Development is the process of increasing the level of prosperity in countries and communities around the world. It is the result of economic growth, trade, and aid from richer countries and an increase in the availability of technology, education, and infrastructure. Development also involves tackling poverty, inequality, and environmental sustainability.
In the 1950s and 1960s modernization theory became popular among development economists. This theory argued that highly developed economies share a number of characteristics including: a move away from subsistence-food no longer makes up such a large proportion of domestic private consumption of goods; demographic shifts-lower death rates, followed by lower birth rates; urbanization; and industrialization. It was hoped that these processes could be replicated in other developing countries.
The modernization model was heavily influenced by social and cultural ideas of Max Weber and Emile Durkheim. It was also based on the assumption that if economic development was to occur it would need to be accompanied by the adoption of modern social and cultural norms.
By the 1980s a variety of factors had led to the pendulum swinging away from a statist approach towards a more market-based view of development. These included the fact that many protected state-owned industries were lagging behind their global competitors and required continued government support, and that stifling restrictions on international trade were a major obstacle to economic development.
Lifespan development theorists argue that the course of human development is always shaped by its historical and cultural contexts. They also believe that individual’s developmental pathways are different, depending on their particular genetics and environment.