Showing papers in "Development and Change in 1996"
TL;DR: The evolutionary theory of land rights can be considered the dominant framework of analysis used by mainstream economists to assess the land tenure situation in developing countries, and to make predictions about its evolution.
Abstract: The evolutionary theory of land rights can be considered the dominant framework of analysis used by mainstream economists to assess the land tenure situation in developing countries, and to make predictions about its evolution. A central tenet of this theoryis that under the joint impact of increasing population pressure and market integration, land rights spontaneously evolve towards rising individualization and that this evolutioneventually leads rightsholders to press for the creation of duly formalized private property rights — a demand to which the state will have an incentive to respond. This article looks critically at the relevance of the evolutionary theory of land rights as currently applied to Sub-Saharan Africa. In particular, the question of whether the establishmentof private property rights is an advisable structural reform in the present circumstancesis examined, in the light of evidence accumulated so far. It will be argued that most of the beneficial effects usually ascribed to such a reform are grossly over-estimated and that, given its high cost, it is generally advisable to look for more appropriate solutions that rely on existing informal mechanisms at community level.
740 citations
TL;DR: Li et al. as mentioned in this paper, 1996 Images of community: discourse and strategy in property relations, 27(3): 501-527, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.tb00601.1996.
Abstract: This is the accepted version of the following article: Li,Tania M. 1996 Images of community: discourse and strategy in property relations. Development and Change, 27(3): 501-527., which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j. 1467-7660.1996.tb00601.x/abstract.
380 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider how life politics can generate new strategies to reduce inequality and alleviate poverty in developed and developing countries alike, and propose a kind of life politics which is different from and supplements, but does not replace, the longer-established practice of emancipatory politics, concerned above all with issues of social justice.
Abstract: The ‘end of nature’ and the attenuation of tradition, associated with accelerated modernization on a global scale, increase the need for conscious reflection on many aspects of life formerly considered to be givens. Thus in developed and developing countries alike, new questions of personal choice and ethics form the basis for a kind of life politics which is different from — and supplements, but does not replace — the longer-established practice of emancipatory politics, concerned above all with issues of social justice. This essay invites us to consider how life politics can generate new strategies to reduce inequality and alleviate poverty.
85 citations
TL;DR: The authors discusses both supranational and infranational forces which now work to undermine some of the powers and functions of even the oldest and most firmly established states, since neither the market nor the decentralization or breakup of existing states can provide adequate solutions to their problems.
Abstract: After reviewing the historically specific characteristics of the modern nation state, this essay discusses both supranational and infranational forces which now work to undermine some of the powers and functions of even the oldest and most firmly established states. Two popular visions of alternative arrangements, associated with free-market ultra-liberalism and the philosophy of ‘small is beautiful’, are rejected, since neither the market nor the decentralization or breakup of existing states can provide adequate solutions to their problems. As trends in economic development increase the likelihood that wealth will be generated by a smaller proportion of total populations, the redistributive function of the public sector is likely to become more important than ever.
83 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the dilemmas associated with "squaring the circle" of wealth creation, social cohesion and political freedom in the OECD countries and propose six proposals for improving the likelihood that a workable balance between prosperity, democracy and social cohesion can be maintained in advanced industrial societies.
Abstract: This essay explores the dilemmas associated with ‘squaring the circle’ of wealth creation, social cohesion and political freedom in the OECD countries. As the metaphor of square and circle implies, these three essential goals of development are not necessarily compatible and may even conflict with each other, particularly at a time when advancing globalization creates perverse choices. To become and remain competitive in international markets requires a flexible use of resources which threatens social cohesion and political freedom in a number of ways. After analysing these tensions, the essay concludes with six proposals for improving the likelihood that a workable balance between prosperity, democracy and social cohesion can be maintained in advanced industrial societies.
73 citations
TL;DR: The importance of incorporating the states into the framework of analysis of decentralization has been discussed in this paper, showing that at the state level it is possible to identify a number of details about processes which remain too general at the national level and too specific at the local level.
Abstract: With redemocratization and the promulgation of the 1988 Constitution, Brazil became highly decentralized in terms of the distribution of financial revenue and political strength. As a result, sub-national governments, and especially the states, are now at the centre of the political and financial scene. In the absence of party-oriented politics, regional politicians, and particularly the state governors of the most important states, provide the federal government with ruling coalitions. The central question addressed in this article is what the state governments and their politicians are doing with this political and financial strength. A further point made is the importance of incorporqting the states into the framework of analysis of decentralization: at the state level it is possible to identify a number of details about processes which remain too general at the national level and too specific at the local level. Brazil's experience in a decade of political and financial decentralization shows that although decentralization fosters democracy, a variety of other political and economic factors are also of influence, thus exposing the limits of decentralization's impact on policy results.
72 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the spatial disparities of economic development in China between 1953 and 1992, focusing on a time-series comparison between the development policies of Mao and Deng, their outcomes and the resulting changes.
Abstract: It seems to be widely accepted that China's interior development during the Maoist period was based on ‘equality’ considerations, which narrowed Chinese regional disparities. By contrast, the recent coastal development during Deng's reform era has been coined as ‘uneven’ and ‘undesirable’, because it has created tremendous inequalities across the country. However, the findings of this study suggest that the question may not be that simple. This article examines the spatial disparities of economic development in China between 1953 and 1992, focusing on a time-series comparison between the development policies of Mao and Deng, their outcomes and the resulting changes. By using provincial and regional economic and investment data, the article elaborates why Mao's interior development did not lead to a more equitable outcome than Deng's uneven strategy of’ east coastal development’. The findings provide an insight into some of the unexpected outcomes of more than forty years of socialist development, in the realm of economic growth and disparity.
63 citations
TL;DR: The authors argues that excessive insistence on self-determination can weaken countries seeking to establish democratic government and threaten democracy in countries which have already attained it, and proposes a form of responsive communitarianism which in some situations may argue for more community, and in others (such as contemporary China) may press for a better anchoring of individual rights.
Abstract: This essay seeks to explain the premisses of the communitarian movement in the USA, and to respond to some of its principal critics. At the heart of the debate is the fundamental question of the proper balance between individual liberty and commitment to the common good. The solution to this could be a form of ‘responsive’ communitarianism which in some situations (such as the present-day USA) may argue for more community, and in others (such as contemporary China) may press for a better anchoring of individual rights. In his examination of the centrifugal forces which can be unleashed by the search for ever-more-exclusive forms of community, Etzioni argues that excessive insistence on self-determination can weaken countries seeking to establish democratic government and threaten democracy in countries which have already attained it.
62 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the particular combination of fiscal restraints imposed by financial programming, and the proliferation of decentralized project-based management, together proved to be a potent mixture which failed to reconstruct a coherent pattern of state action.
Abstract: In looking at the case of Mozambique under structural adjustment, this article argues that the particular combination of fiscal restraints imposed by financial programming, and the proliferation of decentralized project-based management, together proved to be a potent mixture which failed to reconstruct a coherent pattern of state action. The problem lies in the increasing dominance of foreign aid and in the uneasy interplay between programme aid on the one hand and project aid on the other, as competition from projects wins resources away from regular state programmes, with very little prospect of such projects becoming self-sustainable in the absence of the continued infusion of foreign aid.
56 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the relationship between democracy, equity and common property resource management in South Asia, both at the national and at the local level, is discussed. And the authors find that democratic politics is compatible with both privatization and centralization as conserving strategies (although not necessarily successful).
Abstract: This article addresses the relationship between democracy, equity and common property resource management in South Asia, both at the national and at the local level. Its substantive focus will be largely on forests, and its geographical concentration mostly on India, although other sectors (primarily water) and areas (Nepal and Bangladesh) will also be included. The article opens by looking at Garrett Hardin's (1968) three strategies to preserve the commons. It finds that democratic politics is compatible with both privatization and centralization as conserving strategies (although not necessarily successful). With the third approach—local control—democracy has at best a problematic relationship, for where governmental units are the relevant actors, there tends to be more interest in consuming than in conserving or preserving resources at the local level. Local user groups, however, do much better at common property resource management, because they can restrict membership and thus avoid free riders, and they can establish a close linkage in their members' minds between benefits and costs of participating in group discipline to maintain the resource.
TL;DR: The authors presented a provocative and pessimistic picture of the human condition at the end of the twentieth century, where many societies are seen to be caught up in a process of destructuration and deculturation, heading for structurelessness and culturelessness, here defined as "atomie" and "anomie".
Abstract: This essay presents a provocative and pessimistic picture of the human condition at the end of the twentieth century. Many societies are seen to be caught up in a process of destructuration and deculturation, heading for structurelessness and culturelessness — here defined as ‘atomie’ and ‘anomie’. This is accompanied by a collapse and corruption of institutions, an isolation of individuals and the growing predominance of purely egotistical motivation for action. In the cultural sphere, modernization seems either to have entirely undermined religious belief or encouraged an intolerant fundamentalist backlash. One way to reverse this apparent slide toward anomie might be to draw upon the connecting, unifying force of all tolerant and compassionate religions.
Abstract: NGOs are linked to environmental objectives for good reason: non-profit NGOs provide a flexible, private-sector answer to the provision of international environmental public goods. The non-profit sector can link for-profit, non-profit, and public-sector objectives in complex contracts. This article examines how, for the case of the National Biodiversity Institute (INBio) in Costa Rica, such complex contracts with both domestic and international parties provide partial solutions to public goods problems in the absence of private property rights over genetic resources. INBio's ‘monopoly’ position, legitimized by the local government, brings in rents from genetic resources which are reinvested in the production of public goods.
TL;DR: A diachronic study of African agricultural history reveals that many of our preconceptions of African society and agriculture are invalid: agriculturists are not inert, but respond in innovative and dynamic ways to the perturbations of their natural and social environment as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Much of our present day perception of African agriculture is still indirectly based on the coloured accounts of the early explorers and administrators. It involves an often very static conception of ‘traditional’ African agriculture. Not only does this fail to dojustice to the rich and dynamic history of African agriculture, it has also led to an inappropriate research and development paradigm which treats African agriculture as a disrupted equilibrial system that needs readjustment to return to an equilibrial and productivestate. A diachronic study of African agricultural history reveals that many of our preconceptions of African society and agriculture are invalid: agriculturists are not inert, but respond in innovative and dynamic ways to the perturbations of their natural and socialenvironment. It appears that their survival is not so much dependent on the establishmentof a fine-tuned equilibrium, but rather on the dynamic responses to these external disturbances. It is very likely that the agro-ecosystems in large parts of Africa function mainly as non-equilibrial (unstable), but nevertheless persistent systems. This has importantimplications for development interventions and agricultural research. It requires a shiftfrom a synchronic approach to a diachronic approach that is firmly based on an understaning of the past.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, three approaches are examined: Amartya Sens work on Basic Human Needs theory Martha Nussbaums Aristotelian extension of Sen and Onora ONeills Kantian development ethic.
Abstract: Development ethics incorporates three stages: first-stage ethical reactions to experience second-stage formal theorization and third-stage adjustment of theory to practice. All three involve recognition of cultural plurality and accommodation and regulation of cultural diversity. Recent work has attempted to find a balance between presumptions that Western cultures have universal validity and the communitarian belief that morality is whatever the communitys norms are. Three of these approaches are examined: Amartya Sens work on Basic Human Needs theory Martha Nussbaums Aristotelian extension of Sen and Onora ONeills Kantian development ethic. Recent restatements of Basic Human Needs theory distinguish between different levels (from functionings to commodities) in a universalistic framework that also provides scope for contextual variation. ONeills theory of justice asks what is acceptable cultural variation and what are universal principles with special reference to womens status. In situations of conflict between justice and local norms of gender hierarchy ONeill stresses the importance of womens informed and uncoerced (although culturally molded) consent to subordinate roles. In contrast Nussbaum stresses the substantive prerequisites (e.g. literacy) to just procedure.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify some of the key features of the emerging political economy of Africa, focusing on the manner in which external forces combine with internal ones in affecting Africa's politics and pay attention to the importance of foreign aid as a source of revenue for African elites.
Abstract: Fundamental changes are taking place within the African State system which is still, in essence, the one created by the colonial powers and inherited at independence by the governments of modern Africa Powerful forces in the industrialized world continue to have a crucial influence on events in the African continent This paper identifies some of the key features of the emerging political economy of Africa, focusing on the manner in which external forces combine with internal ones in affecting Africa's politics It pays attention, amongst others, to the importance of foreign aid as a source of revenue for African elites; the industrialized world's misperceptions of Africa; democratization and the decline of African States since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989; surviving patterns of precolonial political entities; new economic patterns in Africa; the policy of the industrialized world towards Africa and the role of African political elites now that, with the end of the Cold War, Africa has lost its global significance; the end of the Cold War as the real end of the colonial order in Africa and the intimate connection to the present crisis of African States; the collapse of African States and the world's policy of abandonment Bibliogr, notes, ref, sum
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine evidence gathered by the structural adjustment research programme of Nordiska Afrikainstitutet (Scandinavian Institute of African Studies) on the changing character of the private sector and of the voluntary development sphere in contemporary Africa and conclude that the main tendencies in these spheres are for a rise of trading capitals enjoying illicit relations to the state and for a privatization of local development.
Abstract: This article reviews discussions concerning some of the main methodological difficulties surrounding the evaluation of structural adjustment policies, before suggesting a procedure to ‘save’ empirical discussion about new patterns of economic and social relations. In this light it proceeds to examine evidence gathered by the structural adjustment research programme of Nordiska Afrikainstitutet (Scandinavian Institute of African Studies) on the changing character of the ‘private sector’ and of the voluntary development sphere in contemporary Africa. The main conclusions are that, in what can be called ‘adjustment situations’, the main tendencies in these spheres are for a rise of trading capitals enjoying illicit relations to the state and for a privatization of local development. The article concludes with an argument that, had adjustment been implemented in a fuller and more consistent way, these tendencies would probably have been still more pronounced.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined how economic diversification is changing a Tanzanian village under economic liberalization, and how different wealth groups are able to incorporate income-generating activities into their livelihood strategies.
Abstract: This study examines how economic diversification is changing a Tanzanian village under economic liberalization. More specifically, it asks how different wealth groups are able to incorporate income-generating activities into their livelihood strategies. The conclusion is that while diversification (as a division of labour) is advanced at the village level, it appears that different activities enhance the division of the village into segregated cultural spheres and increase economic differentiation. At village level the diversity of income-generating activities reduces any single line of economic dependency either on the state or on market actors.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyzed the factors affecting the likelihood of different environmental policy reforms in Latin America, with particular emphasis on: the strengths and weaknesses of different groups which promote such reforms; the degree to which the refoms are compatible with the region's current economic policies; and how the type of political regime affects these issues.
Abstract: Many parts of the world are threatened with environmental damage and degradation, affecting both the natural resources and the economy of the area. This article analyses the factors affecting the likelihood of different environmental policy reforms in Latin America, with particular emphasis on: the strengths and weaknesses of different groups which promote such reforms; the degree to which the refoms are compatible with the region’s current economic policies; and how the type of political regime affects these issues. It reaches the conclusion that, although there has been progress in recent years, the possibility of carrying out far-reaching reforms which could substantially reduce pollution and resource depletion has been limited by: 1) the difficulties involved in linking environmental issues with concerns for social justice; 2) economic policies which promote the exploitation of natural resources and labour and weaken the public sector; and 3) the great influence over regional governments of groups with vested interests in continuing environmentally destructive activities.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address the causality sequence of whether land reform or irrigation has acted as the kick-start mechanism to these improvements and find that the explanation for activation of a virtuous circle may therefore be found in land reform, at least if land reform is considered and implemented in its comprehensive meaning: intervention in the relations of production, the forces of production and the broad social and political parameters.
Abstract: The debate on the agrarian problem in developing countries has alternated between a stress on the necessity for land reforms and an emphasis on the introduction of productivity-enhancing technology, leading to a trickle-down effect. In the Indian state of West Bengal, the former strategy has been pursued since the mid-1970s. Most observers agree that this approach has stimulated a ‘virtuous circle’, leading to higher production, a decrease in poverty and in polarization, and a perceptible improvement of the human development index. This article addresses the causality sequence, namely, whether land reform or irrigation has acted as the kick-start mechanism to these improvements. The irrigation figures are not impressive, either in comparison with the outlay in other Indian states, or in terms of crop coverage. The explanation for activation of a virtuous circle may therefore be found in land reform, at least if land reform is considered and implemented in its comprehensive meaning: intervention in the relations of production, the forces of production and the broad social and political parameters.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors presented an empirical basis to design appropriate policies to protect the poorest and most vulnerable groups in the society, but a lot more work needs to be done.
Abstract: Ukraine is now faced with economic crisis on an unprecedented scale. The country is on the brink of hyperinflation. The government has to follow rigorous demand management policies which entail lowering the standard of living of the population. To design policies which protect the poorest and most vulnerable groups in the society, it is important to understand the nature of poverty and income inequality. This study attempts to do exactly this for Ukraine for the first time. The paper demonstrates that the standard of living in Ukraine has been falling at an alarming rate. The government welfare programmes are ineffective in protecting the poorest and most vulnerable groups in the society. This article provides an empirical basis to design appropriate policies, but a lot more work needs to be done.
TL;DR: The laissez faire political economy of the late eighteenth century was marked by two sharply opposing views of the relation between social security or insecurity and economic growth: one associated with Adam Smith, Turgot and Condorcet; and another associated with Malthus.
Abstract: The laissez faire political economy of the late eighteenth century was marked by two sharply opposing views of the relation between social security or insecurity and economic growth: one associated with Adam Smith, Turgot and Condorcet; and another associated with Malthus. The latter school, with its faith in the motivating force of insecurity and fear, has been the more influential in subsequent economic thought. But, contrary to prevailing neoliberal stereotypes, Smith, Turgot and Condorcet had much to say to modern students of economics concerning the necessary and positive relationship between social security and economic development. This essay explores their vision of how to improve the life chances of the disadvantaged.
TL;DR: In an impassioned plea for political reform in Africa, the authors questions whether the concept of "nation-being" is really applicable to territories ruled by dictatorial regimes, and argues that without democracy, many African ‘nations' are little more than a gambling space for the opportunism and adventurism of power.
Abstract: In an impassioned plea for political reform in Africa, this essay questions whether the concept of ‘nation-being’ is really applicable to territories ruled by dictatorial regimes. Without democracy, many African ‘nations’ are little more than a gambling space for the opportunism and adventurism of power. Furthermore, as in the concrete case of Nigeria, repression strengthens ethnic identity and encourages separatism. The risks of virulent ethnic conflict in Africa — and elsewhere — might be lessened if regional conferences were called to debate the national question openly, and to redefine (where necessary) both the external boundaries and the internal political realities of conflict-ridden societies.
TL;DR: This article argued that constructing a dichotomy between rational Western democracy and irrational Islam is not only dangerous but also hypocritical, since support for the most backward and fanatical forms of Islamic fundamentalism has long been an element in the global geopolitical strategies of Western democracies.
Abstract: With the end of the Cold War, some students of international affairs have suggested that the next field of conflict will be defined in cultural terms, between West and East, and particularly between liberal democracy and Islam. In this essay, it is argued that constructing a dichotomy between ‘rational’ Western democracy and ‘irrational’ Islam is not only dangerous but hypocritical. Support for the most backward and fanatical forms of Islamic fundamentalism has long been an element in the global geopolitical strategies of Western democracies. The trade in oil and arms has had particularly perverse social and political effects, which must be confronted in order to provide greater opportunities for the development of a modern civil society in the Arab world.
TL;DR: The failure of public sector investment projects in Sub-Saharan Africa can often be described in large measure as a technological one, where technology is defined not just in the narrow sense of alternative factor proportions, but in the wider terms of scale and import intensity as well as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The failure of public sector investment projects in Sub-Saharan Africa can often be described in large measure as a technological one, where technology is defined not just in the narrow sense of alternative factor proportions, but in the wider terms of scale and import intensity as well. In confining itself mainly to the economic dimensions of the problem, the existing literature fails to consider the reasons for the extraordinarily rapid and widespread expansion of the public sector in Sub-Saharan Africa and it hence ignores the possibility that this expansion might itself be related to the observed patterns of technological behaviour in the sector. Such a possibility, I suggest, resides in the political and institutional compulsions that drive industrial firms in the public sector to increase the size of their operations.