A Cultural Model of Development. By D. Paul Schafer.

There are many different ways to perceive and define development. However, most would agree that development is concerned with human needs and their fulfillment in the final analysis. Since people have a variety of needs that must be satisfied if they are to function effectively in society and survive - to breathe, bond, eat, love, create, procreate, recreate, work, and the like - this give rise to a complex set of social, economic, scientific, artistic, educational, recreational, spiritual, technological, political and environmental requirements. How these requirements are dealt in specific situations and particular parts of the world is what development in general - and the development of culture and cultures in particular - are all about. In order to address requirements as difficult and demanding as these, governments, corporations, foundations, and local, regional, national and international organizations use models of development - or have them in mind - when they make decisions about a variety of public and private matters. These models range all the way from general notions concerning the fulfillment of human needs to highly sophisticated devices to address the fulfillment of human needs in a systematic, sustained and coherent manner. This makes models of development extremely important in the overall scheme of things. They affect people’s lives all the time, and at every conceivable level. It is not possible to make sensible and sustainable decisions about the fulfillment of human needs - or about developmental problems and prospects confronting people and countries at the municipal, regional, national or international level - without models of development. As a result, models of development have a very powerful impact on public and private policies, practices, and ways of life in all parts of the world.

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Contributor: Anuradha Bhattacharjee
Published Date: April 28, 2008