Elements of development: From modernisation to participation

Abstract

The concept development has been shrounded in mystery and gronded in ambiguity. However, understanding development is necessary in appreciating the discourse, teasing out the disambiguation, and analysing strategies and processes by which societal conditions may be improved. This paper seeks to address the theoretical and political contestations of development and contextualise discernible definitions of development. Framed within the field of Development Studies (DS), this paper contributes to the extant literature in comprehending the complex and multifaceted nature of development, which means different things to different people and whose meaning changes from one context to another. The paper takes into account development as the dominant discourse of western modernity, a short-to-medium term outcome of desirable targets as well as a long term process of structural societal transformation within social science.