The Postwar Evolution of Development Thinking


Book Description

This book provides a fresh and critical survey of the different schools of development thought. A unique feature of this book is that both orthodox and heterodox schools of development thinking are covered in an up-to-date and non-technical manner. The book will be of use to students, development theorists and practitioners.




Development and Evolution


Book Description

Development and Evolution surveys and illuminates the key themes of rapidly changing fields and areas of controversy that the redefining the theory and philosophy of biology. It continues Stanley Salthe's investigation of evolutionary theory, begun in his influential book Evolving Hierarchical Systems, while negating the implicit philosophical mechanisms of much of that work. Here Salthe attempts to reinitiate a theory of biology from the perspective of development rather than from that of evolution, recognizing the applicability of general systems thinking to biological and social phenomena and pointing towards a non-Darwinian and even a postmodern biology.




The Evolution of Development Thinking


Book Description

This landmark book offers a comprehensive analysis of how development approaches have evolved since World War II, examining and also evaluating the succession of theories, doctrines, and practices that have been formulated and applied in the Third World and beyond. Covering all developing regions, the book offers an integrated approach for considering the entwined aspects of development: governance, economics, foreign assistance, civil society, and the military. With reference to carefully chosen case studies, the authors offer distinctive explanations for why development approaches fall short and systematically relate the evolution of development thinking to current challenges, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of key institutions and the clashes of institutional interests that have distorted otherwise sound doctrines and negatively affected development practice. In identifying the dynamics that account for shortcomings in past development attempts, and recommending a better integration of doctrines across the entire range of inter-connected development fronts, the book points to how development practice may be improved to better advance human dignity.




An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change


Book Description

This book contains the most sustained and serious attack on mainstream, neoclassical economics in more than forty years. Nelson and Winter focus their critique on the basic question of how firms and industries change overtime. They marshal significant objections to the fundamental neoclassical assumptions of profit maximization and market equilibrium, which they find ineffective in the analysis of technological innovation and the dynamics of competition among firms. To replace these assumptions, they borrow from biology the concept of natural selection to construct a precise and detailed evolutionary theory of business behavior. They grant that films are motivated by profit and engage in search for ways of improving profits, but they do not consider them to be profit maximizing. Likewise, they emphasize the tendency for the more profitable firms to drive the less profitable ones out of business, but they do not focus their analysis on hypothetical states of industry equilibrium. The results of their new paradigm and analytical framework are impressive. Not only have they been able to develop more coherent and powerful models of competitive firm dynamics under conditions of growth and technological change, but their approach is compatible with findings in psychology and other social sciences. Finally, their work has important implications for welfare economics and for government policy toward industry.




Theories and Practices of Development


Book Description

Throughout the twentieth century, governments sought to achieve 'development' not only in their own countries, but also in other regions of the world; particularly in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. This focus on 'development' as a goal has continued into the twenty-first century, for example through the United Nations Millennium Development Targets. While development is often viewed as something very positive, it is also very important to consider the possible detrimental effects it may have on the natural environment, different social groups and on the cohesion and stability of societies. In this important book, Katie Willis investigates and places in a historical context, the development theories behind contemporary debates such as globalization and transnationalism. The main definitions of 'development' and 'development theory' are outlined with a description and explanation of how approaches have changed over time. The differing explanations of inequalities in development, both spatially and socially, and the reasoning behind different development policies are also considered. By drawing on pre-twentieth century European development theories and examining current policies in Europe and the USA, the book not only stresses commonalities in development theorizing over time and space, but also the importance of context in theory construction. This topical book provides an ideal introduction to development theories for students in geography, development studies, area studies, anthropology and sociology. It contains student-friendly features, including boxed case studies with examples, definitions, summary sections, suggestions for further reading, discussion questions and website information.




UN Contributions to Development Thinking and Practice


Book Description

The authors argue that the UN Charter is infused with the human values & human concerns that are at the centre of the UN's thinking on economic & human development today. They show how the UN's approach to development has evolved to include a broad range of social issues, from poverty reduction to equality.




Individual Development and Evolution


Book Description

This work is intended to portray the interrelationship of heredity, individual development, and the evolution of species in a way that can be understood by nonspecialists. In striving to offer a straightforward historical exposition of the complex topic of nature and nurture, the author tells the story through a central cast of characters beginning with Lamarck in 1809 and ending with a synthesis of his own that depicts how extragenetic behavioral changes in individual development could be the first stages in the pathway leading to evolutionary change. On the way to that goal, he describes relevant conceptual aspects of genetics, embryological development, and evolutionary biology in a nontechnical and accurate way for students and colleagues in the behavioral and social sciences. The book presents a highly selected review as a prelude to the description of a developmental theory of the phenotype in which behavioral change leads eventually to evolutionary change. This book grew out of an invited interdisciplinary course of lectures for advanced undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Presenting the various ways about thinking about heredity, individual development, and evolution, the author had three goals in mind: *to establish the relevance of individual development to the evolution of species; *to describe the most appropriate way to think about or conceptualize heredity in relation to individual development; *to show that this somewhat unorthodox manner of conceptualizing heredity and individual development gives rise to a new way to think about the behavioral pathway leading to evolution. In conclusion, the present work will provide a contribution toward the possible dissolution of the nature-nurture dichotomy, as well as a contribution to evolutionary theory.




The Development of Children’s Thinking


Book Description

The Development of Children’s Thinking offers undergraduate and graduate students in psychology and other disciplines an introduction to several core areas of developmental psychology. It examines recent empirical research within the context of longstanding theoretical debates. In particular, it shows how a grasp of classic theories within developmental psychology is vital for a grasp of new areas of research such as cognitive neuroscience that have impacted on our understanding of how children develop. The focus of this book will be on infancy and childhood, and it looks at: Theories and context of development How developmental psychology attempts to reconcile influences of nature and nurture Communication in infancy as a precursor to later thinking Language development in primates and young children Cognitive and social development, including the child’s understanding of the mind How studies of moral reasoning reflect upon our understanding of development




Developmental Plasticity and Evolution


Book Description

The first comprehensive synthesis on development and evolution: it applies to all aspects of development, at all levels of organization and in all organisms, taking advantage of modern findings on behavior, genetics, endocrinology, molecular biology, evolutionary theory and phylogenetics to show the connections between developmental mechanisms and evolutionary change. This book solves key problems that have impeded a definitive synthesis in the past. It uses new concepts and specific examples to show how to relate environmentally sensitive development to the genetic theory of adaptive evolution and to explain major patterns of change. In this book development includes not only embryology and the ontogeny of morphology, sometimes portrayed inadequately as governed by "regulatory genes," but also behavioral development and physiological adaptation, where plasticity is mediated by genetically complex mechanisms like hormones and learning. The book shows how the universal qualities of phenotypes--modular organization and plasticity--facilitate both integration and change. Here you will learn why it is wrong to describe organisms as genetically programmed; why environmental induction is likely to be more important in evolution than random mutation; and why it is crucial to consider both selection and developmental mechanism in explanations of adaptive evolution. This book satisfies the need for a truly general book on development, plasticity and evolution that applies to living organisms in all of their life stages and environments. Using an immense compendium of examples on many kinds of organisms, from viruses and bacteria to higher plants and animals, it shows how the phenotype is reorganized during evolution to produce novelties, and how alternative phenotypes occupy a pivotal role as a phase of evolution that fosters diversification and speeds change. The arguments of this book call for a new view of the major themes of evolutionary biology, as shown in chapters on gradualism, homology, environmental induction, speciation, radiation, macroevolution, punctuation, and the maintenance of sex. No other treatment of development and evolution since Darwin's offers such a comprehensive and critical discussion of the relevant issues. Developmental Plasticity and Evolution is designed for biologists interested in the development and evolution of behavior, life-history patterns, ecology, physiology, morphology and speciation. It will also appeal to evolutionary paleontologists, anthropologists, psychologists, and teachers of general biology.




Development


Book Description

What is development -- How does development happen? -- Why are some countries rich and others poor? -- What can be done to accelerate development? -- The evolution of development aid -- Sustainable development -- Globalization and development -- The future of development.