Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
INTRODUCTION
We have seen enough in
Key Concepts in Development
to know that the
disciplines of development geography, and development studies more
generally, represent dynamic fields that are changing in response to
world events and changes in global economic, political and social cir-
cumstances. While it is not possible to chart all such dynamic contem-
porary processes in this final section of the topic, a number of such
pressing themes and associated issues are discussed. The section starts
with an overview of the intersections between culture and human
rights, and then proceeds to the consideration of civil society, social
capital and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). In the final two
chapters, the perspective remains essentially global, covering the impli-
cations of global migration and transnationalism, and the possibilities
of global taxation meeting the pressing development needs of the global
population.
The complex relationships existing between culture, development
and human rights are discussed in Chapter 5.1 and the account analy-
ses how these play out in relation to rights-based approaches to devel-
opment. Understandings of 'culture' have shifted over time according to
different ideological and theoretical approaches to development. Culture
has become increasingly prominent in recent development agendas, as
has the discourse of human rights, underpinned by the international
legal framework of human rights led by the United Nations. The chap-
ter traces the ways that different understandings of culture and the
rights discourse have informed development interventions. It examines
the contested nature of each of these concepts and analyses the poten-
tial, tensions and challenges associated with rights-based approaches
to development in relation to 'culture'. The polarized nature of the
universalism-cultural relativism debate demonstrates the need for a
more dynamic understanding of culture in order to fulfil people's eco-
nomic, social and cultural rights and to foster human flourishing and
well-being.
Chapter 5.2 explores an important set of interrelated concepts that
stem from the belief that people must play a central role in the develop-
ment interventions that impact upon their lives. The growth of
