Re-envisioning Development in the New Global Economy

Book excerpt: Does Development work? That has been the driving question of this research. Much of economic international development today has been shaped by the neoliberal economic policies of the Regan-Thatcher era. Over the past two decades economists and scholars have questioned whether the corresponding model of development has in fact been effective in developing the lesser economies of the world by promoting economic growth and human well being. Through an eight-part case study analysis, this research compares empirical data based on varying examples of top-down and sustainable development theories. The top-down case study examples detail projects enacted in post-Apartheid South Africa, Mexico, Kazakhstan, and Bangladesh. Similarly, the sustainable case studies examine projects in Namibia, Brazil, Croatia, and Nepal. Alternatives to both top-down and sustainable theories are offered in brief analysis through: Feminist Political Economy, Human Development theory, Gross National Happiness, and an Integrative model. Ultimately, this research contends that currently, sustainable development offers the most holistic approach to addressing not only the needs of the global south, but the entire global economy for the foreseeable future.