ABSTRACT

In the early years of the twenty-first century, human well-being (including individual civil and political liberties), as well as meeting the physical and material needs of human society, are accepted concerns for development, both as outcomes and conditions for sustained progress (World Bank 1998; UNDP 2000). Issues of egalitarian development, democracy, participation, ethics and human rights suffuse development theory, the pronouncements of major development institutions such as the United Nations and the World Bank, and the activities of new social movements alike. In short, the practice and discourses of development have become more morally informed, particularly since the late 1980s.