the national
development budget. based as they are on activities and resources
which are excluded from calculations of the GNP, are rarely heard in
debates over budgetary allocations.

140
 Development theories and practice should
start from the vantage point of the poor
women in the Third World, taking their
viewpoint as that from the below.
 Thus, gender planning comes in as a new
concept.

141
 What is Gender Planning?
Planning is three things:
i) Policy making -which is a process of political decision making about
allocation of resources among various activities.
ii) Programme interventions - that is, the resource allocations are
converted into programmes through which the resources are
distributed. Government has a role in the process as the resources
come from the government.
iii) Implementation - the organisation of the process of implementation,
the administration of the programme, who participates in it and so
on.

A Gender Perspective is required in each of these three

activities.

142
i) Resource allocations do not consider women's needs. For example,
resources are not easily allocated for services that benefit women,
child care services, battered women's homes, etc. Why, because
welfare is not economically productive, neo-classical economist's
perspective.
ii) Programmes do not consider women's needs. For example,
transportation policy. Transport routes and schedules might totally
overlook women’s needs with respect to timing, security, location of
bus-stands, street furniture, etc. Other examples of missing women
are in the housing programmes, agricultural programmes, and so on.
iii) Process of implementation exclude women. Most programmes are
designed by planners and where people do not participate and hence
the processes, like we discussed about the World Bank projects, are
not transparent. If there is some local participation than women do not
participate and hence their needs get overlooked.

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Five types of policies
As far as policies are concerned, there can be
five types of policies:
i) gender-blind policies
ii) gender-neutral policies
iii) gender-aware policies
iv) gender specific policies
v) gender redistributive policies

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 Five approaches to gender planning

Within gender planning also, there are five approaches

based on what one looks at role of women. These five
approaches are:
i) Welfare approach – Where women are looked at as
mothers and their welfare is considered as society’s
welfare.
ii) Anti-poverty approach – It argues for increasing the
productivity of poor as high poverty leads to women
engaging themselves in highly low productive activities.
High poverty among women is a problem of under-
development

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iii) Efficiency approach - Argues that women's participation brings
efficiency. For example, at household level, women's income benefit
the household as they spend the same for household welfare, for
example on children's education and not on alcoholism as men tend
to spend.
iv) Equity approach - Women should be equal recipients of benefits in
a development process. In other words, women should equally
benefit from a development process in a suitable manner.
v) Empowerment approach - Argues for empowering women for
greater self-reliance and self-esteem.

146
 Example of different approaches
Example of how different approaches lead to different arguments, in
say an environmental programme.
i) Welfare approach - Women are altruistic (charitable) and work
without material gains for the welfare of the family. Natural resource
management, which has been traditionally been women's
responsibility, in whose honour women have rose from time to time
(Chipko movement, Greenbelt movement Kenya). Hence, women
should be given this responsibility.
ii) Anti-poverty approach - Removing poverty of the women would
remove poverty of the household and hence make free access to
natural resources such as the CPRs possible. This will bring income
to women.

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iii) Efficiency approach - Women are honest and hence will give 'Best
for the Buck'. Women are the efficient managers of the natural
resources and hence give them this responsibility for increasing
efficiency of natural resource management programmes. Land
management in subsistence fanning is women's responsibility and
hence enhance these capabilities for efficient land management.
iv) Equity approach - Women's equal participation should be there in
all programmes, such as energy programmes (including nuclear
energy programme).
v) Empowerment approach - Women's participation brings them out
of the households into the public sphere that empowers them and
they start demanding their well being and respect. Women can then
put their needs as priorities in public policy. Women can get access
to and control over assets and resources.

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 Patriarchy is a system that systematically denies women access to
assets and resources through religious and social practices. Notion
of economic growth enhance & this process of denial.
 Women can be empowered only through changing the gender
relations. That their development in true sense would take place
when this rigid gender division of labour and all inequalities
emanating from that disappears.
 Gender planning is a new tradition, a new goal, that is to ensure that
women, through empowering themselves, achieve equity and
equality with men.

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 Gender sensitive planning is that which ensures:

i) adequate availability and accessibility of all basic services, that would

include housing, water supply and sanitation, transport
ii) right to employment at adequate wages, including vending and living in
the informal sector without being displaced,
iii) clean environment,
iv) safety and security and availability of feminist services to address the
problem of violence against women,
v) availability of child care and other care facilities so that women are
empowered to participate equally in all the urban activities,
vi) democratic polity in true sense and not just token electoral democracy,
and
vii)creation of institutions of women's empowerment at all levels, from
private to public spheres.

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 It is now mandatory that all development
programmes and projects are analysed with a
bifocal lense and that what would be the
impact of any of these programmes and
projects on women is observed.

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 Gandhian philosophy
 Gandhi was already practising alternative development model in
South Africa, through his 'Tolstoy farm in South Africa. Here, he has
also participated in anti-apartheid movement, issues of equal rights.
 He was called a 'practical dreamer’ by his first biographer, Rev.
Joseph Doke
 Gandhi saw that the general people were not participating in the
Freedom movement. Only the Congress party and its workers were
active in a noticeable way. He had also noticed that even the
bearings of the Congress Party workers were not in the masses.

152
 He gave a call to his followers in Congress Party, the Congress Party
workers, to go to the rural areas and mobilise the people for participating in
the Freedom Movement. Being a practical man, he suggested that the best
entry point to mobilise people for freedom struggle was to take up
constructive activities in the villages.
 The youth inspired by the call of Gandhi indeed went to the rural areas and
begun constructive development activities. (This practice is there even
today. Many NGOs undertake income-generation programmes or education
programmes to begin organising a community for political action.)
 Gandhi had realised at that ‘independence’ did not mean political
independence alone but also economic independence from the imperial
global economic system. For India, it meant reconstruction of the entire
society that was poverty-stricken. Independence for India meant,
independence from poverty. Thus, for India, both, political and economic
independence had to go together, argued Gandhi.
 Population was concentrated in rural areas in India and so was the poverty.
He therefore asked his followers to go to the rural areas, where people and
poverty were concentrated and work for development activities.

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 Gandhian Philosophy
 Gandhi condemned the western civilization. He believed that it
dehumanised. He believed that the machines, which were for the purpose of
easing human burden and to increase production for satisfying numerous
human wants of the modem human beings "mutilated the working man,
cancelled out his body, conscripted only his hands". Gandhi saw that the
modem civilization would mean multiplication of wants and moral
impoverishment of man. He laid out his vision of Indian society in his work
Hind Swaraj, written in 1908.
 He expressed the opinion that the western civilization was irreligious and it
had taken hold on people in Europe. For him civilization pointed human
beings to the path of duty and observance of morality and not to the path of
increased consumption and lack of morality. Gandhi's condemnation of
western civilization and with that of the industrialisation promoted by
western countries was a reaction to imperialism of the west. For him
industrialisation and colonialism went hand in hand.

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 He expressed the opinion that the western civilization
was irreligious and it had taken hold on Europe. For
him civilization pointed human beings to the path of
duty and observance of morality and not to the path
of increased consumption and lack of morality.
Gandhi’s condemnation of western civilization and
with that of the industrialization promoted by western
countries was a reaction to imperialism of the west.
For him, industrialization and colonialism went hand
in hand.

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 Economic Vision – Village Movement

 Gandhi did not believe that economics was a natural science. He

considered it as moral science, which had to do with spiritual and
moral being and not just the rational, utilitarian human being.
 Gandhi’s economic programme for India was revival of the village
economy. He stated that the economic vision for a thickly populated
country such as India had to be different than that for thinly
populated countries such as the United States. He saw that the only
way to bring good living to the people in rural India was to make
rural areas central piece in economic programme.
 Gandhi saw urbanization as a process that sponged on the rural
areas.

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 He promoted the idea of 'Bread Labour', idea that he had borrowed from
Tolstoy. It means living by one's own hands. He believed that: (i) the life of
labour, that is that of the tiller and handicraftsman was only life worth living;
(ii) there has to be equal value for all types of labour (lawyer, barber, etc.)
and (iii) good of individual is contained in the good of all.
 By this, he strongly disagreed and discouraged the idea of hierarchy in the
division of labour. His emphasis was to create employment for all in the rural
areas through home/hand production, which is also decentralized production
that would employ unemployed rural labour. Small products would get
absorbed in the rural economy itself and thereby increase employment as
well as demand at the village level.
 Gandhi was in search of practical means of alleviating India's wretchedness
and misery. Charkha and Khadi programme became the symbols of this
practical programme. He introduced spinning as a basic programme. He
believed that every one had to spin, that is every one had to be engaged in
the activities of production of basic necessities. Only then there would be
real home rule or independence, he said.

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 He said that the problem for India was how to employ the
hands that remained idle for about six months in a year
and part of the working day. Charkha became a symbol
of subsidiary economic activity at the village level.
 After independence, Gandhians influenced the
Government of India (GOI) to set up Khadi and Village
Industries Commission (KVIC), an organisation for
promoting employment among rural weavers and
artisans. The KVIC provided grants for setting up mainly
units/infrastructure for home-based (also called cottage
industry) production.

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 Peace and Non-violence
 Gandhi believed that any good end could not have a wrong means;
cruelty and blood bath involved in the violent means cannot achieve
fair social order and means are as important as goals. Any struggle
to be fought therefore had to be through peaceful means in which
persistence of truth (Satyagraha) was seen as a main weapon.
 He viewed the caste-ridden Indian society as one perpetrating
violence on the lower social strata. A non-violent social order was
such that would be non-violent on the lower social strata. He asked
for a total social transformation to achieve peaceful and non-violent
society and means for such a struggle were also promoted to be
peaceful.

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Truth
 Gandhi considered truth as the most powerful
but also a most difficult weapon in the fight for
justice. He believed that only the fearless
could use this weapon.

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 Sarvodaya
 Sarvodaya is Gandhian way to welfare economics. It means welfare
of all, which does not happen if the welfare of the last strata does
not take place. Sarvodaya is a comprehensive vision of Indian
society, a village level movement and building of society from below.
It is not a utilitarian approach but a moral approach. It includes
individual as well as collective and encompasses all dimensions of
social existence and not only economic.
 He argued that it is more important to have allegiance to the duties
than the rights if Sarvodaya had to be achieved. This means that
sacrifice is important dimension of human practice. Fearlessness,
sacrifice and truth are the three ways to achieve Sarvodaya.
 Lastly, such a world order was non-competitive and humane, which
was based on absolute acceptance of purity of means of achieving
noble ends and not on conflicts and exploitation.

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Antyodaya
 Antyoday means the development of the
person who is last in the social and economic
hierarchy. Any development that did not
reach this last stratum of society was not
development according to Gandhi.

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 Self-governance (Swaraj)
 Gandhi's concept of democracy was self-governance. This was democracy
of the masses and not electoral democracy as we visualise now.
 Ideally, self-government would mean no State in which every one's opinion
and interests mattered and not only of the majority and that could be
installed only through consensus and negotiations. He said that the
democracy practiced in the world was electoral democracy, which is the rule
of the majority that coerced minority to accept the decisions of the majority.
However, till such a democracy was installed, in the interim period, one
could do with a democracy in which the government was elected by the
majority.
 He gave Swaraj (self-rule) as his political programme and Panchayati Raj as
programme for governance. In place of the State and its institutions he
canvassed that the village level institutions, such as the Panchayats would
address the issues of governance.

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Volunteerism
 He believed that the true democracy could only be
built from the grassroots, through voluntary efforts
and moral authority. Community development
activities therefore have been always visualised as
voluntary activities in India, especially for those who
come from Gandhian ideology. This practice gave
currency to the term 'voluntary organisations' whose
mandate was development activities with community
support.

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 New Education (Nai Talim)
 Gandhi believed that education is the basic tool for the development of
consciousness and reconstitution of society and therefore an important
tool of social change. Also, education was for livelihood and for
becoming a good person. He argued that Education was not for bringing
in a new Brahminical order. He believed that the education in India had
alienated the educated people from their society and these people did
not give back to the society what society had given them.
 His New Education (Nai Talim) was woven around the work so that the
cost of education can be taken care by remunerative work. Education
consisted of imparting skills, along with promoting capability to read,
write and count. This he called basic education. He said that basic
education and bread labour would bring equality between rural and
urban areas and between different classes of society.

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 Trusteeship
 Gandhi himself denied property for himself, but did not come out fully
against private property and capitalist accumulation. Nor did it consider it
wrong to increase wealth through productive activities. But, instead of
holding that wealth privately, he suggested that it should be managed by the
capitalists who should consider themselves as the trustees of the property
created by labour. Increase in wealth by the capitalists was to be not for
their own sake but for the sake of the nation.
 Similarly, he believed that the landlords were the trustees of a the land for
the tilling peasants and therefore he did not emphasise much on land
reforms. This concept of trusteeship evolved from his deep religious
conviction that everything belonged to God and human beings could hold
property or talent only as the trustee of God.
 This principle of trusteeship was imbibed in the Trade Union movement.
First such trade union was started by Gandhi in Ahmedabad in 1918 and
this was called Textile Labour Association (TLA). This was in a way a non-
violent method of conflict resolution.

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