Critique of conventional development
Sustainability, equity, resource exploitation, waste and pollution.
What is conventional development?
Conventional development measures progress mainly by economic growth (GDP), industrialisation, large projects and rising consumption. It assumes that natural resources are plentiful, that nature can absorb waste for ever, and that the benefits of growth will “trickle down” to the poor.
The critique
Sustainability: growth based on burning fossil fuels, clearing forests and mining uses resources faster than they can renew. The Club of Rome’s report *The Limits to Growth* (1972) used computer models to show that endless growth in population, industry and resource use on a finite planet would eventually lead to collapse.
Equity: benefits often go to a few, while costs fall on the poor, tribal people and women. Large dams and mines displace people who rarely share the gains. Equity also has two time dimensions: intragenerational (fairness among people today) and intergenerational (fairness to future generations).
Resource exploitation: forests, water, soil, fish and minerals are treated as free inputs, and their depletion is not counted as a loss in GDP.
Waste and pollution: the linear economy (“take–make–dispose”) produces large amounts of waste. Pollution damages health and ecosystems, but cleaning it up even adds to GDP. A circular economy instead keeps materials in use through reduce, reuse, repair and recycle.
Alternative thinkers: E. F. Schumacher, in *Small is Beautiful* (1973), argued for human-scale, appropriate technology. Gandhi had made similar arguments much earlier. The Human Development Index (UNDP, 1990) widened the measure of development to include health and education.
Key points
- Conventional model: GDP growth, big projects, trickle-down.
- *The Limits to Growth* (Club of Rome, 1972).
- *Small is Beautiful* (Schumacher, 1973).
- Intragenerational vs intergenerational equity.
- Linear economy vs circular economy.
Exam tips
Questions ask which statement is a criticism of conventional development, or which book/report goes with which author. Look for words like “finite”, “equity” and “externalities”.
Common mistakes
- Thinking the critique rejects all development; it rejects unsustainable and unfair development.
- Confusing intergenerational (between generations) with intragenerational (within one generation).
- Attributing *The Limits to Growth* to the Brundtland Commission.