ABSTRACT
Problems of emerging states, which are the focus of the field of development studies, have primarily been analysed from an economic viewpoint. Further-more, development has frequently been approached in Western perspectives in that states are seen to progress towards a 'developed' status as their social, economic, and political institutions draw closer to Western models. Both these assumptions are now severely questioned. Political, social, and educational development are seen as being as significant as economic development, while the manner in which such development is achieved may be shaped by culturally specific factors. In a similar manner, aid programmes for developing nations have focused on the natural sciences and technology to the exclusion of the social sciences, while the few attempts that have been made to develop a social science capacity in new states have shown a strong predilection for introducing methodologies and institutional forms purely on the grounds that these have been successful in more advanced contexts.
