This document outlines a lecture on major challenges to the contemporary world, focusing on development-related problems like poverty, hunger, and the North-South divide. It introduces topics like different definitions of poverty and development, and two approaches to understanding hunger - Robert Malthus' nature-focused approach of overpopulation outstripping food supply, and Amartya Sen's society-focused entitlement approach where political and economic factors determine food distribution even when enough food is produced globally. A multiple choice quiz and discussion of these concepts follows.

1. Theme “Major Challenges to Contemporary World”
April 23rd, 2015
Anna A. Dekalchuk,
Lecturer at the Department of Applied Politics,
Higher School of Economics – St. Petersburg
DG 12.
Development-Related
Problems:
Demographic Problem, Poverty, Hunger, North-
South Divide

2. DG outline
1. 8-minute test
1. What is going on in the world?
1. What is poverty?
1. What is development?
1. Two approaches to hunger

3. 1. Multiple Choice Test
8 minutes, 10 questions, only
one correct answer per question

4. 2. What is going on in the world?
Since what time do we measure development-related problems?
How have neoliberal economic policies influenced the issues?
What is Washington Consensus?
What does the international community do to tackle the problem?
What are the two main approaches to consider development issues?

5. 2. What is going on in the world?
What are the two main approaches to consider development issues?

6. 3. What is poverty?
How do we define poverty?
Poverty is an economic condition suffered by people – the
majority of whom are female – who do not earn enough money
to satisfy their basic material requirements in the market place
Why is this definition contested?
Because for many, poverty goes far beyond material aspects
and also includes the lack of access to community-regulated
common resources, community ties, and spiritual values (vs.
individualism and consumerism)
What is the difference between income poverty and human
poverty?

7. 4. What is development?
How do we define development?
Development is defined as synonymous with economic growth
within the context of a free market international economy (e.g.
World bank view)
Why is this definition contested?
How is the definition of development broaden to include a
concept of human rights?

8. 4. What is development?
What is embedded liberalism?
How has it transformed into the Washington Consensus?
Why do we now talk about post-Washington Consensus?

9. 4. What is development?
Why is it argued that the neo-liberal policy does not promote
development and can actually hinder the latter?
Development understood as growth vs. development understood
as distribution.
Another perspective on development:
•
need-oriented (material and non-material);
•
endogenous (coming from within a society);
•
self-reliant (in terms of human, natural and cultural
resources);
•
ecologically sound;
•
based on structural transformations (of economy, society,
gender, power relations).

10. 4. What is development?
How are democracy and human rights linked to development?
Development must be based on local control and local
empowerment
Principles of alternative development (Copenhagen 1995):
•
principle of community participation;
•
principle of empowerment;
•
principle of equity;
•
principle of self-reliance;
•
principle of sustainability.
Development must be based on diversity and not universality

11. 4. What is development?
How are alternative views incorporated into the mainstream
one?
•
the concept of sustainable development (Brudtland
Commission 1987): natural limits to growth and inextricable
link between environment and development;
•
gender aspect (WB Operational policy 4.20 on gender).
•
examination of whether development orthodoxy increases
global inequality;
•
gendered outcomes of macroeconomic policies;
•
redistribution and debt write-offs are slowly implemented.
What is left out?

12. 5. Two approaches to hunger?
Robert Malthus
(1766-1834)
“Essay on the Principle
of Population” (1798)
Amartya Sen
(born 1933)
“Poverty and Famines: An
Essay on Entitlement and
Deprivation” (1981)

13. 5. Two approaches to hunger?
Robert Malthus
(1766-1834)
“Essay on the Principle
of Population” (1798)
Nature-focused approach:
o
population growth naturally
outstrips the growth in food
production =>
o
decrease in per capita availability of
food is inevitable =>
o
starvation / disaster reduces
populations so that demand meets
supply;
o
overpopulation as a cause for
hunger =>
o
ways to reduce fertility (natural
limits to population growth).

14. 5. Two approaches to hunger?
Society-focused (entitlement) approach:
o
there is enough food for everyone =>
o
hunger is a problem of distribution;
o
the Third World (that suffers from
hunger the most) produces the much
of the world’s food while;
o
the majority of the consumers are in
the Western World;
o
political, economic and social factors
matter for distribution of food;
o
Hunger is due to people not having
enough to eat, rather than there not
being enough to eat. Amartya Sen
(born 1933)
“Poverty and Famines: An
Essay on Entitlement and
Deprivation” (1981)