Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
collection of kelp for its ash used in soap and glass-making; and in the later
twentieth century, a boom based on the use of hydroelectric power for aluminium,
and local planted forest for pulp and paper-making, both of which have now been
severely restricted because of competition from other countries.
Summarizing the above, it is perhaps a fundamental feature of remote regions
that they have few alternatives to the single product economy, and so the seesaw
conditions of boom followed by decline are inevitable. This certainly justifies
them in having special policies, from whatever source. Whether it also implies
separate policy-making, at the local or regional level, is less clear.
Human groups and separate interests
Another kind of basis for separate organization of developmental programmes
lies in the human groups occupying regions, which may have distinct and
different aims for their development. In the early chapters, the case that
development has many dimensions other than the economic was reviewed, and
emphasis put on the social aspects. The point about economic development is that
it has tended to be unidimensional itself (i.e. movement towards universal
consumption of standardized goods and services). If development is understood
in this way, there is no good case for separate development as there is a common
aim for all people. Once separate aims are conceded, though, the case becomes
clearer. Stöhr & Tödtling (1978) examined this matter in some detail, building on
the ideas of sociologists and psychologists, and discussed three kinds of
dimension in the pursuit of human happiness, apart from the purely personal
ones. These three dimensions they described in terms of concepts of “having”
(broadly speaking the economic dimension, material possessions), of “being”
(status or prestige accorded to the person within their society), and “loving” (the
friendship or goodwill between members of any human group). From this
analysis, and from the discussions in Chapters
1
and
2
, it becomes apparent that
the social dimension (which may be taken to include the being and loving
dimensions of Stöhr & Tödtling) has great importance.
From this it is possible to go on to claim that social awareness, strength of
group feeling and the rewards it brings, will be highest where there is some
autonomy of the local society, including the organization of development efforts.
Strongly organized societies and groups have emerged in many parts of the
world and in different contexts, but they are evidently favoured where top-down
controls are limited and not too severe. This line of thought obviously inspired
Stöhr's later espousal of Development from Below (1981). At the extreme, in
dictatorial environments, such as that imposed in the Soviet Union over most of
this century, the only organizations of society were those endorsed by the state,
and people suffered the loss of alternative expressions of social coherence. In
less extreme situations such as in Latin American dictatorships, the family or
extended family has remained as an important social unit, but one with obvious
limitations because of its small size and scope. But in this latter region, the
