Maldevelopment

Misdevelopment of countries
Dependence on maldevelopment
Imbalance of development
Inappropriate development
Uneven development
Exploitative development

Nature

Maldevelopment in the newly liberated, erstwhile colonial, poor and backward countries is the result of many forces. At the base is the appalling problem of poverty, inherited inequality and the lack of equal opportunity as a legacy of the tribal and feudal past. This legacy was prolonged by the colonial system, which not only allowed tribal and feudal hierarchies to survive and perpetuate the unequal social relations that directly contribute to continuing poverty and keep economies at low levels of performance; but also introduced a new form and higher level of exploitation, by transforming the indigenous traditional political and economic elite into an intermediate stratum of collaborators in the colonial design of political domination and economic aggrandisement.

Background

Trade can be used as a powerful tool for economic development, but in reality, has more often resulted in the maldevelopment of many Third World countries. Trade promotion has led many developing countries along unsustainable economic paths which have not resulted in the promised stable industrialized development. In reality, it has resulted in extremely unbalanced and fragile economic development similar to the case of Rwanda and Burundi whose economies had been dominated by export coffee production.

Claim

Maldevelopment cannot be simply credited to the errors and misplaced allegiances of these countries' economic managers but have also been the direct result of the activities of TNCs, as well as the policies of multilateral financial and development institutions such as the IMF-WB.

Counter-claim

Very uneven development is acceptable as a means of initiating and maintaining the development process. Although those who benefit in the short-term are the rich and a small number of middle class and urban workers, it is they who are capable of buying products and services. Only through rapid development of the cities and the export economy can development get underway. National wealth thus grows at the fastest possible rate, providing more to trickle down to all. More goods become available and more poor people are able to get jobs as more factories open up. The new wages generate more demand for more goods and for more factories. Through this process the lower classes and those in rural areas will eventually be drawn more fully into the developing economy.