Changing meanings of development : Dudley Seers : an intellectual biography

Abstract

Against the background of the disappointing record of development since the Second World War, this study explores its history through an intellectual biography of Dudley Seers, a British pioneer in the field. It places special emphasis on the changing perspectives on development reflected in his work, tracing where possible the reasons for these, and addresses his career in three main phases:

(1) `From Colonial Economics to Development Studies' includes coverage of his time as economic adviser in New Zealand, Burma, the Gold Coast, Malta, and the Caribbean in the 1940s and 1950s; work for the Economic Commission for Latin America and contact with the structuralist school of development in the late 1950s; and work for the Economic Commission for Africa during the early 1960s, when he headed a mission to Zambia. Seers was then optimistic that planned economic growth and import substitution industrialisation programmes, assisted by international financial and technical aid could bring about widespread development in `underdeveloped areas'.

(2) `The Meaning of Development' covers the period 1964-72 when he headed the Economic Planning Staff at the new Ministry of Overseas Development (set up by the Labour Party) and was then appointed first permanent Director of the Institute of Development Studies, during which time he took a prominent part in the ILO World Employment Programme in Colombia, Ceylon and Kenya. As it became increasingly apparent that global inequalities continued to increase, Seers criticised the emphasis on growth as an indicator and target of development, arguing instead that it should be defined in terms of social targets - particularly the elimination of poverty, unemployment and inequality. The perversion of the growth process he attributed in large part to the import and emulation of inappropriate consumption patterns and production techniques, but while urging developing countries to adopt more appropriate techniques he still saw the need for international co-operation in the task.

(3) `The New Meaning of Development' covers Seers' very full career as a fellow at IDS from 1972 until his death in 1983.

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