What does it actually mean to be underdeveloped? Is it written on the faces of the citizens of different countries or is it just a term used to describe their level of economic development? Whatever we may ascribe to this term, it is obvious that it denotes development in the opposite direction and is one of the few phrases so many countries would want to dissociate from. The use of the term underdevelopment can also be traced to Harry S. Truman’s inaugural speech. Suffice it to say that the concept of underdevelopment was created when development was born. Once the campaign for development began underdevelopment was presented as the enemy to war against.
Abraham N. Thomas refers to underdevelopment as “a stagnation of National economy over time and lack of growth or growth rate of less than 5% or any declared percentage per annum” Thomas (2010:35). In this context, underdevelopment can be said to be a term used exclusively to describe nations economically not individuals of the nations themselves. The broad definition of development relates to the economic status of countries and nations. As such the state of a country’s national economy, determines its status as an underdeveloped country. This meaning of development is derived from the linear perspective of development which emphasizes percentage increase in gross national production (GNP) and gross domestic product (GDP).
Underdevelopment is a by-product of development. We cannot conceive of or talk of underdevelopment without first talking about development. Hence the meaning of underdevelopment is traceable to the concept of development. In so many parts of the world, underdevelopment has come to be used as the term to characterise the plight of individuals’ bleak living conditions and the hardships of various sets of people. Hence the term is not just a paper or official phrase but also has a human face. The human face of underdevelopment is poverty, low standard of living and poor wellbeing. These are the end products or trickle down effects of underdevelopment. Hence although it is mostly used to describe the nation’s economic status, or derived from the national economy, it is the hardships experienced by individuals of the countries that put a stamp on their status as underdeveloped countries.
Why the use of the term underdeveloped and not undeveloped? This is because underdeveloped seems to connote a sense of development at the lowest level or below a significantly recognised stage, not necessarily an absence of development. Hence inherent in the concept of underdevelopment is a perceived possibility of attaining development. As such underdevelopment can be defined as the term used to describe a country or a national economy that comes short of a level of development suitable enough to be ascribed as developed. It denotes a country which has or possesses the inherent possibility of attaining development. Analogically, it depicts a country which is on the ladder towards attaining development but is presently at the lowest ebb of the ladder.
Dudley Seers describe underdevelopment as, “the worsening experience of the indices of poverty, unemployment, inequality and any two thereof in a given country”. Thomas (2010:35). This implies that underdevelopment is not without the characteristics or attributes of a country lacking in development. From these definitions we can see that underdevelopment is an experience i.e. it can be experienced. It is also a tag used to classify and identify countries based on the level of their economic development.
There are various concepts that have been framed to characterise the classification of countries based on their state of underdevelopment. They include terms such as least developed countries (LDCs), low income countries (LICs). According to Thomas Nabhon, poverty is easily the most excruciating element of underdevelopment which denies the LDCs access to means for decent living and possesses the risk of insecurity of life. Kuznete gives a threefold definition of underdevelopment as meaning,
Either the failure to utilize fully the productive potentials warranted by the existing state of technical knowledge, or a failure resulting from the resistance of social institutions, backwardness in economic performance, compared with a few economically leading countries of the period and economic poverty in the sense of failure to assure adequate subsistence and material comfort to most of the country’s population. Thomas (2010:35).
Goulet in one of his works gives a clear portrait of underdevelopment.
Underdevelopment is shocking: the squalor, disease, unnecessary deaths and hopelessness of it all. No man understands if underdevelopment remains for him a mere statistic, reflecting low income, poor housing, premature mortality or underemployment. The most emphatic observer can speak objectively about underdevelopment only after undergoing personally or vicariously the ‘shock of underdevelopment’. This unique culture shock comes to one as he is initiated to the emotions which prevail in the ‘culture of poverty………….The prevalent emotion of underdevelopment is a sense of personal and societal impotence in the face of disease and death, of confusion and ignorance as one gropes to understand change, of servility toward men whose decisions govern the courses of events, of hopelessness before hunger and natural catastrophe.Todaro and Smith (2012:15).
Underdevelopment embodies psychological and social dimensions. Rodney (1973:6) described underdevelopment at the level of the individual as either, relative lack of, decreased and or stagnated skill and capacity, freedom, creativity, self-discipline, responsibility and material wellbeing. And at the level of society as implying relative decreasing and or stagnating capacity to regulate both internal and external relationships. Rodney (1973:7). The characteristics of underdevelopment includes: incidence of poverty and low levels of living, unemployment and underemployment, dependency (external influence), reliance and manipulations, import oriented mono-cultural economy, financial and resources misappropriation, low levels of technology and research, corruption and nepotism, ignorance, disease, despair and high illiteracy.
However, the concept of underdevelopment for Rodney becomes significant only “as a means of comparing levels of development” Rodney (1973:23). Also a major component of the concept of underdevelopment in modern parlance is that, it connotes a particular relationship of exploitation as evidenced in the exploitation of one country by another. Sequel to that, under development in the present context of the socio-economic world today is a product of capitalist imperialist and colonialist exploitation. Rodney (1973:24).
The Bruntland report is the most significant document that prefigured or led to the endorsement of sustainable development. The Bruntland report of 1987 defined sustainable development as, meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generations Knuttsson (2009:25). In simple terms sustainable development means continuing development. It also lays emphasis on the improvement in the quality of people’s life through, increase in income per capita, improvement in education, health and general quality of life and improvement in the quality of natural and environmental resources. Sustainable development refers to development which contributes to the natural environment. Pearce and Warford define sustainable development as describing “a process in which natural resource base is not allowed to deteriorate” Thomas (2010:42).
Sustainable development is a development perspective which emphasizes on the quality of the environment and environmental inputs in the development process. It aims to maximise economic development benefits through proper maintenance of the environmental and natural resources over time. Sustainable development amplifies the voice that, mankind and his habitat is under threat due to certain practices in the name of development. Other activities which accompany development that have called for the concept of sustainable development are: deforestation, soil degradation, loss of biodiversity which have been carried out to provide for industrialization and urbanisation. Any development process that constitutes a threat to human live is against the true concept of development itself. Hence sustainable development is yet another approach to development that tries to draw the borderline between development practices and preservation of mankind and specifically, the environment which is his only habitat. Therefore, it is development with mankind and his habitat in view.
Literally, developing means undergoing development, growing or evolving. When referring to a nation or geographical area it means having a standard of living or level of industrial production well below that possible with financial or technical aid. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, developing insinuates the potential of an underdeveloped country to become developed. In some quarters it has been used to describe countries that are in between i.e., who have not reached the status of a developed economy but possesses the potential to attain that status because of its current economic growth rates, but which nevertheless possesses the characteristics and features present or associated with underdevelopment. In a more formal sense developing is ascribed to countries experiencing underdevelopment. So they are commonly referred to as developing countries.
Walt Witman Rostow best describes developing countries as countries which are in transition from traditional lifestyles towards the modern lifestyle which began in the industrial revolutions in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the international socio-economic circles, countries are distinguished between developed countries and developing countries, with developing countries mainly possessing or exhibiting the feature of underdevelopment. But the term or tag ‘developing countries’ is not widely accepted by most people as they consider it derogatory, while others have argued that this proves a more fairer term since it implies that the country is on the verge of attaining the status of a developed country. Hence, the criteria for assigning a country as developing is usually gotten by measuring it with the features of a developed country or inverting the factors that define a developed country.
Terms such as, less or least developed country (LDC) has been used to categorise and rank developing countries. The GDP per capita income of a country determines if it would be classified under developing or developed country. “Several international agencies including the organisation for economic cooperation and development (OECD) and the United Nations, offer classifications of countries by their economic status” Thomas (2010:3). But the best known system of classification of countries according to their economic status is provided by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) commonly known as the World Bank.
The World Bank classifies 208 economies with a population of at least 30,000 in its classification system. The countries are ranked by their levels of Gross National Income (GNI) per capita. These economies are then classified as Low Income Countries (LIC), Low Middle income Countries (LMC), Upper Middle income Countries (UMC), and High Income Countries (HIC). Generally speaking, the developing countries are those with lower middle or upper middle incomes. Most developing countries share common goals like: reduction in poverty, unemployment, infant mortality, inequality and the likes. They also experience common problems like widespread poverty, mono-economy, poor health system, low life expectancy, low standard of living, high cost of living, imbalance between urban and rural areas and much more.
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