Changing Development Models, Post-war International Development and Developing Country Needs

Abstract

Development does not occur in a vacuum. Development planning, evaluation and monitoring at macro and micro levels are usually associated with dominant development thinking at the time. Over a period of time, such thinking crystallise into theoretical or policy traditions and paradigms. When we look at the past five decades, it is possible to see how such theoretical traditions and paradigms have been formulated, questioned, criticised and new constructions or formulations emerged. When we examine a given country, specific development or a project, it is important for us to examine what paradigms of thought governed the initiation, planning, and implementation of such development programs or projects. What international development thinking and paradigms influenced such decisions historically? ... The aim of this paper is to review post-war development approaches, models and theories emanating from economically developed Western nations in relation to developing nations such as those in Asia with a particular emphasis on what ideas, ideologies, and thinking governed their decisions to provide financial aid and infrastructure assistance,planning and program advice, technical consultancies and project support in the rural and agricultural sector. I will explore these changes, as are the positive-negative effects of accepting and implementing Western prescriptions. Countries like Sri Lanka, which has been the beneficiary of development assistance, have experienced positive and negative effects of such assistance for decades since gaining independence. It is highly important to critically examine the changing nature of development models in order to provide a sense of directions for the emerging researchers, policy planners and project personnel.