Development

International development is a concept that lacks a universally accepted definition, but it is most used in a holistic and multi-disciplinary context of human development - the development of livelihoods and greater quality of life for humans. It therefore encompasses governance healthcare, education, disaster preparedness, infrastructure, economics, human rights environment and issues associated with these.

International development is by definition a process undertaken by countries and communities with assistance from other nations' governments and communities, from international NonGovernmental Organisations(such as charities) or from intergovernmental organisations (such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank). As such it is distinct from development which would take place anyway, without international involvement.

International development is also distinct from, though conceptually related to, disaster relief and humanitarian aid. While these two forms of international support seek to alleviate some of the problems associated with a lack of development, they are most often short term fixes - they are not necesarily sustainable solutions. International development, on the other hand, seeks to implement long-term solutions to problems by helping developing countries create the necessary capacity needed to provide such sustainable solutions to their problems. A truly sustainable development project is one which will be able to carry on indefinitely with no further international involvement or support, whether it be financial or otherwise.
International development projects may consist of a single, transformative project to address a specific problem or a series of projects targeted at several aspects of society.
History of International Development

Although International relations and international trade have existed for thousands of years, it is only in the past century that development theory emerged as a separate body of ideas.More specifically, it has been suggested that 'the theory and practice of development is inherently technocratic, and remains rooted in the high modernist period of political thought that existed in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War

The second half of the 20th century has been called the 'era of development'. The origins of this era have been attributed to:

the need for reconstruction in the immediate aftermath of World War II
the collapse of colonialism and the establishment of new relationships between so-called 'developed' and 'underdeveloped' nations.The start of the Cold War and the desire of the United States and its allies to prevent the Third World from drifting towards communism.
It has been argued that this era was launched on January 20th, 1949, when Harry S. Truman made these remarks in his inaugural address:
"We must embark on a bold new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas. The old imperialism - exploitation for foreign profit - has no place in our plans. What we envisage is a program of development based on the concept of democratic fair dealing."
Before this date, however, the United States had already taken a leading role in the creation of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (now part of the World Bank Group) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), both established in 1944, and in the United Nations in 1945.
The launch of the Marshall Plan was another important step in the setting the agenda for international development, combining humanitarian goals with the creation of a political and economic bloc in Europe that was allied to the U.S. This agenda was given conceptual support during the 1950s in the form of modernization theory espoused by Walt Rostow and other American economists. The changes in the 'developed' world's approach to international development were further necessitated by the gradual collapse of Western Europe's empires over the next decades; now independent ex-colonies no longer received support in return for their subjugation.
By the late 1960s, the critics of modernization were advancing a dependency theory to explain the evolving relationship between the West and the Third World. In the 1970s and early 80's, the modernists at the World Bank and IMF adopted the neoliberal ideas of Milton Friedman, which were implemented in the form of structural adjustment programs, while their opponents were promoting various 'bottom up' approaches, ranging from civil disobedience and appropriate technology and Rapid Rural Appraisal

By the 1990s, development theory had reached an impasse and some academics were imagining a postdevelopment eraThe Cold War had ended, capitalism had become the dominant mode of social organization, and UN statistics showed that living standards around the world had improved over the past 40 years. Nevertheless, a large portion of the world's population were still living in poverty, their governments were crippled by debt and concerns about the environmental impact of globalization were rising.
In response to the impasse, the rhetoric of development is now focussing on the issue of poverty, with the metanarrative of modernization being replaced by shorter term vision embodied by the Millenium Development Goals. At the same time, some development agencies are exploring opportunities for public-private partnerships and promoting the idea of Corporate social responsibilitywith the apparent aim of integrating international development with the process of economic globalization.
The critics have suggested that this integration has always been part of the underlying agenda of developmentThey argue that poverty can be equated with powerlessness, and that the way to overcome poverty is through emancipatory social movements and civil society, not paternalistic aid programmes or corporate charityWhile some critics have been debating the end of development others have predicted a development revival as part of the War on Terror. To date, however, there is limited evidence to support the notion that aid budgets are being used to counter islamic fundamentalism in the same way that they were used 40 years ago to counter communism.

Historical Development Theories
Modernization Theory

Modernization Theory is a theory of development which states that the development can be achieved through following the processes of development that were used by the currently developed countries. Scholars such as Walt Rostow and A.F.K. Organski developed stages of development through which every country develops. Samuel Huntington determined development to be a linear process which every country must go through. Modernization Theory was built upon Classical Liberalism and the belief in individuality, free trade and the market fundamentalism. Technology played a key role in this development theory because it was believed that as technology was developed and introduced to lesser developed countries it would spur growth. One key factor in Modernization Theory is the belief that development requires the assistance of developed countries to aid developing countries to learn from their development. In addition, it was believed that the lesser developed countries would develop and grow faster than developed countries. Thus, this theory is built upon the theory that it is possible for equal development to be reached between the developed and lesser developed countries.

Dependency Theory

In response, came the rise of Dependency Theory which was critical of Modernization Theory. Dependency Theory is founded on the concept that the effects of colonialism on lesser developed countries must be considered when creating future development. Dependency Theory grew out of Latin America and scholars such as Raul Prebisch, due to observation that Modernization Theory was failing to address the consequences of colonialism such as trade inequities in which the colonial trade patterns of exporting raw materials and agriculture and importing the processed and manufactured goods continued to persist. Scholars such as Andre Gunder Frank and Fernando Henrique Cardoso have furthered the theory attributing the Modernization Theory to be a development process through which the developing countries only became further entrenched and dependent upon the developed countries. In addition, Dependency Theory divided countries into two different categories of development, periphery and center. The center was determined to be the developed and colonizing countries and the periphery consists of the developing and colonized countries. The relationship is outlined as one of exploitation in which the center exploits the periphery and it is through this colonial and post-colonial exploitation that the center countries were able to develop. This approach aims to discredit Modernization Theory's development process by stating that since exploitation allowed the center to develop it is impossible for the same process to lead to the development of the previously exploited countries.

Some criticisms of Dependency Theory are that it provides no feasible development solution, it does not acknowledge distinctions within the periphery or vulonerability in the center and does not outline any means of observing change within development.

World Systems Theory
In response to some of the criticisms of Dependency Theory came World Systems Theory, which the division of periphery and center was further divided into a trimodal system consisting of the core, semi-periphery and periphery. In this system, the semi-periphery lies between the core and periphery and is exploited by the core and exploits the periphery. This division aims to explain the industrialization within lesser developed countries. World Systems Theory was initiated by Immanuel Wallerstein in, among other writings, World Systems Analysis, Durham NC: Duke University Press, 2004, and focuses on inequality as a separate entity from growth in development and examines change in the global capitalist system. One distinguishing feature of this theory is a distrust for the state and a view in which the state is seen as a group of elites and that industrialization cannot be equated with development. Out of this theory stem anti-systemic movements which attempt to reverse the terms of the system's inequality through social democratic and labor movements.

State Theory
In response to the distrust of the state in World Systems Theory, is State Theory. State Theory is based upon the view that the economy is intertwined with politics and therefore the take-off period in development is unique to each country. State Theory emphasized the effects of class relations and the strength and autonomy of the state on historical outcomes. Thus, development involves interactions between the state and social relations because class relations and the nature of the state impact the ability of the state to function. Development is dependent upon state stability and influence externally as well as internally. State Theorists believe that a developmentalist state is required for development by taking control of the development process within one state.

Millennium Development Goals
In the year 2000, United Nations made the United Nations Millennium Declaration. This represented the first time that a holistic strategy to meet the development needs of the world has been established, with measureable targets and defined indicators.Because the MDGs are a multilateral United Nations programme, they are more removed from (but by no means independent of) individual national interests than unilateral development programmes, which are consistently subject to claims that they are used to further national economic interests or ideology, often with considerable justification.
The first seven Millennium Development Goals present measurable goals, while the eighth lists a number of 'stepping stone' goals - ways in which progress towards the first six goals could be made.
The MDGs have catalysed a significant amount of action, including new initiatives such as Millennium Promise. Most of these initiatives however work in small scale interventions which do not reach the millions of people required by the MDGs.
Recent critiscism has been that it will be impossible to meet the first seven goals without meeting the eighth by forming a Global Partnership for Development. No current organisation has the capacity to solve the enormous problems of the developing world alone - especially in cities, where an increasing number of poor people live - as demonstrated by the almost non-exist progress on the goal of improving the lives of at least 100 Million slum dwellers.
The Institution of Civil Engineers recent Engineers Without Frontiers panel and its recommendations, and the recent Brunel Lecture by the ICE's next president Paul Jowitt, are representative of a change of approach in the UK at least to start drawing together the huge capacity available to western governments, industry, academia and charity to develop such a partnership.

Development Concepts
During recent decades, development thinking has shifted from modernization and structural adjustment programs to poverty reduction. Under the former system, poor countries were encouraged to undergo social and economical structural transformations as part of their development, creating industrialization and intentional industrial policy. Poverty reduction rejects this notion, consisting instead of direct budget support for social welfare programs that create macroeconomic stability leading to an increase in economic growth.
Poverty
The concept of poverty can apply to different circumstances depending on context. In general, it applies to a lack and need of material wealth and social inclusion - often manifested in a lack of dignity.
Dignity
Modern poverty reduction and development programmes often have dignity as a central theme. Dignity is also a central theme of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the very first article of which starts with:
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights."
The concept of dignity in development has been extensively explored by many, and related to all of the development sectors. For example, in Development with Dignity Amit Bhaduri argues that full employment with dignity for all is both important and possible in India, while the UN Millinnium Project's task force on Water and Sanitation links the sector directly to dignity in the report Health, Dignity and Development: What will it take?.
The Asian Human Rights Commission on July 27, 2006, released a statement claiming that "Human dignity is the true measure of human development."

Participation
The concept of participation is concerned with ensuring that the intended beneficiaries of development projects and programmes are themselves involved in the planning and execution of those projects and programmes. This is considered important as it empowers the recipients of development projects to influence and manage their own development - thereby removing any culture of dependency. It is widely considered to be one of the most important concepts in modern development theory, with. The 'UN System Network on Rural Development and Food Security' describes participation as one of the ends as well as one of the means of development

Appropriate Development
The concept of something being appropriate is concerned with ensuring that a development project or programme is of the correct scale and technical level, and is culturally and socially suitable for its beneficiaries. This should not be confused with ensuring something is low-tech, cheap or basic - a project is appropriate if it is acceptable to its recipients and owners, economically affordable and sustainable in the context in which it is executed.
For example, in a rural sub-Saharan community it may not be appropriate to provide a chlorinated water system because it cannot be maintained or controlled adequately - simple handpumps may be better; while in a big city in the same country it would be inappropriate to provide water with handpumps, and the chlorinated system would be the correct response.
The economist E. F. Schumacher championed the cause of appropriate technology and founded the organization ITDG (Intermediate Technology Design Group), which develops and provides appropriate technologies for development (ITDG has now been renamed Practical Action).

Sustainability
Sustainable business practices lead to economic growth and empowerment for farming communities in northern Uganda
A sustainable approach to development is one which takes account of economic, social and environmental factors to produce projects and programmes which will have results which are not dependent on finite resources. Something which is sustainable will not use more natural resources than the local environment can supply, more financial resources than the local community and markets can sustain and will have the necessary support from the community, government and other stakeholders to carry on indefinitely.
It is on of the key concepts in international development, and is critical in removing dependency.
Capacity Building
Capacity building is concerned with increasing the ability of the recipients of development projects do continue their future development alone, without external support. It is a parallel concept to sustainability, as it furthers the ability of society to function independently in its own microcosm.