Unit 2

CONCEPT AND DYNAMICS OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

CONTENT
2.0 objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Concept of social development as an alternative unified approach
2.3 Relationship between economic growth and social development
2.4 Dominant factors that characterise development
2.5 Social goals of distributive equity
2.6 Strategies for social development
2.7 Let us sum up
2.8 Key words
2.9 Suggested readings
2.10 Model answers

2.0 Objectives

The unit aims at familiarising you with some of the important components of
social development like relationship of development with economic growth, its
social goals, strategies, etc. which provides a key to understanding the concept
of social development. After studying this unit you will be able to :
• Understand social development as an alternative unified approach to
development.
• Ascertain the relationship between economic growth and social
development.
• Enumerate the dominant factors that characterise development.
• Identify the social goals of distributive equity.
• Indicate the strategies for social development.

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2.1 Introduction

The idea of ‘development’ is a new one in human history. It argues that poverty
need not be the lot of mankind; that life need not be nasty, brutish and short. It
dares to bring about a progressive and sustained improvement in the standard of
living of all people.

The idea of development arose out of two historical circumstances. One was the
dramatic recovery of post Second World War Europe and Japan, made possible
by Marshall Aid and by the will of the war damaged countries to rebuild their
economics. This experience demonstrated that rapid and sustained change was
possible. The second was the contemporaneous beginning of decolonisation
process. The need from the perspective of the newly independent countries, was
to translate their new-won independence with a better life for the ordinary
citizen, in terms of better food, clothing, shelter, health, education and so on.
Hence attempts were being made to refine the concept of development. Human
resource development has been conceived as the “ultimate objective of
development process”. The critical importance of human capital for economic
development has been recognised. Development has been viewed as a simple
unified process involving both social and economic instruments. It is finally
accepted that economic advancement is no more possible without a firm social
base, as the social process is not a simple and straight forward outcome of
economic growth.

2.2 Concept of Social Development as an Alternative Unified Approach

to Development

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Giving a human touch to the developmental process, social development is
considered to be an alternative unified approach to development in developing
countries like India. Social Development signifies human ascent. It refers to
change that is intrinsic to the entity, to change that is held to be as much a part of
the entity’s nature as any purely structural element. The idea of development is
a culmination of the process which began with the dominant ideology of
economic growth. The idea of development gets flopped if the benefits of growth
are appropriated largely by the top 10-20% of the population.

UN provides a unified approach to social development. It states :-

a. that no sector of population should be left outside the scope of

change and development.
b. that social development should effect structural change and
activate all sections of population to participate in the
development process.
c. that there should be equitable distribution of income and wealth.
d. that high priority should be given to the development of human
potentials including vocational and technical training, provisions of
employment opportunities and meeting the needs of deprived
sections of society.

Development as a concept is broader than economic growth or economic

development. Non-economic aspects of development do not follow as an
inevitable by-product of economic growth. Economic phenomenon is in fact a
social phenomenon, they are social in nature and have social consequences. Any
development planning limited to economic interrelationship, neglecting social
conditions and social implications, is bound to be misleading. So development
has to be seen as a complex whole.

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According to Gore ‘the concept of social development is inclusive of economic
development but differs from it in the sense that it emphasises the development
of the society in totality that is, in its economic, political, social and cultural
aspects. In the broadest sense “it signifies all aspects of development that are of
collective nature that is to say ‘pertaining to society as a whole. In a narrower
sense , it would be used with reference to the human welfare aspects of
development, that is improving the physical quality of life and more equitable
distribution of material and cultural goods. Social development may be used in
connection with structural transformation in society seeking changes in system
of stratification and in degrees of mobility.

In order to achieve these goals, economic development is essential, which mean

increase in production leading to a high rate of growth as measured by GNP and
which also provides for substantial increase in opportunities for employment. In
Indian context, rural development is prominent and integral part of social
development.

Social development requires decentralization of power and decision making so

that process of planning at the grass root level is made possible. This means
active people’s participation in making political and economic decision
involving their welfare. There should be combination of central leadership,
central coordination and central resources contribution with decentralised
decision making and mobilization of local resources to make social development
programmes more effective.

Check your progress I

1. Short answers
a) Which two historical circumstances gave birth to the idea of development?

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b)What is the ultimate objective of development?
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c) Economic development is not same as social development. Why?
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2 Discuss the unified approach to social development?
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2.3 Relationship between Economic Growth and Social

Development

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Social development refers to the overall progression of the society. However,
such modification in the social order are not possible unless the needs of the
people are also satisfied. The need satisfaction of individual necessarily requires
the prosperity of the economy. These two can be sustained by a cultural milieu
which is supportive of economic prosperity and social equality and justice. The
concept of social development thus is an amalgam of the social , economic and
cultural resurgence of a society.

Economic growth has freed more and more individual from the economic wants,
but in the process, rather than broadening their sympathies for their fellow-
beings, the successful persons are becoming more and more selfish and are
being alienated from their societies. Hence in economically developed societies,
people have been preoccupied only with the ideals of freedom and equality and
have rarely paid attention to the third idea of fraternity. Therefore, one may say
that the three principal ideals of society are indivisible and for their successful
realisation, all three should be pursued in their togetherness.

It is seen that, ‘liberty, equality and fraternity’ are as much the attributes of the
developed individual as those of the developed society, as the individual and the
society are interrelated. A developed individual is defined as one who is self-
reliant, creative and sociable and a developed society is one which provides its
members with freedom of choice and action, equality of opportunity and the
scope to mix freely with one another. For the true development of individual
and the society, the development of the economy is necessary in so far as it
sustains, the above attributes of the individual and the society. But by itself it is
insufficient since it does not automatically lead to such attributes.

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The increase in the power and status of the dominant group in the economic
hierarchy is made possible by the network of effective ties among these people,
who are all socio-economically powerful. By the same token, the disadvantaged
groups in the economic hierocracy are left behind because they have no effective
ties with the powerful persons and the members of their own affiliational
groupings are placed in similar disadvantaged circumstances. As a rule , all over
the world, the poorer sections belong to ethnic or affiliation groupings different
from those of the most powerful members of their society. For the same reason,
the same groups of people remain poor for generations and even for centuries
together, as witnessed by SCs, and STs in India.

Economic development , as it is promoted today, draws the economy more and

more into the hands of market forces which favour the strong and deprive the
weak. For example, when a subsistence economy is rendered market oriented,
new occupations are introduced which displace the older ones. The workers in
the old economy do not get the opportunities to work in new occupations. The
new occupations usually requires skills at higher levels, for which the
disadvantaged sections are ill-equipped. Therefore, very often people at the
bottom of hierarchy are unable to avail themselves of the developmental
opportunities even when they are presented to them. It has often been found
that the developmental resources intended for poor sections are under-utilised in
areas where most people are poor. On the other hand, the better off sections
manage to snatch away much of the resources meant for the poor. Not able to
take advantage of the development opportunities does not mean that
underprivileged people are incapable of developing themselves. Only the
prevailing system militates against their going forward. It therefore calls for a
new approach towards their development the approach of “putting the last
first”.

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2.4 Dominant factors that characterise development

In the process of addressing this global challenge, the very notion of development was

expanded, refined and even restated. It has changed from an understanding of the idea in

terms of economic growth, to a much broader idea that takes in all aspects of human life.

Development can be characterised by two dominant factors: economic reality, and socio

political exigencies.

Economic Reality: While discussing development in relation to Third World Countries,

it was considered that low standard of living in these countries was a consequence of low
productivity. The imperative, therefore, was to increase production and make the whole
system more efficient. In the Third World Countries, dual economies exist. There are
enclaves of highly productive modernized economies located as islands in a `sea’ of
subsistence economies. It was felt that there should be expansion of modernised
economies including agriculture and absorb the subsistence sectors thereby eliminating
poverty. The only solution to solve the problem of poverty is to increase production. So
the Third World Countries adopted the formula of modernisatioon, industrialisation and
urbanisation. It was thought that the benefits of increased production would eventually
“trickle-down” to the poor, thus eliminating poverty. But the observed fact was that
growth did not translate itself into improvements in the life of the poor.

As far as India is concerned, it has the world’s second largest population with
over one billion people in 2000 with a growth rate of 2 percent. Its rapidly expanding
population has not only retarded economic progress but by increasing pressures on
natural resources, contributed to severe environmental deterioration, and produced a
labour force whose growth and size continue to exceed the economy’s absorptive
capacity. Absolute poverty remains. Widespread illiteracy is around 50 percent and
infant morality rate remains close to 75 per 1000. Over 40 perccent of the world’s poor --

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-- those who live on less than $ 1 a day --- reside in India. Poverty conditions cover over
one-third of India’s rural population and one-fifth of its urban residents.

Agriculture is the primary economic activity, occupying three-quarters of the

labour force and accounting for 30 percent of GDP. At present India is self-sufficient in
grain production. But in the near future, situation is going to be difficult. This is
because, Indian farmlands have suffered severe ecological damage through deforestation,
soil erosion and other degradation which have affected over 2 million square kilometres
of land. Production has stagnated and the possibility of expanding cropped area remains
doubtful. Poverty reduction strategies have to focus on dryland irrigation on which most
of the poor are dependent. Despite increasing stocks of food grain, food security has not
been ensured because of distribution problems in bureaucracy and political game playing.

There are increasing concerns that any improvements in economic efficiency and
economic growth may be achieved leading to greater income inequality, higher
employment, continued environmental damage, and declining real income for the poor
and middle classes.
Since development is seen as social progress, the yardstick is not only GNP but
also social indicators of health, education, housing, employment etc. to gauge how the
poor are faring in the development process. An economist , Dudley Seers, has expressed
his concern in this regard as follows:

“The question to ask about a country’s development is therefore: What

has been happening to poverty, unemployment and inequality? If all
three of these have declined from high levels, then there has been
development. If one or two of these central problems have been growing
worse, especially if all three have, it would be strange to call the result
development, even if per capita income doubled.”

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Thus the major challenge facing the Indian government in twenty-first century is how to
balance economic growth with equity, efficiency with employment, food production with
distribution, and free markets with poverty alleviation.

Socio-political exigencies:

Political structure, power and interest groups: Economic policies alone do not
determine the outcome of national approaches to critical development problems.
The political structure and the vested interests and allegiances of ruling elites (e.g
large landowners, urban industrialists, bankers, foreign manufacturers, the
military, trade unionists) will typically determine what strategies are possible
and where the main roadblocks to effective economic and social change may lie.

The constellation of interests and power among different segments of the

populations of most developing countries is itself the result of their economic,
social and political histories and is likely to differ from one country to the next.
Most developing countries are ruled directly or indirectly by powerful elites,
although small in number, to a greater extent than the developed nations are.

Stability and flexibility of political institutions: Many Third World Countries have
very recently gained political independence and have yet to become consolidated nation-
states with an effective ability to formulate and pursue national development strategies.
Until stable and flexible political institutions can be consolidated with broad public
support, the social and cultural fragmentation of many countries is likely to inhibit their
ability to accelerate national economic progress. Researchers have found that
development is more influenced by the stability of the political regime than by its type
(democracy or autocracy). They also found that in the transition from dictatorship to
democracy, the tremendous pressures from competing interest groups tend to slow down
the economic growth and development but in the longer run, stable democracies expeince
higher growth than dictatorship.

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Lack of political will: The available evidence makes it clear that in countries with
development plans, lack of political will is the prime reason why most plans are never
carried out. Where a country’s political leadership makes development a central concern,
the people can also be motivated through a judicious use of economic incentives.
Such a political will to develop on the part of national leaders will require an
unusual ability to take a long-term view and to elevate national social interests above
factional class, ethnic, or tribal interests. It will also necessitate the cooperation of the
economic elites, who may correctly use their privileged positions challenged by such a
development posture. Thus it requires an unusual ability and a great deal of political
courage to challenge powerful elites and vested interest groups and to persuade them that
such development is in the long-run interests of all citizens even though some of them
may suffer short-term losses.

Effective social and economic change thus requires either the support of elite
groups or the power of the elites be offset by more powerful democratic forces. In short,
social development will be impossible without corresponding changes in the social,
political and economic institutions of a nation.

Check your progress II

1. What are the three principal ideals of society?
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2. List the dominant factors that characterise development.
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3. What is the yardstick given by Seers to indicate social development?
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2.5 Social Goals of Distributive Equality

In layman’s language, development is understood as the sustained elevation of

an entire society and social system towards a “better” or “more humane” life. It
is a society where fruits of development are distributed equitably, and where
rich not become richer and poor do not become poorer. What constitutes the
good life? How could one explain that there is equitable distribution of
resources in a particular society? To answer these question, Professor Goulet and
others believe that ‘distributive equity’ should aim at achieving social goals
which are common to individuals and societies. These relate to fundamental
human needs that find their expression in almost all societies and cultures at all
times. Let us examine them.

Life Sustenance : The Ability to Provide Basic Needs

All people have certain basic needs without which life would be impossible.
These “life sustaining” basic human needs include shelter, health and protection.
When any of these is absent or critically in short supply or distributed
unequally, we may state without reservation that a condition of “absolute
underdevelopment” exists. A basic function of all economic activity , therefore is
to provide as many people as possible with the means of overcoming the

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helplessness and misery arising from a lack of food, shelter, health and
protection. To this extent, we may claim that economic development is necessary
condition for the improvement in the ‘quality of life’ and for the realization of
the human potential. Rising per capita incomes, the elimination of absolute
poverty, greater employment opportunities and income inequalities, therefore
constitute the necessary but not ‘sufficient conditions for development’.

2. Self Esteem : To be a Person

The second goal is self esteem – a sense of worth and self respect, of not being
used as tool by others for their own ends. All people and societies seek some
basic form of self esteem, although they may call it authenticity, identity, dignity,
respect, honour or recognition. The nature and form of this self esteem may vary
from society to society and from one culture to another. With the advent of
economic and technological advancement, national prosperity has become an
almost universal measure of worth. Development is legitimised as an
indisputable measure of gaining esteem.

3. Freedom from Servitude : To be able to Choose

The third goal of distributive equity is concept of freedom. Freedom here is not
to be understood in the political and ideological sense, but in the more
fundamental sense of freedom or emancipation from ignorance, misery,
subordination, institution and dogmatic beliefs. Freedom involves the expanded
range of choices for societies and their members together with the minimization
of cultural constraints in the pursuit of social goals. The concept of human
freedom should encompass various components of political freedom including
personal security, the role of law, freedom of expression, political participation
and equality of opportunity.

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We may conclude that development is both a physical reality and a state of
mind in which society has, through some combination of social economic and
institutional processes, secured the means for obtaining a better life.

2.6 STRATEGIES OF DEVELOPMENT

Development strategies can be defined as the practical paths to development

which may be pursued by international, non government organisations and
community based organisation, or indeed individuals states, in an effort to
stimulate change within particular nation, region and continents. Hettne (1995)
provides a definition of development strategies as efforts to change existing
economic and social structures and institutions in order to find enduring
solutions to the problems facing decision makers. Hettne argues that the term
‘development strategies’ implies an actor, normally the state. In order to sound
more practical it is necessary to think of wider set of development oriented
actors, including all those mentioned above.

The choice of strategies for development was decided by Third World Countries
on the basis of one fundamental societal decision; which come prior, distributive
justice or augmentation of production ? In countries beset with mass poverty,
population pressure and feudal obscurantism, distributive justice was more
difficult decision for it involved open class struggle for bringing about basic
institutional changes. The augmentation of production was less problematic.
Distributive justice, amounted almost to distributing poverty, and the second
implied growth with or without distributive justice depending upon the
structure of power , the constellation of class forces and their relative strengths
and weaknesses. A large number of Third World Countries opted for growth
first and India was one of them.

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Upon the first decade of development (i.e. upto 1970) the GNP growth was
considered a natural indicator of development. There were at least two major
assumptions about this growth strategy : (1) that a certain amount of saving and
investment are important preconditions for economic growth. It was postulated
that if a country was able to attain a rate of growth of 6 to 8 % it could reach the
take off stage. For this a net investible saving of 18-21 % was necessary. If this
was not possible through domestic savings, the balance required should be met
through foreign aid and MNC involvement. Any foreign involvement would
naturally mean that the investor will look forward to an area of investment
which would get him maximum profit. (2) the second assumption was that the
GNP growth will automatically trickle down, to the lower income groups.
Both these assumptions proved fallacies and the theory that the development
path will proceed from initial inequality to greater equality proved unfounded.

The consequence of such a policy for many developing countries was that the
limited capital available indegenously, coupled with foreign investments
introduced a typically modern industrial sector which went on extending in the
form of modern enclaves without creating the necessary linkages within the
domestic economy. As a result these countries could not develop any capacity to
absorb increases of population or the requirements of their entire economies.
This created a ‘dualism’ within the economics with enclaves of prosperity
amidst masses of exacerbating inequalities. The trickle never reached ‘down’ to
the bottom. This strategy of ;development’ created more problems than it could
resolve for the society as a whole.

In order to counter the failure of the growth strategy the ‘ basic needs’ approach
was evolved (1) to relieve as quickly as possible absolute poverty through
intensive direct assistance to those in desperate circumstances (2) to meet the
basic needs of all in terms of material wants such as food, clothing, shelter and

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fuel, and also as some social needs such as education, human rights and what is
called ‘participation’ in social life through employment and political
involvement.

However, the basic needs’ did not imply the dethronement of GNP, for the new
strategy of distribution with growth could only take place within an expanding
economy. It is pointed out that rich instrumental redistribution will encounter
much less political resistance than would be the case if redistribution has to
make the upper income group worse off in absolute terms.

The dynamics of the development process looks all too familiar. The process is
initiated by helping the privileged and the better off classes with resources, skills
etc. to improve their economic conditions consequently making them more
powerful. Meanwhile the condition of the underprivileged deteriorates.

As unrest and terrorism threaten the security of the privileged classes, state
intervention steps in to diffuse the terrorism through target oriented
programmes. This constitutes the price that needs to be paid for maintaining the
stable progress of the privileged classes. This is near replication of the global
phenomenon of GNP growth followed by increased prosperity of the few and
increasing poverty of the many, followed by the ‘basic needs approach.

Check your progress III

1. List the social goals of distributive equality.
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2. What does the `basic needs approach ‘ aim at?

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2.7 Let us sum up

Development refers to the change in the desired direction with a desired change. That
means development is a conscious and planned change. It is change that is intrinsic to
the entity, to change that is to be held as much a part of the entity’s nature as any purely
structural element. The idea of development began with the dominant ideology of
economic growth. The idea of development gets flopped if the benefits of growth are
appropriated largely by top 10-20 percent of the population. That is why UN approach to
development is a unified approach which leaves no section of population outside the
scope of change and development. Development is characterised by two dominant
factors: economic reality and socio-political exigencies. The social goal of development
is social equity meaning thereby an equitable distribution of income and opportunities.
The strategies of development seek to initiate a process of people-building, social change
and distributive justice through maintenance and reinforcement of existing relevant
system, and establishment of new counter-system.

2.8 KEY WORDS

Development – refers to change in a desired direction with a desired goal.

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Economic development – refers to rapid structural and institutional transformation of
entire society in a manner that will efficiently bring the fruits of economic progress to the
broadest segment of population.
People-building – means development of human potentials through vocational training
and providing employment opportunities.
Social equity – means equitable distribution of income and wealth so as to move towards
social justice.

2.9 SUGGESTED READINGS

Pimply P.N, Singh, K.P. and Mahajan, A.(1989): Social development: Processes and
consequences (ed), Jaipur: Rawat Publications.
Todaro, M.P. (1997): Economic development in the third world, Hyderabad: Orient
Longman.
Gore, M.S. (1985): Social aspects of development, Jaipur: Rawat.
Kulkarni, P.D. and Nanavatti, M.C. (1997): Social issues in development, New Delhi:
Uppal Publishing House.
Srivastava, S. P. (1998): The Development Debate: Critical perspectives (ed.), Jaipur :
Rawat
Dreze Jean and Sen Amartya (1996): Indian Development: Selected Regional
Perspectives, Delhi: Oxford University Press.

2.10 MODEL ANSWERS

Check your progress I

1a) The idea of development arose out of two historical circumstances. One was
the dramatic recovery of post Second World War Europe and Japan, made
possible by Marshall Aid and by the will of the war damaged countries to
rebuild their economic. This experience demonstrated that rapid and sustained

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change was possible. The second was the contemporaneous beginning of
decolonisation process.

1b) The ultimate objective of developmental process is human development.

1c) Economic development is confined to economic growth whereas social development

is a broader concept which encompasses all the aspects of development such as

economic, political, social and cultural aspects.

2. UN provides a unified approach to social development. It states :-

a. that no sector of population should be left outside the scope of

change and development.
b. that social development should effect structural change and
activate all sections of population to participate in the
development process.
c. that there should be equitable distribution of income and wealth.
d. that high priority should be given to the development of human
potentials through vocational and technical training, provisions of
employment opportunities and meeting the needs of deprived
sections of society.

Check your progress II

1. The three principles of an ideal society are freedom, equality and fraternity

2. The dominant factors that characterise development are:

a Economic reality

b. Socio political exigencies

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 c. Stability and flexibility of political institutions

d. Lack of political will

3. According to Seers if poverty, unemployment and inequality (all three) have declined

from high levels, then there has been development. If one or two or all of these central

problems have been going from bad to worse, then it cannot be called development.

Check your progress III

1. There are three social goals given by Prof. Goulet. They are:

a. Life sustenance – the ability to provide basic needs.

b. Self esteem –- to be a person.

c. Freedom from servitude -- to be able to choose.

2. The basic needs approach aims :

(1) to relieve as quickly as possible absolute poverty through intensive direct

assistance to those in desperate circumstances
(2) to meet the basic needs of all in terms of material wants such as food,
clothing, shelter and fuel, and also some social needs such as education,
human rights and what is called ‘participation’ in social life through
employment and political involvement.

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