IDST 2000Y Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Neolithic Revolution, Longwave, Regulation School
4 Dec 2017
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We"ve considered development as growth, and development as improvement of human welfare, but there is a simpler, less normative definition: development is change. Not in development studies which is preoccupied with a set of questions about change. There is, however, a kind of disconnect in the field between study and practice. As development practitioners we ask how do we [accomplish a specific change]? . As development scholars we ask why [are things the way they are]? . When gunnar myrdal introduces the idea of circular causation, he is attempting to answer a how to question within the perspective of development as improving human life. In other words, both myrdal and prebisch are answering their questions with observations rather than with explanations. They are not actually explaining how change occurs so their solutions (myrdal: invest holistically; prebisch: cut trade ties with the center) are incomplete. My point here is not about deductive or inductive reasoning.
