The Disenchantment of Political Development: Epistemes, Cultures and Policies (original) (raw)

DEFINING POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT: A Systematic Conceptualization

This study constructs a formal conceptualization and systematic elucidation of political development. That phrase combines two different terms, each of which has its own separate meaning. When put together, the question arises as to their combined sense: is there such a thing as political development? Or is this combination nonsensical? It is such questions that largely belong to metapolitics, so our discussion here may be properly called metapolitical. On that basis, we consider the deeper meaning of politics, both in its etymological and epistemological sense. Once this is done, one can then apply that meaning in either its conceptual or contextual aspects. As the bibliography at the end indicates, political development has been used extensively in recent literature of political and social sciences. Yet, a perusal of these sources shows that its meaning still remains moot. Each author uses the term in his own way which suits a particular purpose. No one has presented a rigorous definition of this complex concept; therefore it means different things to different people. So much so, that this situation of so many disparate and contradictory definitions has led some critics to call for the demise of political development as a useful concept. That would indeed be one solution by elimination. Yet, we live in an era in which the process of " development " dominates the thoughts, if not the actions, of most people. Moreover, one of the two principal axes of international politics revolves around the so-called North-South gap. The well-known dichotomy of the contemporary world into more and less developed countries (MDCs and LDCs) is a case in point which underlines the importance placed on this concept. In general, " development " is used in the sense of " economic ". This implied qualification of development restricts the concept to a process akin with industrialization. In this sense, " economic development " means a very specific thing, but the various interrelations with this process could not avoid a certain spillover into other areas. Thereby, we have social, technical, cultural, human, as well as political development, being discussed as real phenomena. Whether we like it or not then, we are forced into the current usage of these terms, so the least one can do is make sure that he knows what those terms mean, in order to improve communication and understanding. That is precisely what we are trying to do here in defining the concept of political development.

The Socio-Cultural Dynamics of Development: Part 2 The Cultural Basis of Political Development

Kybernetese, 2019

Purpose-Agency development is inherently a process of institutional evolution. The purpose of this part-2 (of a 3 part) paper is to explore development in the political context, producing a cultural model of political development as institutional evolution, explaining how political groups may come to power culturally. This requires a detailed examination of culture and cultural change, and a study of strategic political frames that define political groups seeking support for political power from agents in a political sphere. During cultural instabilities or social crises, frames may become cynical and embrace liquid persuasion and hence populism. Design/methodology/approach-A cultural model for political development is created involving three variables (emotional climate, and cultural order and compliance). This enables cultural comparison of different political groups. Strategic political frames are examined to understand how those vying for agency power may attract support from agents in the activity system. Liquid frames are also explored to understand the cynical nature of populism and its contribution to institutional devolution. Findings-A political development theory results that identifies the conditions under which formal political groups can promote frames that may attract support from agents from who they require support to gain agency power status. A model is produced for political development. It explains populism as a thin ideology with a collectivist orientation that uses liquid framing, and it introduces its individualist counterpart: political synergism. Research limitations/implications-The implication of this research is that it will allow empirical methods to be used that potentially enable political outcomes in complex political environments to be anticipated, given additional appropriate measurement criteria. Originality/value-Linking agency and institutional theory to explain the process of development is new, as is its application to the political development process in a political landscape. As part of this linkage, it has been shown how Bauman's concept of liquidity relates to Sorokin's ideas of socio-cultural change.

The Influence of Politics on Development: Understanding Politics of Development

The concept of political development is being used much more meaningfully in the modern times in the expression of development in many nations of Asia, South America and Africa at large (Karimi and Sarjit, 2014). In this concept, modernization, growth and development are mostly important and undeniable. Political development as a usable concept has been involved to a huge number of political, economic and sociological studies. Upon this concept for example Pye (1964) indicated that political development refers to adjustment between old patterns of life and new demands.

Introduction to The Will to Improve: Governmentality, Development, and the Practice of Politics

The Will to Improve is a remarkable account of development in action. Focusing on attempts to improve landscapes and livelihoods in Indonesia, Tania Murray Li carefully exposes the practices that enable experts to diagnose problems and devise interventions, and the agency of people whose conduct is targeted for reform. Deftly integrating theory, ethnography, and history, she illuminates the work of colonial officials and missionaries; specialists in agriculture, hygiene, and credit; and political activists with their own schemes for guiding villagers toward better ways of life. She examines donor-funded initiatives that seek to integrate conservation with development through the participation of communities, and a one-billion-dollar program designed by the World Bank to optimize the social capital of villagers, inculcate new habits of competition and choice, and remake society from the bottom up. Demonstrating that the “will to improve” has a long and troubled history, Li identifies enduring continuities from the colonial period to the present. She explores the tools experts have used to set the conditions for reform—tools that combine the reshaping of desires with applications of force. Attending in detail to the highlands of Sulawesi, she shows how a series of interventions entangled with one another and tracks their results, ranging from wealth to famine, from compliance to political mobilization, and from new solidarities to oppositional identities and violent attack. The Will to Improve is an engaging read—conceptually innovative, empirically rich, and alive with the actions and reflections of the targets of improvement, people with their own critical analyses of the problems that beset them. Issue Date: 2007 Publisher: Duke University Press Citation: "Introduction: The Will to Improve," in The Will to Improve, pp. 1-30. Copyright, 2007, Duke University Press.

Knowledge and authentic development: the value of Political Theory to Development Studies

Perspectivas - Journal of Political Science

Development studies is a beneficiary of knowledge resources from several disciplines including political theory’s analytic and prescriptive input. The dominant background of political theory and other disciplinary contributions to development studies is the liberal thought. Liberal theses on development seem to presume that development only makes meaning from such perspective. However, tensions arise in knowledge claims between the neoclassical liberals and alternative liberal scholars especially the neo-Keynesian on the one hand and more radical neo-Marxist thoughts on the other hand. The tension is centrally concerned with contention between the market sovereignty of the neoclassicals and state interventionism of the Keynesian and neo Marxist radical thoughts. These contentions draw in the role of the state in development and hence, create an opening for political theory’s intervention. This paper establishes the nexus of political theory and development studies by focusing its ...