Conflicting Paradigms in the
Development  Process: An
Assessment and an Alternative

Berhanu  Mengistu

Introduction
There is a widespread belief now that the Western development model for the
industrialisation  of  Third  World  countries  not  only  failed  to  advance
development,  but  has reinforced  the  "development  of  underdevelopment".
Powerful critiques of this model have been written. While there are differences
among them,  the  logic  and  evidence  of  the  structuralists,  the  dependency
school and  the  Marxists' critiques  in  the  aggregate, are  devastating  to  the
validity of  the Western  model. Yet,  it  is not  quite  clear  as  to  where  these
critiques will take us. Therefore, what is most urgently needed at this point in
time is a means  of translating  the  insights  of  the  critiques  of  the  Western
economic development models into concrete development  policy guides. If
this is to  be  achieved,  two  basic  concepts  of development  policy  must  be
reconceived.

One is the meaning of  development itself. By redefining  the  concept  of
development,  new  criteria  are  necessarily  established  against  which  the
conditions within Third World countries can be judged in terms of their state
of  development. The  second  element  concerns  the  role  of  urbanisation  in
national  development.  If  it  is to  occur,  development  must  be  reconcieved
within a spatial framework which integrates and balances the urban and rural
sectors rather than the parallel thinking of urban and rural problems that were
common in the last development decades.

This paper  argues for the redefinition  of development so that it means a
process of structural transformation that moves a society closer to conditions
in which the basic needs of people are met. Hence, the concept of development
must be expanded beyond simply considering growth in gross national product
which fails to include such things as how the benefits  are redistributed  and
social  conditions  are  improved.  Such  development  policy,  however,  will
require  that  the  concept  of  economic  productivity  be  replaced  by  social
productivity. Furthermore, any theoretical construct  of development  theory
must have the specific objective conditions of underdeveloped countries as its
parameter. Therefore,  a theory  of development  ought  to be  a guide in  the
process  of  formulating  a  development  strategy  rather  than  a  simple
"philosophical" discourse that attempts to explain the historical development

CONFLICTING PARADIGMS IN THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 51

of  hitherto  existing societies, particularly Western  society  whose  historical
experiences are radically different  from most Third World countries.

This  must  be  also  true  with  urbanisation  and  national  development.
Historically  the  Western  development  model  has  assumed  a  causal
relationship  between  industrialisation  and  urbanisation.  They  are  to  move
together,  each  supporting  and  facilitating  the  other  in  the  development  of
underdeveloped countries. The way in which cities organise space in the Third
World, however, supports and maintains their further  underdevelopment. In
fact, the very assumption that urbanisation and industrialisation are in a causal
relationship cannot be sustained even in the Western context. First, cities have
existed hi history, though smaller by today's standards, prior to the industrial
revolution and the application of power-technology thereafter. Second, what
is apparent, when one studies the historical development of cities, is that the
precondition for  the rise and growth of a city is not industrialisation  perse,
rather it is social surplus accumulation under varied and combined modes of
production.

Given  this, it is plausible to state that there is a fundamental relationship

between the development of the productive forces and the rate of increase in social
surplus accumulation. In  turn, there is a  direct link  between the geographic
concentration  of  such  accumulated social  surplus and  the formation  and
expansion  of  cities.  In  other  words,  if  surplus  derived  from  earlier
accumulation is invested in the existing structures, it would be logical to expect
growth  both  in  terms  of  urbanisation  and  other  economic  indicators.
Therefore,  the  analysis in spatial formation  and its implication for  national
development must necessarily focus on social surplus appropriation.

If  these redefinitions  of development and  spatial orientation  are used as
starting points, it is possible to review what the Western model has contributed
toward their achievement, consider alternative formulations for development
policy and draw upon the experience of non-Western  countries to consider
issues in applying a non-Western development  framework.
The Western Development Model
In examining the problematics in the development of UDCs, it is necessary to
briefly  analyse the major  Western economic growth theories. We find that
their  approach  is  positivist  and  attempts  to  discover  universal  "laws" of
development. Unsurprisingly,  the models advanced for  the  development of
UDCs  look  very  much  like  the  history  of  Western  industrialisation.  The
"growth stage theories", the diffusionist,  modernization  approaches and the
"big-push"  industrialisation  theses  are  all  premised  on  a  similar  set  of
assumptions.

The underlying assumption in all of them is that the process of development,
which  meant  increases  in  gross  national  product,  is  to  follow  a  series  of
successive stages through which all countries must pass. The development of
underdeveloped countries, however, is assumed to have been impeded by such
things as indigenous values such as traditionalism, a low level of technology,

52 BERHANU  MENGISTU

rapid population growth, lack of capital and political instability. According to
this view, development  could  occur  with  industrialisation.  However,  these
"barriers" would  have  to  be  overcome  to  achieve  it. This  would  require  a
number of transformations: industrialisation requires high capital investment,
capital  formation  through  savings  (deferred  consumption)  and  foreign
assistance. It also requires the development of a labour force with higher skills.
Creating such a work force means a massive transfer  of workers from  rural
farming and primary industries into processing and manufacturing industries.
Some industries are associated with urban centres, this process will lead  to
social and physical concentrations and allow major economies of scale to be
achieved. The role of the industrialised countries in this process, for altruistic
purposes or for "enlightened self-interest" is to extend assistance in the form
of technical expertise, training of local entrepreneurs, technicians, industrial
workers, and to provide capital for investment. Three decades later, however,
we find that the flow of capital is in the reverse direction. As Lever and Huhne
observed:

Until 1982 it was understood that there had to be, for a prolonged period, a
one-way flow of resources from the advanced countries to the Third World to
promote  its development. The view went unchallenged in either official or
private-sector circles and was supported by every school of economic thought,
albeit for differing reasons. Since the debt crisis which broke in  1982, those
flows have been reversed for each important group of countries in the Third
World. International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates imply thatin  1985 there
is to be a resource flow from the seven largest Third World borrowers to their
more prosperous creditors worth $32 billion, or nearly one-fifth of their entire
earnings from  the sales of  their exports of goods  and  services (Lever and
Huhne,  1985:3).
The theoretical underpinning of the model nonetheless is that social and.
economic change  takes  place  by a  process  of  diffusion  of  innovation  and
technology transfer from the centre (industrialised countries) to the periphery
(the Third  World). Cultural  (both  material  and  social)  artifacts  are  to  be
introduced into the cities of the Third World nations and from there  diffused
to the countryside. Therefore,  according to the model, as Abu-Lughod  and
Hay observed:"... the cities of the less developed countries were to play an
important creative role in integrating the country and in stimulating its parallel
transformation." (Abu-Lughod and Hay, 1977:105).
The Record of Development Under
Western-dominated  Policies
Development in Sub-Saharan Africa, (excluding the State of South Africa) the
specific focus of this paper, and in the Third World generally, has not occurred
after decades of guidance from theories generated by the industrialised West.
Even if the conditions  of the Third World  are judged  against  the  Western
model's own definition of development, rather than the one argued for here,
development  has not  occurred.  The  gross  national  product  (GNP),  gross

CONFLICTING PARADIGMS IN THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 53

domestic product  (GDP), or other economic development indicators, show
no substantial growth for Third World nations. For instance, growth of GNP
per capita for low income African countries between 1965-1985 was 1,8% per
year, which is lower than the population growth rate for the region. The growth
rate  for  all  low  income  countries,  (excluding  China  and  India),  between
1965-1985 was 0,4% per capita (WorldDevelopment Report, 1987). For the low
income countries of Africa, agricultural growth rate decreased on the average
from  2,9%  between  1965-1973  to  0,7%  between  1973-1983 (Financing
Adjustment  With Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1986).

It must be re-emphasised, however, that even if there were recorded growth
in these economic indicators, the development of underdeveloped  countries
would not have been assured. Because, as Samir Amin precisely put it:

As  economic  growth progresses, each of  the characteristics  by  which the
structure of the periphery is defined is not attenuated,  but on the contrary,  is
accentuated. So at the centre, growth is development -  that is, it integrates; at
the  periphery,  growth  based  on  integration in  the  world market  is  the
development ofunderdevelopment (Amin, 1976:28-29).
In effect, a simple look at what the main commodities of UDCs could buy
in  the  1980s  as  opposed  to  1970s,  (the  decline  is  between  31-49%),
substantiates dive Thomas' observation about Tanzania,

. ..  whatever may  be the need for foreign exchange,  and  whatever are the
short-run pressures on employment and income, primary export production
in this historical era does not contain enough dynamic demand potential to
transform agriculture ...In addition, substitutes always exist to stifle any threat
of  significantly upward rising prices. Moreover, insofar as primary export
production 
is  uncoordinated  among  the  Third  World  countries,  their
individual pursuit of national advantages will always lead to frustrating price
movement  in the world commodity markets (Thomas,  1974:167).
It  is interesting  to  note, however, that  in the face  of  this reality,  export
production is the main incentive for the "overspecialised" sector of agricultural
production in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The same predicament goes for other commodity production, such as base
metals. It is true that Africa in general possesses significant proportions of the
world's  minerals,  including  97%  of  chrome,  85%  of  platinum,  64%  of
manganese, 13% of copper, 75% of cobalt, 20% of the world's hydroelectric
capacity as well as 20% of traded oil. These combined with 70% of cocoa, 50%
of palm oil and 33% of coffee would suggest an excellent bargaining position
for Africa.  Reality, however, has dictated  otherwise. For  example, much of
Africa's  developed  mineral  and  industrial  production  is  controlled  by
non-Africans.  It  is  estimated  that  at  independence,  83% of  Zimbabwe's
mining and other industries were controlled and owned by transnational from
outside the country (Arnold, 1981). How much room for national development
planning, such conditions allow is anyone's guess.

Even as national governments initiate plans for the exploitation of some of
the known (but not foreign owned) minerals, there is serious doubt as to what

54 BERHANU  MENGISTU

benefits these governments derive from such an enterprise. Perhaps nothing
illustrates this dilemma better than the Mauritanian experience.

In order to open up new iron ore deposits at Guelb during the mid-1970s,
Mauritania had to seek $500 million in capital.  It obtained the money from
Arab sources ($290 million), the World Bank, the European Investment Bank
(EIB),  the African Development Bank  (ADB), France and Japan, but the
price it had to pay was very high. Thus, in 1974, debt servicing cost Mauritania
3,8% of foreign earnings; four years later, when the finances for the new ore
developments had been arranged, the debt servicing was taking20% of foreign
earnings; the national debt had risen to $805 million, equivalent to one and a
half times the GNP; 49% of the state mineral prospecting enterprises (SNIM)
was theh't>wrte4by Arab financial interests; and effective control of the mining
was no longer in Mauritanian hands. It is legitimate to ask how  much real
benefit yviH have occurred to Mauritania in 10 years time when the ore has
been extracted (Arnold, 1981:58-9).
Afriea's^harfc-  of  world  output,  in  terms  of  industrial  production,  still
remainsijjiiicuie  and is dropping. For the low-income economies industrial
producti^.growth  rate, between  1965-1973 was 5,7%. Between  1973-1983,
however, mb  akriual growth rate for these economies was 1,6%,  a decline of
4,1%. Tha. annftal. growth  rate for  all Sub-Saharan  Africa  is  14,6 between
1965-1973 "an4*i$4%  between  1973-1983.  Furthermore,  such  industrial
produetfott.lb  •QMJ  an  aspect  of  enclave  "development"  which  spatially
manifdstt.^sfetf-m  what  the  dependency  and  the  Marxist  theorists  call  a
dependent <l^ii<!jjsiy marked by an urban proto-proletariat and rural poverty.
Despite these alarming facts, theorists of the Western economic development
model kuiet tha^-SMch use of economic space is a prerequisite, even if only as
a  prelude,*** the  eventual  dynamically  integrated  social  and  spatial
development

AcootdpfetO'theorists  of this model urbanisation in the Third World is a
"beach-feeSd", acting as the centre of modernisation which is the catalyst  for
national economic growth  and  change in order  to  revitalise  the  assumedly
stagnating rural  sector. When the urbanisation  processes  deviate  from  this
perspective,  they  are  considered  as  anomalous,  which  the  urbanisation
literature  describes  as  pseudo-urbanisation  and  hyper-urbanisation.  This
observed irregularity was in turn assumed to have resulted from the "dualistic"
characteristic of traditional African societies.

This, approach to the study of the role of urbanisation in socio-economic
developirient fails to grasp the fundamental realities of spatial organisation in
the Third World. The model points to urbanisation without industrialisation
in  the  Third  World  without  clearly  identifying  the  loci  from  which  the
problems  emanate:  the historical  forces  that  gave  rise  to  the  city  and  the
modern  composition  of  forces  that  are  integral  components  of  its  modus
operandi.

A historical  examination  of the consequences  of the  colonially  imposed
social and  spatial formations  in the Third  World  in general,  and  Africa  in

CONFLICTING PARADIGMS IN THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 55

particular, however, strongly suggests that the city has been an expression of
the colonial economic and class structures (Magubane, 1980, Williams, 1973)
Davidson, 1974, Fanon, 1965). In other words, the city in Sub-Saharan Africa
developed into its present form and function as an aspect of the development
of the capitalist mode of production at world scale. Given this, it is possible to
make  the  following  assertions.  First, spatial  organisation has  no  neutral
attributes. It is subject to the political and economic organisation that called it
into existence. Second, there is an inseparable linkage or relationship between
the development of the productive forces and spatial organisation.  Therefore,
the thesis of Western urbanisation theory, that urbanisation processes in the
Third World are a recapitulation of the earlier experience in the development
of Western capitalism, is both theoretically and historically inaccurate.

The  major  impact  of  colonial  capitalism  on  African  social  and  spatial
formations  was  the  superimposition  of  the  colonial  system  upon  the
precapitalist  indigenous  spatial  organisation  which  then  truncated  the
development of an integrated network of cities and towns. Hence, even if we
were to accept the notion of universal "central place theory", as often advanced
by  the  Western  development  model,  the  process  by  which  it  would  have
occurred in Africa has been distorted by the intrusion of European colonialists
and a  socio-political structure which was imposed for  their  own benefit.  In
concrete terms, when the capitalist mode of production was introduced and
controlled  by  alien  forces,  and  then  the  accumulated  social  surplus  was
expropriated for a purpose unconnected with the requirements of the societies
invaded,  the  whole  process  of  spatial  and  social  transformation  became
deformed.  Hence,  functionally,  space  is  organised  in  Africa  south  of  the
Sahara in the following manner:

(1) a limited number of areas specialised in export production;
(2) surrounding zones which supply the export-producing  regions or

sectors with food and other services; and

(3)  areas which we may call the peripheral  zones  of the  peripheries
which  more  often  than  not  supply  migrant  labour  and  some
agricultural products to the export-producing areas.

Such  colonially  imposed  spatial  organisation  of  production  has  led  to
further  complications  after  independence.  Even  hi  those  states,  such  as
Tanzania, where there seems to be a political will to correct the disarticulation
of the  space  economy, their  efforts  have been  constrained  by the  colonial
legacy  of  dependent  spatial  structures  (Soja,  1976). This  situation  clearly
points  out  the difficulty  of shifting  social and  spatial infrastructures  to suit
changed objectives and altered ideologies.

The second most deleterious aspect of European colonisation of Africa is
the  acceptance  of  the  Western  development  model  within  the  dominated
societies  which  then  is  internalised  and  becomes  an  intractable  force.
Consequently, it has become difficult  to bring change in an orderly  fashion
even in the face of insurmountable evidence that a new strategy is called for.

56 BERHANU MENGISTU

As Marx purportedly said,"... the tradition of all the dead generations weighs
like a nightmare on the brains of the living.".

Alternative Approaches
The current debate is not over whether or not there is poverty and general
distress in the Third World. Virtually all contending schools of thought, from
the most conservative to the most radical perspectives and a variety of others
in between,  acknowledge the pressing problems, Third World  countries in
general and Africa in particular are facing. The difference between advocates
of  the  Western  model  and  their  critics, rather  is  over  perceptions  of  the
underlying causes of these  conditions and  the appropriate  steps to remedy
them. For example, according to the conservative point of view, the problem
of  underdevelopment  is  inherent  in  the  environments  and  cultures  of  the
societies in question. Therefore, its policy prescription is a more co-operative
interaction with the industrialised countries as the comparative advantages of
underdeveloped countries dictate. The liberal version of the Western model,
on the other hand, calls for  changes in traditional institutions  and values of
underdeveloped  countries.  In  their  place  "modern"  values  and  social
institutions,  innovations  and  advances  generated  from  the  industrialised
countries are to be instituted. The radical perspective, of course, contends that
such approaches lead only to further underdevelopment of the Third World.
Indeed, a careful analysis of the former two viewpoints shows that there are
only  cosmetic  differences  between  the  liberal  and  the  conservative
assumptions. Nonetheless, these two development models have dominated all
other approaches to socio-economic development in the Third World for the
past thirty years.

There is little debate today about the general accuracy of the critiques of
the Western development model. At  the same time, however, the  different
versions of the socialist theoretical perspectives have problems of their own.
Their view of history suggests "natural laws" of social development which act
in such a manner as to require capitalism as a prerequisite to socialism. That
is, proponents of this perspective see social development as following a rigid
sequence of stages: primitive  society, pastoral society, agricultural society,
feudal  society, capitalist  society, socialist  society,  etc. Therefore,  this view
creates a paradox, perhaps even a paralysis, as to how universal socialism is
to  be  achieved  without  going  through  capitalism,  which  the  dependency
theorists argue is impossible to have in the Third World (Palamg, 1978).

It seems reasonable to suggest at this point that part of the struggle towards
a resolution of the development problems in the Third World in general and
Sub-Saharan Africa specifically, requires, among other things, a consideration
of a wide range of alternative development strategies as well as a move beyond
present perceptions of reality. For it is obvious that as long as these nations
remain  within  the  colonially  imposed  spatial  and  social  structures,  then-
perceptions of the development problems and their resolutions are going to

CONFLICTING PARADIGMS IN THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 57

be limited by these structures. This contention is best illustrated by adapting
here Vogeler and De Souza's (1980:5) simple straight line drawing problem,
as shown below:

*  *  *
*  *  *
*  *  *

The idea is to  connect  the nine points  drawn here with four  continuous
straight lines. It is obvious, however, that the task is impossible to accomplish
to the extent that one stays within the area limited by these points.

In  the  quest  for  new  options  in  development  strategies,  this  study  has
critically examined  and analysed the literature  on development  in  different
countries. Looking specifically  at China and the supporting  evidence  from
Cuba, two insights that have both cognitive and technical implications can be
drawn.  On  the  cognitive  level,  the  formulation  and  implementation  of
development  policy  was  premised  upon  the  respective  country's  special
conditions. This means the development strategy reflects on local conditions
and attempts to improve the material base upon which the development policy
is  founded.  Furthermore,  the  strategy  takes  advantage  of  existing  local
knowledge  and  technology  of  those  who  have  been  coping  with  lack  of
development and who are the beneficiaries  of the ensuing development. The
whole approach to development is conceived in a conceptual framework that
recognizes the dynamic nature of social development  and hence anticipates
adaptability to changing circumstances. It is apparent that this approach  to
development is different  from the static Western development model which
assumes, among other  things, stable environment, the  availability of skilled
manpower, advanced technology, and borrowed capital for investment.

The technical implications of the development strategy adopted by China
and Cuba, notwithstanding their respective differences,  are in the aggregate
very instructive. Initially, the strategy stresses the importance of building an
industrial  base  with  a  large  part  of  the  national budget  devoted  to  heavy
industry, even at the expense of social infrastructures  and consumer goods.
This was  made  possible  in these  countries  only by socialist  aid  and  trade
(Gurley,  1976). In  implementing  this policy,  a major  attempt  was made  to
minimise generating imbalances between urban and rural areas, between rich
and poor and among deficient regions of the nation. The experience of other
Third World countries in this regard, however, has been very disappointing
because  the  limited  industrialisation  that  had  taken  place  has resulted  in
increased  contradictions  among  the  different  regions.  The  pattern  of
industrialisation  common  to  most  Third  World  countries  in  general  and
Sub-Saharan Africa  in particular  is an agglomeration  of a capital city that
consumes three-fourths of the national money supply including the lion's share
of health care and educational services (Schatzberg, 1979).

58 BERHANU MENGISTU

Despite current uncertainties as to the direction of development in China,
more than  any other  nation  in the Third  World,  the  Chinese were  able to
overcome social, political and territorial inequalities between the city and the
countryside by following an economic policy that was not necessarily new nor
specifically Chinese. For example, initially, despite large resource allocations
to heavy industry, these industries were too weak to absorb the Chinese surplus
labour.  Hence,  the  Chinese  development  policy  stressed  labour-intensive
agricultural development. This policy, however, had been used by both Japan,
for  a long time, and by other Third  World  countries,  including India. The
crucial difference, as Mingione observed, is in the appropriation of economic
surplus:

If the agricultural surplus is systematically taken away from  the agricultural
sector in order to support the indiscriminate growth of capitalist industrial
production, as was true in Japan, it is inevitable that things become the poorer
peasants and eventually the process of abandonment of the countryside and
the impoverishment of agriculture, typical of capitalist development,...  if on
the other hand, the surplus is taken over systematically by a  class of rich
peasants and  by the state in  order to maintain  a strong bureaucracy  and
substantial urban over-population,  as  is happening in India,  without even
starting a process of industrialisation,  the weaker peasants  are ruined and
urban and rural poverty are constantly reinforced.  These two examples show
that an  agricultural policy  based on  high labour intensity is  not,  in  itself,
sufficient to overcome social, political and territorial inequality between town
and country (Mingione,  1977:375).
There are other insights as well in the development process of these two
countries. First, in both countries productivity of peasants as well as workers
increased  when  people  were  "motivated"  or  inspired  and  the  work
environment  was altered.  It  is doubtful,  however,  that  simple  "motivation"
leads  to  increased  production,  unless  "motivation"  is  simultaneously
reinforced by providing education, technical training, better nourishment and
by placing social value on tasks accomplished. The second insight is how to
adapt  the  national  education  system  to  the  needs  of  an  underdeveloped
country. In the absence of a clear direction towards indigenously initiated and
formulated  policy of development, a social goal, currently education  in the
former colonies, has become an instrument of underdevelopment rather than
development. It  does this in  at least  two significant  ways. Despite  radical
differences  in  the  objective  conditions  between  the  industrialised  and
underdeveloped  countries,  current  educational  policies  simply  certify  the
necessity  of  replicating  the  Western  model  of  development.  Progress  is
measured  by  such  things  as  the  degree  of  urbanisation,  the  literacy  rate,
knowledge of international languages, consumption of goods and services that
are foreign  produced  and  acquiring  the  "latest"  military  hardware  for  the
purpose of self-destruction. In addition, as Hull wrote"... it makes the basic
objectives of underdevelopment - the rules of the capitalist game -  that dictate

CONFLICTING PARADIGMS IN THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS 59

that most of the fruits  of development be reserved for  a privileged few, the
strongest" (Hull, 1979:139).

Finally, if one point is to be emphasised over others, the most important
lesson that can be drawn from the experience of China and Cuba, is that their
experimentation, particularly in territorial planning, is very far from its end.
Nonetheless, as Professor  Salter has written about China, the experiment of
the two  countries  has  truly broken,"...  the Third World's  infatuation  with
sconomies  of  scale  and  expansive  concentrations  of  industrial  plants  so
traditional to Western... development" (Salter, 1974:122). This is an important
point to note in development planning because once an initial decision is made
to  locate  a  particular  activity  or  institution  at  a  specific  point,  a  kind  of
self-generating  momentum is established which continues to attract  related
mterprises and  even multiplies the impact of a given social, economic and
political investment. The experimental nature of planning in these societies
needs  stressing  because  neither  China nor  Cuba has  found  a "formula"  or
model for all times and all places. Perhaps how these lessons are learned and
applied is just as decisive, because,

. ..  there are two different attitudes towards learning from others. One is the
dogmatic attitude of transplanting everything whether or not it is suited to our
conditions. This is no good. The other attitude is to use our heads and leant
those things which suit our conditions, that is, to absorb whatever experience
is useful to us. That is the attitude we should adopt (Mao, 1971:15).

A New Perspective
What  emanates  from  this  brief  presentation  of  the  problems  in  the
socio-economic  development  of  Third  World  countries  is  a  normative
approach to development. As such, it is difficult to clearly chart the direction
it ought to take. Nonetheless, the preceding analysis engenders the following
options  and  constraints.  Underdeveloped  and  dependent  socio-economic
structures  are  objectively  marked  by  a  low  level  of  development  of  the
productive forces; hence, they lack the capacity to transform the material base
of production. Since such characteristics are to be found in the workings of an
economic  structure  that  divorces  domestic  production  from  domestic
resource use, and domestic demand from domestic needs (Thomas, 1974, and
Amin,  1976),  the  direction  of  a  genuine  development  that  is  beyond
meaningless slogans ought to be aimed at reversing this orientation. In other
words, the specific policy issues are those strategies that attempt to formulate
two types of  convergence: resource use and local demand,  and needs with
demand.

This approach requires a break with a number of concepts and habits such
as re-orientation of what is "optimum" volume of output and what should be
produced  and  consumed. Two caveats are  perhaps in order  here: first,  an
economic system that  attempts to forge  resource use and internal  demand,
and  internal  demand  and  internal  needs,  does  not  necessarily  lead  to
development in isolation. What is being advanced rather is the possibility of

60 BERHANU MENGISTU

creating a dynamic economy by adapting such methods. Second, in terms of
what  ought  to  be  produced  and  consumed,  the  obvious  limitations of
prescriptions which  are  made  outside  of  a specific  cultural  and  historical
situation must be noted; that is, such decisions are subject to given social and
political culture.

Since development strategies, however pertinent,  are not  self-executing,
these  development  approaches  assume  political  infrastructures  which  are
firmly grounded on worker/peasant and urban/rural alliances. Such political
strategies have been very much in  evidence in  the development  process of
China  and  Cuba  and  their  development  clearly  represents  a  successful
departure from the Western development prescriptions and to a large extent
even from  the Soviet style of development. Furthermore, such development
strategy  must  take  into  account  the  underdevelopment  of  the  productive
forces,  the  colonially  imposed  spatial  structures  and  the  lingering  class
alliances in the Third World. That is, careful considerations must be given to
the economic base as well as the superstructures of the nations in question as
determining factors in the development process. Hence a premium is placed
on  the  internal  dynamics  because,  while  external  conditions,  such  as
geo-political relationships, the  current  debt  burden  and  even  the  physical
environment  have  significant  impact  on  the  development  of  Third  World
countries,  they become  effectively  operative  only  through  internal  causes.
Therefore, the political mobilization of the masses, both as a political base and
as the most valuable resources in the development effort,  is more important
than  to  view  the  problem  in  development  in  terms  of  econometric
nomenclature.

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