This past week's readings have introduced us to many different schools of thought tripping over each other in an effort to present a single, coherent, and all-encompassing definition of 'development'. We saw Neoliberals expressing their undying love for the free market and Dependentistas ferociously rejecting international market linkages and the 'West'. However, pursuit of unparalleled and incessant economic growth remained a constant theme and agenda in almost all theories. When I was an undergraduate student, I was blown away by the wonders of economic growth. To me, it seemed like the ultimate, rational, and achievable goal. Then a professor posed a very interesting question to me: Rudaba, did you know that in Bhutan, Gross National Happiness is one of the key indicators pointing towards overall national prosperity?
"Hold on. Really? Oh, by the way, where is Bhutan?" - I still remember my answer. In my defense, I was 18 years old.
This small yet important piece of information changed the way I perceived development. A) It is not just about economic growth. B) Developing countries are coming up with their own, unique ways of defining and measuring development. I started searching for other examples of "by the Third World, for the Third World" notions of development and stumbled upon Amartya Sen.
Born in Bangladesh, Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen witnessed poverty, illiteracy, and famine in his country at a very young age. In his life's work, Development As Freedom, he draws upon various disciplines and personal experiences, and defines development as the pursuit and attainment of a variety of freedoms and removal of factors that reduce people's freedoms, including poverty, oppressive governments, and lack of opportunities. He lists five interconnected, complementary, and substantive freedoms, namely, political freedoms, economic freedoms, social, freedoms, transparency, and security. After reading Development as Freedom, I formed my own understanding of these freedoms and figured that they are relevant to many developed and developing countries at both micro and macro levels of analysis:
1) Political freedoms encompass citizens’ right to vote, participate in public decision making and debates, and choose from a variety of ideologies, religions, and leaders. Many citizens, especially women and minorities, in Pakistan are denied these basic rights.
2) Economic freedoms involve the freedom to invest in any business of your choice without the fear of unhealthy competition, unstable political climate, and lack of law, order, and capital. Again, Pakistan’s unstable political climate, shortages in electric and water supply, high rates of inflation, and weak system of law and order discourage business activity.
3) Social freedoms encompass the right to participate in the society as a full-fledged citizen, entitled to and receiving health care, education, food, housing, and sanitation. Many women in Pakistan are denied their rightful statuses as citizens of Pakistan and members of a social community. They are denied the benefits of education and awareness and are victims of a conscious effort to keep them on the bottom rungs of the economic, social, and political ladder. Most poor people when deciding whether to send their boys or their girls to school, will invariably choose to invest in their boys. It is not totally their fault either. They do not know better and their leaders have given up civil liberties and social spending in an endless pursuit of high GNI per capita growth, mostly in an effort to adhere to the IMF's SAPs. One of my professors once told me that GNI per capita growth also comes from selling drugs and arms but this does not mean that it is socially-optimum to sell these commodities! Economic indicators and social indicators tell two very different stories.
4) Transparency deals with the issue of trust (or lack of it). Pakistanis would rather take matters into their own hands than trust the police or the judicial system. We have a an overarching system of law, but a parallel system of panchayats or village/tribal justice also exist. Most people do not pay taxes because they do not trust the government with their money. Also, since there is no concept of taking legal action if need be, most people are skeptical of social interactions.
5) Last but not the least, provision of security is a major source of freedom for people, which is again lacking in Pakistan. A small increase in oil prices can throw people off balance since there are no social safety nets to protect them. Terrorism and civil war dictate how people lead their lives in Pakistan.
I see a synthesis of some major development ideas and concepts in these five freedoms. Instead of adhering to a single school of thought such as the dependency school, Sen’s thesis comes as a hybrid of various ideas and "-isms". I have set each of Sen's freedoms in the context of Pakistan and I believe the same can be done for any other developing (or even developed!) country because Sen's analysis gives the margin and the 'freedom' to do so. In his analysis, Sen states that there are pockets of underdevelopment within developed countries as well. Hence, the universal application of this fluid approach is possible.
To me, very few development theorists have seen the predicament of the people they write about. Even fewer have emerged from the developing countries to accurately represent their countries and their people and come up with indigenous solutions. Instead of treating all developing countries as a homogeneous whole or worse, as a disease that needs to be treated, Sen’s conception of development as freedom and as a combination of the social, political and economic aspects, can be adjusted and applied to all developing countries. Sen’s conception is normative and is rooted in not only economics and empirical data but also in ethics, sociology, gender, and philosophy. Hence, it finds a common ground among all developing nations and classes: enhancement of substantive freedoms is something all human beings desire at some level. It is more relevant to the realities of the developing world than any manufactured, "one-size-fits-all" solution delivered by the First World.
Of course, it is your 'political freedom' to contest everything that I have said above. All opinions and criticisms are welcomed. The views and opinions expressed in this blog entry are mine and may or not be supported by Sen or his book, Development As Freedom. For more information on Sen's Development As Freedom, please check out these links:
