"Development as Freedom" Intro

- Amarataya Sen
Amarataya Sen is badass. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for Economics.

Basically he deconstructs the theory that development should be measured by economic development alone. For instance, looking at GDP alone leaves out the advancements that may have been made in education or health care, political and civil rights. He emphasizes the importance of what development brings such as the latter and thus, it should be measured by these things.

He argues that freedom is central to development for 2 reasons: (1) the evaluative reason: assessment of progress has to be done primarily in terms of whether the freedoms that people have are enhanced (2) The effectiveness reason: achievement of development is thoroughly dependent on the free agency of people.

These positive social developments are reliant on economic opportunity. Thus, the development of these freedoms can measure economic development because they are interconnected.

Freedoms are very effective in contributing to economic progress. Thus, the question that some economists ask, "will opportunities to receive basic rights hinder development", is absurd to Sen and he claims his book will deconstruct the idea that restricting freedoms is better for the economy than expanding them.

Argument:
Humans talk unless the freedom is taken away. It is how they interact with the market place. "The freedom to participate in economic interchange has a basic role in social living"(7). There are benefits to market oriented society.

Economic unfreedom can breed social unfreedom <----> social or political unfreedom can also foster economic unfreedom.

5 types of "instrumental freedoms"
(1) political freedoms (2) economic facilities (3) social opportunities (4) transparency guarantees (5) protective security.

These are instrumental because they "advance the general capability of a person" and thus improve development. These freedoms are linked and enhance human freedom in general.

Basically Amaratya Sen believes that we need to rethink the idea of oppressing the labor input of capitalism because by giving them more freedoms they will actually be more productive. I think.

50 Key Thinkers on Development

Robert Chambers

RC is known as the forerunner in thinking the marginalized people of society should be included in the decision making process. He is known for "put the last first" kind of mentality. He believed that the problems people experienced were not better solved by those who came from the outside but the challenge lay in "unlocking their development potential by creating a suitable enabling environment"(75).

His influences include E.F. Schumacher and Manfred Max-Neef.

Basically----> RC = bottom up development.

Mohandas Mahatma Gandhi
Seven Social Sins:

(1)Consumption without conscience (2) Knowledge without character (3) Wealth without labour (4)Business without morality (5)Religious duty without sacrifice (6) Science without a human sense (7) Politics without principles.

Sarvodaya: 2 main ideas. He emphasized protecting democracy and the process of discussion and the cultural value of machines (i.e. a humans motives are played out by machine).

Terms:
Ahimsa: Non violence
Karma: right action
Scachetana: self realisation
Dharma: moral order
Swadeshi: spirit extended to all the elements composing the desh (community) and implied a love of not only the traditional way of life but also the natural environment and especially the people sharing it.
Swaraj: describes society run in the swadeshi spirit.
Sarvodaya: to focus on the welfare of all
Satyagraha: the method of Ghandi followed (?)
Sarvodaya: the uplifting of all
Swadeshi: large scale industrialization--Ghandi was very much opposed.
satyagraha: solving problems non violently--non-violent action.

Strongly believed in the human right. He developed a theory of sustainable development based on three principles: Sarvodaya, Swadeshi and Safyagraha as well as the question of local economy where everybody in the area would be self-sufficient.

Most importantly Ghandi became the people he was trying to help and thus developed a better perspective on what they were facing.

E.F. (Fritz) Schumacher
Wrote "Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered". The book called for people to look at the human cost of certain economic choices.

He popularized the term "intermediate technology". He thought that it was not helpful to transfer the technology of the rich straight to poor countries. Instead there needed to be a simpler, cheaper technology sent to poor countries but more superior than the outdated technology they already had. He focussed his first book on the interface between technology and labor. He strongly advocated for human laborers over machines. Basics--> he thought it was better to employ people than machines.

He was into Marx and this comes out in his ideas around business construction, for instance, he believes that large companies should be broken down into smaller companies that are more worker friendly. The idea is that they will feel more of a sense of ownership.

Walt Whitman Rostow

"The Stages of Economic Growth--A Non-Communist Manifesto" is his most famous book. Influenced the foreign policy of both Kennedy and Johnson.

Rostow's "Stages" theory:
5 stages countries must pass---> (1) the traditional society (2) the preconditions for take-off (3) the take-off (4) the drive to maturity (self-sustained growth) (5) the age of high mass consumption. 2-4 are the most important because they mark the transition to modern society from traditional society.

He was very liberal and Republicans hated him.