World System Theory And Dependency Theory: Human Development And Dependency Theory
Development has been defined as bringing about sustained improvement in the well-being of the individual and bestowing benefits on all. Although historically development was usually employed to refer to economic development, nowadays it refers more often to human development, a holistic concept that encompasses governance, health care, education, poverty reduction, gender equality, infrastructures, sustainability, etc. Development should be distinguished from disaster relief or humanitarian aid. While the latter seek short term fixes to emergency situations, the former aims at implementing long-term solutions, i.e., solutions that continue to work indefinitely after aid is stopped.
Although earlier forms of international aid did exist, …show more content…
This theory classifies the countries into three groups: core countries, which focus on skilled labor and capital-intensive production, semi-periphery countries, and periphery countries, which focus on low-skill labor-intensive production. The model is dynamic and assumes that countries can move from one group to the other.
In the 1990s, despite the aforementioned development efforts, large portions of the population in underdeveloped countries lived in poverty and those countries had accumulated large debts. Some UN organizations, like the International Labour Organization and UNICEF put forward the concept of human development to focus on human needs and capabilities. In 2000, this concept led to the abandonment of modernization theory and to the adoption of shorter-term goals branded as Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). MDGs include the eradication of extreme poverty, the provision of universal primary education, the reduction of child mortality, the achievement of gender equality, etc. For each goal, specific targets to be achieved at specific dates were …show more content…
Examples are the national GDP, per capita income, the Human Development Index, the Gini coefficient, the Human Security Index, literacy rates, life expectancy, etc. The World Bank Africa Development Indicators (ADI) is a compilation of data, assembled by the World Bank, representing over 1,400 indicators of development in Sub-Saharan Africa.
As can be seen in Fig. 1, Africa contains the largest portion of least developed countries in the world. Several causes are usually mentioned to explain this situation:
•Infrastructure. The lack of infrastructure limits economic growth. Moreover, infrastructure investments and maintenance is too expensive for poor countries.
•Colonialism. Colonial policies based on exploiting the resources of African colonies without investing enough in their development led to the underdevelopment of African countries. Additionally, colonialism inflicted a psychological feeling of inferiority and
Although earlier forms of international aid did exist, …show more content…
This theory classifies the countries into three groups: core countries, which focus on skilled labor and capital-intensive production, semi-periphery countries, and periphery countries, which focus on low-skill labor-intensive production. The model is dynamic and assumes that countries can move from one group to the other.
In the 1990s, despite the aforementioned development efforts, large portions of the population in underdeveloped countries lived in poverty and those countries had accumulated large debts. Some UN organizations, like the International Labour Organization and UNICEF put forward the concept of human development to focus on human needs and capabilities. In 2000, this concept led to the abandonment of modernization theory and to the adoption of shorter-term goals branded as Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). MDGs include the eradication of extreme poverty, the provision of universal primary education, the reduction of child mortality, the achievement of gender equality, etc. For each goal, specific targets to be achieved at specific dates were …show more content…
Examples are the national GDP, per capita income, the Human Development Index, the Gini coefficient, the Human Security Index, literacy rates, life expectancy, etc. The World Bank Africa Development Indicators (ADI) is a compilation of data, assembled by the World Bank, representing over 1,400 indicators of development in Sub-Saharan Africa.
As can be seen in Fig. 1, Africa contains the largest portion of least developed countries in the world. Several causes are usually mentioned to explain this situation:
•Infrastructure. The lack of infrastructure limits economic growth. Moreover, infrastructure investments and maintenance is too expensive for poor countries.
•Colonialism. Colonial policies based on exploiting the resources of African colonies without investing enough in their development led to the underdevelopment of African countries. Additionally, colonialism inflicted a psychological feeling of inferiority and