Development Revisited: A Sociological and Managerial Analysis

Economic development—this is the quest of almost every progressive individual, group of people, nation, and continent and for that matter the world at large. This quest for development has brought about joy and sorrow, hope and despair, progress and retrogression, friendliness and hostility, and the paradox list goes on….

So, come to think of it: Does mankind really understand development? Do the development agendas of our rulers and decision makers really make for progress? In fact, what kind of development do we pursue; true development or false development? And at the expense of what?

These are some of the very important questions that we all as individuals, leaders and nations need to ponder over as we yearn for development.

Western Hegemony—a good example?

Who sets the standard of development? Well, in his inaugural address as post war president of the United States of America, this is what Harry Truman reportedly said:

“More than half the people of the world are living in conditions approaching misery. Their food is inadequate, they are victims of disease. Their economic life is primitive and stagnant. Their poverty is handicap and a threat both to them and to more prosperous areas.

“For the first time in history humanity possesses the knowledge and the skill to relieve the suffering of these people…

I believe that we should make available to peace-loving peoples the benefits of our store of technical knowledge in order to help them realize their aspirations for a better life…What we envisage is a program of development based on the concepts of democratic fair dealing…Greater production is the key to prosperity and peace. And the key to greater production is a wider and more vigorous application of modern scientific and technical knowledge.”– Text of the Speech in Department of State Bulletin, January 30, 1949, p. 123

Not only the United States, but the rest of the Western world have also joined in promoting their paradigm of economic development. No wonder a synonym for ‘development’ is ‘westernization’. The result is that most, if not all developing economies have looked up to Western hegemony as the model of development. But are they really a good example?

Granted, the West have made very impressive strides in technology, medicine, food production, transportation, social welfare (now variably under threat though), education and so on. They are far ahead of ‘developing nations’. Yet, have they been truly able to improve the lives of their citizenry that they can be called “developed”? Have they succeeded in making their peoples most secure and the happiest? What about the eradication of diseases, both old and new ones, have they achieved it? And what about crime? Are family lives better and happier?

Using the United Nations as a mouthpiece, they trumpeted some very laudable goals to be attained by the year 2000 during the last two decades of the 20^th Century especially. Among them were: “Food for all by the year 2000”; “Health for all by the year 2000” and so on. Over two decades into the 21^st Century what has been accomplished; have they been successful? or they have woefully failed?

In life, love is the most important basic need of humanity right from conception. Can we say that that quality is more pervasive in Western countries and that there are no savages there?

Granted, some are doing better in certain arenas than others. But again, on the whole, is the ‘development’ of the West really development? Is the provision of adequate and affordable medical facilities development? I thought development should even make them unnecessary by eradicating sickness altogether. Is it development when there are many forms of communication technologies yet there are so much misunderstanding and fights? Is it development when the rich is getting richer and the poor is getting poorer?

All that they have demonstrated over and over again over the years is a façade which has been summed up beautifully and succinctly for thousands of years in the truism stated at the outset of this article. It is therefore unwise to follow such a pattern of development.

To enable us further examine the health of economic development as advanced by the West and pursued by the rest of the world, we will look at it from two perspectives: Sociologically and Managerially.

A Sociological Analysis

To do this analysis, I would want to approach it from the five basic institutions that, according to sociology, form society; political, religious, economic, marital and educational.

The Political Institution. Political leadership is very crucial for true development. How has this institution of society fared over the centuries? This is also very beautifully and succinctly answered by Karl Marx when he said in his Communist Manifesto:

“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”

In a bid to rule over their fellowman, political entities have often been despotic and in some cases even barbaric just so they can stump their authority. The poor and powerless have always been vulnerable, being oppressed by their rulers without anyone to speak up for them. This has been true in all cultures; African, Western and otherwise.

The struggle that ensued between the classes has often led to a new form of economic system and rulership, as Marx explained, employing the dialectics theory of Georg Hegel (I state this advisedly since some do not credit Georg Hegel with the theory). That theory holds that when two classes struggle against each other (thesis and antithesis), that struggle eventually

results in synthesis which is a higher and a better epoch. Yet, time and again, new conflicts arise in no time thus bringing about a new struggle between another set of thesis and antithesis.

The quest for power under the guise of making life easier or better for citizens has often led to bloody results. We can see this demonstrated in the wars fought by powerful kingdoms who sought to form empires out of other nations. It has also been amply displayed in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and colonialism.

In our day, almost every nation is clamouring for democracy. And those nations that are not amenable to that system of government are seduced, coerced, vilified and so on to accept it. Sometimes their citizens excite themselves against the powers that be to get them to adopt it, as demonstrated in the Arab Spring and the current developments in especially West Africa. But does democracy really meet the needs of mankind?

As noted earlier, the Western countries, among who are the citadels of democracy have miserably failed to eradicate diseases, crime, and hatred and so on within their own jurisdictions. And presently, most of them are in economic woes.

Also, even though democracy has commendably made the guarantee of several freedoms possible, it has also succeeded in promoting dastardly lifestyles, behaviours and attitudes that are against the collective human conscience and which further plunge the society of humans into moral morass. No wonder society is in such a huge mess!

So what do you think, can democracy really fix the quagmire of political leadership that the world is in? Very likely, your guess is as good as mine. In that case, how could there ever be true development under democracy?

In the next part, we will continue with an analysis of another institution of society, Religion to enable us see if it has really lived up to expectation to elevate its adherents to true enlightenment and development. Please don’t miss it.

The author Jules Nartey-Tokoli is Founder and Group CEO at Groupe Soleil Vision, comprising Soleil Consults, LLC, NubianBiz dot Com and Soleil Publications. He has lived and worked in both Ghana and the United States, having extensive experience in Strategy, Management, Entrepreneurship, Premium Audit Advisory and Web consulting. He has also published several articles on Strategy and Management among others.