Volume 26, number 3 (2005)
Economic Growth and National Development in Southeast Asia
Introduction
“National development experiences in South Korea and Taiwan have long been the subject of diverse debates and discussions about the dynamics of economic growth, particularly in international development studies over the past two decades. The central issues in these studies relate to the existence of an ‘Asian model’ of capitalist development: a theoretically simplified representation of the path toward national development traced out by Taiwan, South Korea, and other such ‘newly industrializing countries’ … ”
Agricultural Revolution, Political Development, and Long-Run Economic Growth
This paper argues that the more a ruling elite is dependent upon a small minority for the resources necessary to politically survive, the more likely it is to be predatory. Alternatively, the broader the group upon which the ruling elite depends for political survival, the less likely the elite will be predatory, and this is what is meant by political development. Thus, political development is necessary for long-run economic development and political development is more likely to evolve in the context of broad-based agricultural (rural) development. The experiences of Japan and Taiwan are used to illustrate these ideas.
Differences Behind the Appearances: Export Growth, Technological Capabilities, and Development in Mexico and South Korea
In spite of the apparent parallel experiences followed by export growth in Mexico and South Korea, the authors argue that the two countries have followed radically contrasting economic and social development paths. The aim of this paper is to examine some of the strategic dimensions of the two paths in an attempt to demystify the aura of success created around the Mexican case.
Social Capital and the Informal Sector
Introduction
“In the mainstream, ‘development’ has most generally been conceived of in terms of economic growth (increases in the gross national product — the total output of a national economy) and the transformation of the structure of national production; the first based on a process of capital accumulation (increases in the rate of savings and investment), the second based on a process of industrialization and modernization in the ‘formal sector’ of the economy. However, since the mid-1970s there has emerged a new paradigm in which development has been conceived of in very different terms. Since then, it has been widely recognized that the major dynamics of development unfolded not as much in the formal economy of large, medium, and small capitalist and state enterprises, but more in a burgeoning informal economy constituted by micro-enterprises and irregular, unstructured economic activities … ”
The Business of Food Street Vendors in Bangkok: An Analysis of Economic Performance and Success
This paper presents an analysis of the economic activities of food street vendors in Bangkok. Two central concepts are engaged: first, the idea of success as seen by the vendors themselves and, second, the concept of economic performance as measured in surveys on income, savings, and investment capital. Indicators of success identified by the vendors were explored and statistically tested. Indicators of different levels of success have policy implications with regard to poverty reduction and entrepreneurial development, given Bangkok’s economic, social, and cultural characteristics in the age of globalization.
Grassroots Participation for Infrastructural Provisioning in Northwest Cameroon: Are Village Development Associations the Panacea?
Local communities are the loci of spatial development initiatives as they wrestle with the problem of resource scarcity and to fill the void left by the reduction in state services. This paper explores the gender dimension of grassroots participation in community development in selected localities of the Northwest Province of Cameroon. It outlines the gender roles and biases of grassroots participation through Village Development Associations (VDAs), which have become the prevalent vehicles for the galvanization of indigenous resource and building of social and human capital for project execution. Projects successfully executed include the construction of bridges and community halls, renovation of school buildings and health centres, digging and maintenance of earth roads, and the provision of pipe-borne water. In spite of communitarian efforts, VDAs are finding it difficult to embark on large-scale infrastructural development projects such as rural electrification, road construction, water supply, and health centres, all of which require huge capital investments and a high degree of technical expertise. Participation is also affected by a litany of gender-based inequalities, mismanagement, ambiguous and vested interests of the elite, and complex operational structures of VDAs coupled with a politicized institutional environment. The paper concludes that although VDAs are not the cure-all, if revitalized, they can determine the local development agenda and become conduits for direct efforts at poverty reduction.
Sustainable Development
Introduction
“With the United Nations’ publication of the Brundtland Report in 1987, the concept of sustainable development entered the mainstream of development theory and practice in regards to the relation between the economy and the environment. In the 1980s the concept of sustainability acquired a more distinct social dimension in a growing concern with increasing the level of popular or community participation in the development process. This concern coincided with a turn away from state-led forms of national development toward the strengthening of civil society, a shift in development practice away from large-scale infrastructure and nation-building projects and programs toward small-scale community-based projects that are closer to potential beneficiaries and participants, and an extension of the concept of sustainability from protecting the environment to a concern for livelihoods, particularly of the rural poor. The literature on sustainable development and livelihoods that has emerged in the wake of these changes and growing concerns is voluminous … ”
Coopération internationale en gestion environnementale urbaine : un modèle théorique canadien
CIDA policy papers design an extensive agenda for international co-operation projects in the field of urban environmental management. In real projects funded by the agency, this agenda is poorly implemented. The agenda copes relatively well with issues relevant to sustainable development (environment and economy) and to urban development. This is not the case with issues relevant to social development, good governance, and globalization of environmental service and infrastructure markets. The agency’s agenda looks more suited to African contexts than to Asian ones.
Public Participation in Environmental Assessment: Case Studies on EA Legislation and Practice
The practice of environmental assessment (EA) has grown since the late 1960s and is now institutionalized in more than 100 countries. This paper reports on a comparative analysis of EA legislation and regulations in 27 countries and four regional development banks and on a review of 17 EA processes in six developing countries. Some degree of public participation is now required in most of the legislation examined although to quite different degrees. Analysts suggest that public participation in EA can improve the quality of information provided during project approval processes but the literature also suggests that EA has been less successful in establishing improved terms and conditions for project approval. The 17 case studies of EA processes provide additional empirical evidence for assessing the effectiveness of public participation in practice. The majority of case studies supports the generalizations found in the literature that public participation to date does not avoid irreversible environmental change or ensure that those on the margins of decision-making will have their concerns addressed in the project design and approval process. But there are some examples of success. The paper describes cases in the Philippines, Brazil, and South Africa, where public participation in EA has led to the abandonment of large projects.
Advances and Limits of Social Sustainability as an Evolving Concept
The concept of “environment” usually refers to the external nature of the human world. Nevertheless, the academic discourse on the modern environmental crisis considers and tends to treat human society as part of the environment. In this context, the concept of sustainable development includes the social, economic, and ecological. This article analyses the social dimension of sustainable development in its evolution as a concept. The paper concludes that the main approaches in this field subordinate the social to the ecological. The implications of this are analysed and assessed.
Reflections on Development
Introduction
“CJDS is pleased to publish these theoretical reflections on international development. Both articles constitute an overview of different approaches of, and ideas about, development both as a consciously designed project and as a process under objective (structural) and subjective (strategic) conditions … ”
Globalization, Development, and Economics: Reflections on the History of Development Thought
“There is a remarkable contrast between the complexity of what we call globalization, and the simplicity of the abstractions of economics, which have been locked in a holding pattern for the past 20 years. This very prestigious and important discipline has not adequately responded to the realities of the world we live in, particularly in terms of the impact of globalization on the developing world.
“My retrospective look at the work of the pioneers of development economics of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s is framed by a wider historical view of the creation of the developing world in successive waves of globalization. There are hundreds if not thousands of articles and courses on globalization, and yet this phenomenon, which is of such great significance, is not well understood.
“I suggest that what we are now witnessing is the third wave of capitalist penetration of the rest of the world that commenced with European exploration and conquest 500 years ago … ”
Exploring the Frontiers of International Development: Countries of the North, Well-Being, Spirituality, and Contemplation
This paper explores three frontiers in the field of international development: none of them new, all of them neglected. First is the frontier of the North: should the field of international development broaden beyond its traditional focus on countries of the South to also encompass development in the countries of the North and the links between the two? Second is the frontier of well-being, happiness, and spirituality: should the field of international development extend the objectives of development from physical and economic material growth to include well-being, happiness, and spirituality? Third is the frontier of contemplation: should the field deepen its ways of knowing — deeper than the empiricism of the senses and the reasoning of the mind — to contemplation as the timeless way to wisdom?
Reviews
Qu’allons-nous faire des pauvres ? Réformes institutionnelles et espaces politiques, ou Les pièges de la gouvernance pour les pauvres, Bonnie Campbell (ed.)
Locked in Place: State Building and Late Industrialization in India, Vivek Chibber
Democratization, Democratic Governance, and Civil Society in Comparative Perspective: Africa, Asia, and Latin America, Philip Oxhorn, Joseph S. Tulchin, and Andrew D. Selee (eds.)