Views on Development: The Local and the Global in India and Pakistan

Kristoffel Lieten’s book on the development debate is a timely intervention that takes into account what people themselves conceive of as development. In an era when Third World policy makers and ideologues are obsessed with abstract notions of ‘growth’ and ‘information revolutions’ under pressure from liberalizing policies of the imperialist world, or the politics of ‘cultural difference’ which argue for ‘different needs’ of the Third World, Lieten argues that the only viable model of development for these countries is one that stands on the strength of democracy and social justice. His field studies on population growth and family planning, fertility, child labour and schooling are a rich source of information on what people themselves want of their governments, and the very important conclusion that people still look up to the state and governments for their well being, and are least impressed with the markets and NGOism that today’s developmentists are obsessed with. He also underlines how much there is in common between India and Pakistan in terms of popular aspirations and development issues.