ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates that economic activity cannot be separated from cultural concepts, values and norms. Modernisation theory was also widely put into practice, especially in the application of Western technology, production and management systems. Liberal modernisation grew out of the theory of modernisation when it came to be realised that development, strictly defined as economic growth, was not reducing poverty. People-centred development includes issues of social justice, human rights and democracy. Today populism is originating not from the West but from the Third World itself in a wide variety of indigenous moves to define new models of development, as well as in the writings of Western academics such as Chambers. The MIRAB model was identified first by studying the smaller Pacific countries with few resources. It must be noted that Samoa is ‘middle-sized’ and does have greater potential to operate according to the conventional capitalist models of development.
