30220

SoSe 21: Theories of Development

Bujar Aruqaj

Information for students

Weekly online meetings and home-assignments

Comments

The question of how to achieve progressive and desirable change in society, is one which has preoccupied social science disciplines broadly, and the field of development economics more particularly. Depending on the theory, different explanations for the process of development and its uneven state between countries and regions are given. While modernization theory presupposes a path from a more “traditional”, to a more economically affluent society given the necessary conducive conditions, the most important one being industrialization; structuralism, on the other hand, looks at the structural aspects which impede “infant industries” from competing in the global market with more advanced industries. Dependency theory goes one step further in invoking the notion that resources flow from the ‘periphery’ of poor and underdeveloped states to a ‘core’ of wealthy countries, which leads to accumulation of wealth in the rich states and the dependency of the poor states on them. While Keynesian macroeconomic theory stresses the importance of government intervention in the national economy, neoclassical approaches are in favor of the free market, and against government intervention in those markets. Altogether, they represent early precursors of development theory. More recent and critical approaches question the notion of development altogether and point to the importance of ‘sustainable development’ to prevent compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. So- called ‘human-centered approaches’, such as the human development theory draw on a variety of schools (i.e., feminism, ecology and welfare economics) and focuses a great deal on human ‘capabilities’ which are defined as the things people can do and be. The course will look at all these and some other theories from a historical- chronologic lens to illustrate the way we have come to view development today. Furthermore, in this class we will discuss also the practical implications of these theories in the field of “international development” through looking at specific cases. close

13 Class schedule

Regular appointments

Mon, 16:00 - 18:00 13 Class schedule

Mon, 2021-04-12 16:00 - 18:00

Lecturers:
Bujar Aruqaj