Write a Critique of Michael P. Todaro’s Definition of...

Todaro defines development â€Å"as a multidimensional process involving major changes in social structures, popular attitudes, and national institutions, as well as the acceleration of economic growth, the reduction of inequality, and the eradication of absolute poverty. Development, in its essence, must represent the whole gamut of change by which an entire social system, tuned to the diverse basic needs and desires of individuals and social groups within that system, moves away from a condition of life widely perceived as unsatisfactory and toward a situation or condition of life regarded as materially and spiritually better.† (1985:85) Todaro believes there are three core values of development and these core values are life-sustenance,†¦show more content†¦Life expectancy rose from 63 years to nearly 65 years. An additional 8 percent of the developing worlds people received access to water. And an additional 15 percent acquired access to improved sanitation serv ices. (Human Development Report 2003) However, problems of inequality do exist with economic development and inequalities may lead to lower living standards of the poorer. Gillis claims that the ultimate goal of development, that is to say, development is first and foremost a process involving people, who are both the supreme movers of development and its beneficiaries (Gillis 1996). However, social transformation is closely linked to globalization. As not all countries have integrated successfully in the global economy, GDP in these countries remained flat or even declined. Lives of people in these countries are still undesirable since low incomes lead to low levels of living. This is due to the widening of income gap between rich and poor. The rich is better off while the situation of the poor is even worsen. Examples of those countries in threat are the sub-Saharan Africa and the former Soviet Union. Africa, which is largely excluded from the global economy. Manuel (1996) argues that Africa’s failure of e conomic development nation-state formation have led to declining incomes, appalling social conditions, widespread conflicts and vast refugee flows. Moreover, the rest of Asia, including the giants of India and China,