What is development? Development as a word has come to mean many different things to different people. Is development about wealth? Is it about opportunities? Equality? Or is it just about happiness?
There are many different views on what development means, some positive and some negative. Rist (2007) has a negative view on the term development and believes it is used to make people feel better. Development is characterised by ‘wishful thinking’ (Rist, 2007 p.488). Chambers believes that development can be defined as ‘good change’ (1997, p. 1744). A more generalised view of the meaning of development can be seen in Glennie, Straw and Wild’s research into the British public’s opinion on development (2009). They thought that people in less developed countries do not have ‘access to food, clean water, education or the ability to make informed choices’ (Glennie, Straw, Wild, 2009 p. 8). The majority of people understand development to be about what is missing, thinking of development as being about statistics – how many people are starving, how many children don’t go to school. Development should be about quality not quantity – improving quality of life, education and health.
I believe a key aspect of development is sustainability – both environmental sustainability and the ability to have a lasting impact. Environmental sustainability is important as people in less developed countries are affected considerably more by environmental degradation (United Nations Development Programme). Development should provide ‘intergenerational’ equality (World Bank, 2004 p.9). It should be sustainable so that each new generation has equal or better opportunities available.
Chang believes that development has come to mean many different things such as ‘poverty reduction, provision of basic needs, individual betterment’ (2010, p.2) but that the traditional meaning of the word has been lost. In my opinion this may be true but it is a slightly negative view. Even without an obvious definition, the concept of development will still inspire people to attempt to make a difference to inequality in the world.
The personal aspect of development is also important. Chambers said development is about giving ‘priority to the values and preferences of the weak’ (1997, p.1746) and about ‘disempowering oneself to empower others’ (1997, p.1751). I think that development has personal meaning to different people and agree that the language of development can ‘depersonalise’ (Chambers, 1997 p.1745) attempts to make change.
Freedom is an important meaning of development. In the World Bank article ‘What is Development?’ (2004), freedom of choice is mentioned as a key goal of development. This is linked to equality, both gender equality and equality across different countries. I believe this shows the importance of basic human rights and the availability of equal opportunities for all.
Overall, I believe development is about freedom – freedom from illness and disease, freedom from hunger and poverty and political freedom. Development is also about equal rights – the right to equal opportunities, the right to well-being and the right to pleasure and happiness. I believe there can be no one definition of development as it incorporates a range of different problems and therefore a range of different solutions. For me, Chambers (1997, p.1749) best summarises the meaning of development in that it should be beneficial to all:
‘The objective of development then becomes responsible well-being by all and for all’
Chambers, R. (1997) ‘Editorial: Responsible Well-Being – A Personal Agenda for Development’, World Development, 25(11), pp. 1743-1754
Chang, H. (2010) ‘Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark: How development has disappeared from today’s ‘development’ discourse’
Glennie, A., Straw, W. and Wild, L. (2009) Understanding Public Attitudes to Aid and Development, London: ODI and IPPR
Rist, G. (2007) ‘Development as a buzzword’, Development in Practice, 17(4-5), pp. 485-491
United Nations Development Programme, ‘Environment and Energy’. Available from: http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/environmentandenergy/overview.html (accessed 26/09/2012)
World Bank (2004) ‘What Is Development?’. Available from: http://www.worldbank.org/depweb/english/beyond/beyondco/beg_01.pdf (accessed 26/09/2012)