Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh, Sciences Po UNDP consultant Central European University and UNDP Bratislava Summer School on Sustainable human Development July 6, 2009

 Life before (S)HD  Life during (S)HD  Life after (S)HD

 C lassical concept of development emphasizes on material well-being of states based on three factors of production: land, capital and labor  HD brings in people as means and as ends, their choices, freedoms, capabilities  It is an ethical and methodological rupture with previous views of development

 Aristotle (384 – 322): wealth for the good of something else  Kant ( ): treat humanity as ends not means  Adam Smith ( ): Economic growth should enable people without being ashamed to appear in public

 Revisions based on internal logic, and new evidence  Empirically different between north and south  Fashions come and go  Institutions and money decide

 Development first: with independence  Fashion: Economic Growth  1950s/60s – low incomes, low saving rates ),high mortality rates, weak literacy rates, very little manufacturing, total dependency on west  Needed economic growth, state led industrialization, catch up, grow first then worry  The ensuing rapid growth however did not produce sustained development. Dependency remained and distribution problems resulted in unemployment, underemployment and poverty, as the human dimension was neglected, and the trickle down theory proved not to be automatic.

 1) Market forces will lead to spread of benefits widely and speedily  2) Govts concerned with poor, will mediate  3) Don’t be too concerned for poor at first, first rich, then middle class, trickle down  4) Inequality happens at the beginning and is OK (Kuznets curve, Rawls)

 Proved inefficient, (migration, employment)  Justice concerns too

 1970s – GNP should be dethroned  Employment should be centerpiece ILO mission(Colombia, sri Lanka) since Employment – income, capacity of economy, recognition (rejected)  Redistribution with growth –would it work? Political issue?

 Differences between meaning of employment in north south  Missed out on understanding livelihoods, informality, working poor  Need to study quality of living, attitudes, institutions  Focus on employment created new problem of migration

 1974: WB and IDS: Redistribution with growth  But not enough understanding of how distribution happens, impacts of levels of inequality

 80s: The end of 70s saw the Basic Needs approach (ILO, WB, Ghai, Streeten, Stewart) which emphasized on a group of basic goods and services required for decent quality living for the poor.  2 types of approaches: meeting basic needs or opportunities for a full life?  First approach criticized: Paternalistic view, its utilitarianism as well as its commodity fetishism  Second approach opened up to equality, security, capabilities, other things the poor need and value…

 beginning of 80s - Debt crisis  rest of 80s - Expand role of market – structural adjustment (IMF,WB) – neo classical view – growth/poverty ignored – Africa /Latin America badly affected  Unicef – adjustment with a human face (1987)

Bring in other types of capabilities to Basic Needs  BN: Income + choices = quality of life  What do poor need – paternalistic; Objective – decent quality of life  Need to explore what people need to achieve decent life  New Growth theory: Old growth (capital and industries, new growth: education and knowledge)  Moving towards choices…

 Wave of freedom and democracy  globalization

 1990 HDR – reaction to policies of the 80s  Mahbub ul Haq: Capabilities + BN for quality of life (including freedom to choose)

 Same time as “tide of freedom”  Knowledge revolution  More wealth but more poverty  Universal assertion of HR: Inalienable Economic, Political, Civil, Social and Cultural rights  Voices for people and civil movements

 The true wealth of a country is its people.  There are not developed and underdeveloped countries, but developed and underdeveloped people.  The best strategy to increase national income is not to accumulate capital, but to develop people.

 Capabilities and functionings: conceptual foundation for HD.  Sen reopened economics to ethics and values  Development is the increasing of human freedom: At the same time the main goal and the main means to achieve development.  About expanding individual freedoms, such as  Freedoms to do what you want to do;  To be what you want to be. Expanding CAPABILITIES: to  Read and write  Lead long and healthy lives  Earn a decent living  Participate in decision makings that affect their lives Without these, many choices are simply not available, and many opportunities in life remain inaccessible.

 a) An ethical rupture, because at each step in the analysis of scholars and policy makers, the HD approach poses the question about the ends, the “what for”, the way in which each proposal contributes -or not - to enlarge people´s choices.  b) A theoretical rupture because HD proposes an alternative explanation of how development is achieved, of how it is produced by human beings rather than by impersonal or object-like variables.  c) A methodological rupture because the paradigm proposes a different way to achieve development in its various dimensions.

 Explicit philosophical roots, which is the capabilities and functionings theoretical framework explicitly argued and rooted in the works of Aristotle, Kandt, Marx, Smith,, Arthur Lewis, etc. and explained by Sen in various writings (Sen 89, HDR 1990 and 1996)  Evaluative aspect, which means improving human lives as an explicit development objective, and understanding how these improvements can be made. This aspect emphasizes on equity as a policy objective, and has been the core of the HDI and the comparative ranking against the GDP per capita rank  Agency aspects, which is what people can do to achieve improvements in their lives through individual, social and political processes. This aspect has gained increased attention in the past decade, and has introduced individual as well as collective agency, added social movements and political reforms to development variables of education and health care and, ultimately, human rights as an intrinsic as well as instrumental value.

 Economic growth  social development  human resource development  human welfare approach  basic needs approach

 which is understood as the increase in a country’s per capita income and is measured by the GDP/GNP  The theoretical rupture of HD: The theory of growth has 3 assumptions: a) development is the growth of income and b) basis of income growth is capital accumulation, and c) Conventional micro economic model is based on the assumption of rational individuals who maximize their utility

 No automatic link  Some choices do not depend on income  Income’s contribution to satisfaction of needs decreases as income increases (marginal utility)  Per capital income does not take into account distribution between rich and poor, unevenly distributed  depends on national priorities for spending – guns or butter, elitist or egalitarian model

Growth Advocates:  Expanding income is an end in itself  Growth does trickle down HD Advocates:  income is a means; enhancing people’s capabilities the end  Simultaneous expansion of choices in other dimensions – social, cultural, political - and economic  not accept trickle down as automatic

 Economic growth is needed, but public policy is needed to translate growth into HD. How? 1)Emphasis on investment in health, education, skills of people 2)More equitable distribution of assets and income 3)Well structured public expenditures 4)Empowerment of people to participate Otherwise the growth is voiceless, rootless, ruthless, futureless, discriminating, etc.

 looks at goods and services that deprived population needs - food, shelter, clothing, health care and water, participation of communities and generation of employment  Shares with HD: Preferential option for the poor.  But:  participation was symbolic not real, programs were paternalist and ignored agency aspect.  Ignores the capability aspect and underplays freedom  Basic needs reduced to a few basic functionings (nutrition, health, primary education, etc) instead of full spectrum of valuable human choices.  Not elaborate on reasons why certain needs are important  Emphasizes supply of materials rather than these material goods allow people to do

Definition Human Capital/human resources – enhancement of stock of skills and productive knowledge (Shultz, 1960s) HD – expansion of choices, capabilities, freedoms (Ul Haq and Sen, 1990s) People are viewed differently Human Capital/human resources - People as means to national income growth (inputs) HD - People as ends (outcome) HD Vs. Human Capital Development (1)

HD Vs. Human Capital Development (2) Investment in people Human Capital/human resources – investment in terms of education, health, nutrition is justified in terms of the ‘rate of return’ it yields to the individual as well as to the family and society (rate of return logic) HD – as a matter of ethics: the education, health, nutrition that are embodied in people are valuable in themselves (to enhance their capabilities)

Human DevelopmentNeo-liberalismBasic needs Well being concept:Functionings and capabilitiesUtilityMeeting basic needs Leading criterion for evaluating development progress Human capabilities; equality of outcomes, fairness and justice in institutional arrangements Economic well being, economic growth, efficiency Poverty reduction in terms of income, and access to basic social services Measurement tools favored: Human outcomes, derivational and distributional measures Economic activity and condition, averages and aggregate measures Access to material means; derivational measures Agency aspect: People in development as ends and/or means Ends and means: beneficiaries and agents Means: Human Resources for economic activity Ends: Beneficiaries Mobilizing agencyIndividual action and collective action Individual action Development strategy’ – key operational goals Expanding people’s choices (social, economic, political) Economic growthExpanding basic social services Policy concern with Distribution of benefits and costs Emphasis on equality and human rights of all individuals Concern with poverty Policy concern with human rights and freedoms Ultimate end with intrinsic value. Priority policy concern. No explicit connection. Current search for link between political and civil freedoms and economic growth. No explicit connection

 1) Strengthening the paradigm (First HDRs) HDI, differences with economic growth, financing, policy implications, etc  2) Extending it to universal and basic capabilities Poverty, gender, security  3) Expanding to other types of capabilities and exploring relationships Democracy, human rights, technology, culture  4) Lost in policy advocacy (MDGs, water etc)

 Concept and Measurement (1990): It is not economic growth, HD matters  Financing (1991) Cause of our backwardness is not lack of resources but lack of political will  Economic growth (1996), if not properly managed, can be jobless, voiceless, ruthless, rootless, futureless and thus detrimental.

 Human Poverty (1997) Poverty not just about income but a denial of choices and opportunities Coined human poverty, separate from Income poverty, Extreme poverty, Relative poverty, Absolute poverty Human Poverty measures extent of deprivations : A long and healthy life – vulnerability to death at a relatively early age, Knowledge – exclusion from the world of reading and communications, A decent standard of living – lack of access to overall economic provisioning, as measured by the percentage of the population not using improved water sources and the percentage of children under five who are underweight  Gender (1995 ). Gender Empowerment: GDI and GEM Gaps between women's expanding capabilities and limited opportunities

 Security in the face of chronic risk (hunger, disease, repression) and of sudden traumatic disruptions of daily life (earthquakes, droughts).  Not a concern with weapons/territory, but with life and dignity.  Has 4 principles: 1) universal, 2) interdependent components, 3) best ensured through prevention, 4) people centered.  7 dimension. Economic, food, health, environment, personal, community and political.  Protect people against harm and violation of human rights when a state is unwilling or unable to do.  Protection against catastrophic consequences of economnic downturns and natural disastres..

 Participation (1993) Participation is both an end and a means of HD. Decentralization tends to improve economic efficiency because better adapts to local needs, and costs per unit are lower. Human Rights (2000) There is no development without respect to HR. Convergence of three generations HR Democracy (2002) Politics is as important to successful development as economics Cultural Diversity (2004). Human development requires more than civil and political rights and equitable social and economic policies Cultural freedom is a human development objective, People can, and do, have multiple and complementary identities, Multicultural policies that allow multiple identities to flourish are the best way to make diversity work.

 Globalization 1999 Globalization can be used for HD if mitigated  New Technologies (2001) Technology is to improve people’s living Potential for HD in terms of information, empowerment, But increasing international inequality New technologis impact HD through Participation, Knowledge, New Medicines, New Crop Varieties, New Employment and Export Opportunities

 MDGs, 2003  Aid,Trade and Security, 2005  Water

 Equity?  Exclusion?  Informal Institutions, attitudes?, religion, family  Employment?