ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 explores the scope of how development is conceptualized within social science and practitioner literature. Acknowledging that the field is still largely driven by a focus on economic growth as an aim of development (Commission on Growth, 2008), the chapter also identifies contemporary reconceptions of development. The chapter highlights three main arguments related to the conceptualization of development. The first is that development is “equality” (Baud, 2016), the second is that development is a political process (Hickey et al., 2015), and the third conceptualization is capabilities models of development (Sen, 1999). This chapter seeks to disentangle the meaning of development and its meaning in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) era.
