1 Structural functionalism Structural functionalism, or in many

contexts simply functionalism, is a broad perspective in sociology and

anthropology which sets out to interpret society as a structure with
interrelated parts. Functionalism addresses society as a whole in
terms of the function of its constituent elements; namely norms,
customs, traditions and institutions. A common analogy,
popularized by Herbert Spencer, presents these parts of society as
"organs" that work toward the proper functioning of the "body" as a
whole.

[1] In the most basic terms, it simply emphasises "the effort to impute,
as rigorously as possible, to each feature, custom, or practice, its
effect on the functioning of a supposedly stable, cohesive system.

"[2] For Talcott Parsons, "functionalism" came to describe a

particular stage in the methodological development of social science,
rather than a specific school of thought.

 Theory The functionalist approach was implicit in the thought of the

original sociological positivist, Auguste Comte, who stressed the need
for cohesion after the social malaise of the French Revolution. It was
later presented in the work of Émile Durkheim, who developed a full
theory of organic solidarity, again informed by positivism, or the quest for
"social facts". Functionalism shares a history and theoretical affinity with
the empirical method. Latter sociological functionalists such as Niklas
Luhmann and Talcott Parsons, however, can be viewed as at least
partially antipositivist. [2] Whilst one may regard functionalism as a
logical extension of the organic analogies for society presented by
political philosophers such as Rousseau, sociology draws firmer
attention to those institutions unique to industrialised capitalist society
(or modernity). Functionalism also has an anthropological basis in the
work of theorists such as Marcel Mauss, Bronisław Malinowski and
Radcliffe-Brown. It is in Radcliffe-Brown's specific usage that the prefix
'structural' emerged.[4] Classical functionalist theories are defined by a
tendency towards biological analogy and notions of social evolutionism:
Functionalist thought, from Comte onwards, has looked particularly
 towards biology as the science providing the closest and most
compatible model for social science. Biology has been taken to provide
a guide to conceptualizing the structure and the function of social
systems and to analysing processes of evolution via mechanisms of
adaptation ... functionalism strongly emphasises the pre-eminence of the
social world over its individual parts (i.e. its constituent actors, human
subjects). – Anthony Giddens The Constitution of Society 1984, [5]

 Prominent Theorists

Herbert Spencer, a British philosopher famous for applying the

theory of natural selection to society, was in many ways the first true
sociological functionalist; [12] in fact, while Durkheim is widely
considered the most important functionalist among positivist theorists,
it is well known that much of his analysis was culled from reading
Spencer's work, especially his Principles of Sociology (1874-96).

 Talcott Parsons
was heavily influenced by Durkheim and Max Weber, synthesising
much of their work into his action theory, which he based on the system-
theoretical concept and the methodological principle of voluntary action.
He held that "the social system is made up of the actions of
individuals."[15] His starting point, accordingly, is the interaction
between two individuals faced with a variety of choices about how they
might act,[16] choices that are influenced and constrained by a number
of physical and social factors.

- Social norms were always problematic for Parsons, who never

claimed (as has often been alleged) that social norms were generally
accepted and agreed upon, should this prevent some kind of
universal law. Whether social norms were accepted or not was for
Parsons simply a historical question.
 - Parsons later developed the idea of roles into collectivities of roles
that complement each other in fulfilling functions for society.[16]
Some roles are bound up in institutions and social structures
(economic, educational, legal and even gender-based). These are
functional in the sense that they assist society in operating[20] and
fulfil its functional needs so that society runs smoothly.

 Robert K. Merton
was a functionalist and he fundamentally agreed with Parsons’ theory.
However, he acknowledged that it was problematic, believing that it was
too generalised [Holmwood, 2005:100]. Merton tended to emphasise
middle range theory rather than a grand theory, meaning that he was
able to deal specifically with some of the limitations in Parsons’ theory.
He identified 3 main limitations: functional unity, universal
functionalism and indispensability [Ritzer in Gingrich, 1999]. He also
developed the concept of deviance and made the distinction between
manifest and latent functions.

- Merton criticised functional unity, saying that not all parts of a

modern, complex society work for the functional unity of society.
Some institutions and structures may have other functions, and some
may even be generally dysfunctional, or be functional for some while
being dysfunctional for others. This is because not all structures are
functional for society as a whole.
- Merton also noted that there may be functional alternatives to the
institutions and structures currently fulfilling the functions of society.
This means that the institutions that currently exist are not
indispensable to society.
- Merton’s theory of deviance is derived from Durkheim’s idea of
anomie. It is central in explaining how internal changes can occur in
a system. For Merton, anomie means a discontinuity between
cultural goals and the accepted methods available for reaching
them.
 - Merton believes that there are 5 situations facing an actor.
• Conformity occurs when an individual has the means and desire to
achieve the cultural goals socialised into him.
• Innovation occurs when an individual strives to attain the accepted
cultural goals but chooses to do so in novel or unaccepted method.
• Ritualism occurs when an individual continues to do things as
proscribed by society but forfeits the achievement of the goals.
• Retreatism is the rejection of both the means and the goals of
society. Structural functionalism 6
• Rebellion is a combination of the rejection of societal goals and
means and a substitution of other goals and means.

 Almond and Powell In the 1970s,

Political scientists Gabriel Almond and Bingham Powell introduced a
structural-functionalist approach to comparing political systems. They
argued that, in order to understand a political system, it is necessary to
understand not only its institutions (or structures) but also their
respective functions. They also insisted that these institutions, to be
properly understood, must be placed in a meaningful and dynamic
historical context.

b. Feminist

B.1 Women in Development The term "women in development" came

into use in the early 1970s, after the publication of Ester Boserup's
Women's Role in Economic Development (1970). Boserup was the
first to systematically delineate on a global level the sexual division of
3 labour that existed in agrarian economies. She analysed the
changes that occured in traditional agricultural practics as societies
became modernized and examined the differential impact of those
changes on the work done by men and women. Finally, in areas of
intensive, irrigation-based cultivation, both men and women share in
agricultural tasks. Boserup's work was remarkable in that it was
based on analysis of data and evidence which had long been
available to social scientists and development planners, but she was
the first to systematically use gender as an independent variable in
her analysis. Boserup's research was later criticized by for its
oversimplification of the nature of women's work and roles (e.g.,
belleria and gtn i99i), but it was Seminal in focussing scholarly
attention on the sexual division of labour and the differential impact
by gender of development and modernization strategies.

The term "WID" was initially used by the women's committee of the
Washington, D.C. chapter of the Society for International
Development as part of a deliberate strategy to bring the new
evidence generated by Boserup and others to the attention of
American policymakers (Maguire 1984).

The Win perspective was closely linked with the modernization paradigm
which dominated mainstream thinking on international development during
the 1960s and into the 170s. in the 1950s and 160s, conventional wisdom
decreed that "modernization," which was usually equated with
industrialization, would improve the standards of living of the developing
countries. It was argued that through massive expansion of education
systems, stocks of well-trained workers and managers would emerge; this
in turn would enable the evolution of static, essentially agrarian societies
into industrialized and modernized ones. With the growth of the economies
of these countries, the benefits of modernization, i.e. better living
conditions, wages, education, adequate health services, etc. would "trickle
down" to all segments of the society. The policy prescription for this view,
which was further supported by the "human capital" approach of theorists
such as the American economist Theodore Schultz, was+ to inveet heavily
in the establishment of education systems and to develop strong cores of
workers and managers (1961). Women rarely, if ever, were considered as
a separate unit of analysis in the modernization literature of this period.

Under the rubric of WIQ, the position of women in various sectors of the
economy for the first time was studied separate from that of men. The
recognition that women's experience of development and of societal
change differed from that of men was institutionalized and it became
legitimate for research to focus specifically on women's experiences and
perceptions. First, the WID approach, as adopted by international agencies,
was solidly grounded in traditional modernization theory. It became an
acceptable area of focus, because it was Been as growing out of
modernization theory and the notion of development as a process of slow
but steady linear progress.

B.2. Women and Development The demarcation between the WID and
the WAD approaches is not entirely clear. Historically, the WAD approach
probably emerged in the second half of the 1970s. it draws some of its
theoretical base from dependency theory although dependency theory, for
the most part, like marxist analysis, has given remarkably little specific
attention to issues of gender subordination. The WAD approach grew out of
a concern with the explanatory limitations of modernization theory and its
proselytization of the idea that the exclusion of women from earlier
development strategies had 9 been an inadvertent oversight.

The WAD perspective focusses on the relationship between women and

development processes rather than purely on strategies for the integration
of women into development. Its point of departure is that women always
have been "integrated" Into their societies and that thi, work thty tar} both
Inrjide and outside the household is central to the. maintenance of those
societies, but that this Integration serves primarily to sustain existing
international structures of inequality.

Theoretically the WAD perspective recognizes the impact of class, but in

practical project design and implementation terms, it tends like WID,to
group women together without taking strong analytical note of to class, race
or ethnicity, all of which may exercise powerful influence on women's actual
social status.

WAD offers a more critical view of women's position than does WID but it
fails to undertake a full-scale analysis of the relationship between
patriarchy, differing modes of production and women's subordination and
oppression. The WAD perspective implicitly assumes that women's position
will improve if and when international structures become more equitable. in
the meantime, the under -representation of women in economic, political
and social structures still is identified primarily as a problem which can be
solved by carefully designed intervention strategies rather than by more
fundamental shifts in the social relations of gender.

A second weakness shared by the WAD approach is a singular

preoccupation with the productive sector at the expense of the reproductive
side of women's work and lives. WID/WAD intervention strategies
therefore have tended to concentrate on the development of income-
generating activities without taking into account the time burdens that such
strategies place on women 11 (Roberts 1979; McSweeney and
Freedman 1982). Development plann6r5 have tended to impose western
biases and assumptions on the south and the tasks performed by
women in the household, including those of social reproduction, are
assigned no economic value. The labour invested its family
maintenance, including childbearing and rearing, housework, care of
the ill and elderly, etc. has been considered to belong to the. "private"
domaine and outside the purview of development projects aimed at
enhancing income generating activities.

B.3. Gender and Development the gender and development approach

has emerged in the 1980s as an alternative to the earlier WID focus. It finds
its theoretical roots in socialist feminism and has bridged the gap left by
the. modernization theorists, linking the relations of production to the
relations of reproduction and taking into account all aspects of women's
lives (Jaquette 1982).

Kate Young (1987 ) has identified some of the key aspects of the GAD
approach. Perhaps most significantly, the GAD approach starts from a
holistic perspective, looking at "the totality of social organization,
economic and political life in order to understand the shaping of
particular aspects of society" (Young 1987: 2). CAD is not concerned
with women per se but with the social construction of gender and the
assignment of specific roles, responsibilities and expectations to women
and to men.

The GAD approach dues not focus singularly on productive or

reproductive aspects of women's (and men's) lives to the exclusion of the
other. It analyses the nature of women's contribution within the context of
work done both inside and outside the household, including non-commodity
production, and rejects the public/private dichotomy which commonly has
been used as a mechanism to undervalue family and household
maintenance work performed by women. Both the socialist/feminist and
GAD approaches give special attention to the oppression of women in the
family and enter the so-called "private sphere" to analyse the assumptions
upon which conjugal relationships are based. GAD also puts greater
emphasis on the participation of the state in promoting women's
emancipation, seeing it as the duty of the state to provide some of the
social services which women in many 1;3 countries have provided on a
private and individual basis.

The GAD approach goes further than WID and WAD in questioning the
underlying assumptions of current social, economic and political structures.
A GAD perspective leads not only to the design of intervention and
affirmative action strategies which will ensure that women are better
integrated into on-going development efforts. It leads, inevitably, to a
fundamental re-examination of social structures and institutions and,
ultimately, to the loss of power of entrenched elites, which 14 inevitably will
effect some women as well as men.

From Theory to Practice M rioted, WID, WAD and GAD each have led
and continue to lead to different types of development projects. However, it
should be emphasized that just as the WID/WAD/GAD approaches are not
entirely conceptually distinct it often is not possible to place a development
project squarely within a single theoretical framework. it i5 clear that the
general notion of focussing on women separate from men in at least some
projects has been accepted by a considerable number of Third World
governments, national and international development agencies, and in
many non-governmental organizations. However, to some extent this is a
reflection of political expediency and should not be interpreted as a sign of
fundamental commitment to the liberation of women. As will be discussed
below, while the rhetoric of "integrating women into development" has been
accepted by many institutions, the actual process of ensuring equity for
women even within those same institutions is still far from complete.

c. PEOPLE CENTERED DEVELOPMENT

D. participatory development

Participation, as an approach to development, began in the first instance,

as an approach intended to subvert development orthodoxy (Richards,
1995). It is not as modern a concept as most people think, having first
appeared in the development literature in the 1950s. This, and later
developments of participation, were the logical direction to take with
respect to so many failed, wasted and damaging top-down projects and
programmes. Participation became known as being synonymous with
democracy, equity and popular success.

The Politics of Participation In order to understand PA approaches to

development it is necessary to examine the role that participation plays at
all levels and its function therein. Rahnema (1996) says participation has
four functions:

1. Cognitive: Participation is aimed at finding new knowledge systems

and creating a new role and image for development. Development, as
conceived and designed by expatriate professionals using western
scientific knowledge systems, is often inappropriate. Local Knowledge
Systems (LKS) have often been ignored or rejected.

2. Political: Participation’s objective is to legitimise development as an

avenue for helping the poor, empowering the powerless and thereby
leading to equitable societies.
3. Instrumental: Quite simply participation is meant to ‘make things
(projects) work’ by providing new avenues and techniques. 4. Social:
Participation has given development discourse a new legitimacy and lease
of life. In popular terms it has given encouragement to a flagging industry.
Participation was the approach to bring development to the many and fulfil
basic needs.

Participation lends a completely different perspective to the traditional

development approach. It is a challenge and an affront to traditional,
topdown, bureaucracy-led, development. Although there has been
widespread adoption of participation in many aspects of development by a
wide range of actors (dominated by NGOs and academic institutions), it is
still, fundamentally, a threat to many existing organisations.

e. Anti-Oppressive

While anti-oppressive social work has become a central focus in theoretical

social work discussions, the impact of its principles in the field is still
marginal, especially in public social services. The few studies documenting
the implementation of anti-oppressive practices in service organisations
have typically focused on non-governmental agencies or grass-roots
community organisations. The influence of anti-oppressive discourse on the
public social services is virtually unknown. This article describes a case
study of a long-term, comprehensive change process that aimed to develop
a new service based on critical anti-oppressive principles in the public
social services. Using quantitative and qualitative data from extensive
evaluation studies carried out during different stages of the change
process, the article reveals the complexity of introducing anti-oppressive
social work principles within the public welfare system. Findings and
conclusions, far from categorical, call for a theoretical and practical debate
on the role of these principles at the hard core of social work practice: the
public services.
Sustainable development

- development that meets the needs Of

the present without compromising the ability of future generations to 
meet their own needs, is also discussed atlength.

The term  sustainable development  came into popular use after the

1987 report of the World Commission onEnvironment and
Development, popularly known as the Brundtland Report and the
Brundtland Commission,respectively. The report was largely a
response to the growing international environmental and
ecologicallobby. It defined sustainable development as ³development
that meets the needs of the present withoutcompromising the ability
of future generations to meet their own needs´ (WCED 1987, p. 43)

DEVELOPMENT-a state or condition-static

-Development is process of improving the quality of all human lives

with three equally important aspects

1. increases in availability and improvements in the distribution of

food, shelter, education, health, protection, etc. through relevant
growth processes

2. improvements in‘levels of living, including income, jobs, education,

etc. by creating conditions conducive to the growth through the
establishment of social, political and economic systems and
institutions which promote human dignity and respect

3. expansions in the range of economic and social choices available

to individuals and nations e.g. varieties of goods and services a
process or course of change- dynamic Long term process of
structural societal transformation Short-to-medium term outcome of
desirable targets dominant discourse of western modernity
 -isdefined as the capacity of a state to increase its human resource
with the aim of achieving higher outcome of production for the
satisfaction of the basic needs of majority of its citizens
and empowering them to make demands on the government

Modernization –

which suggests that the only way of attaining development is through

the means adopted
and exemplified by contemporary industrialized capitalist states.

economic growth-

IS by increasing a nation¶s total wealth, also enhances its

potential for reducing poverty and solving other social problems. But
history offers a number of examples where economicgrowth was not
followed by similar progress in human development. Instead growth
was achieved at the cost of greater inequality, higher unemployment,
weakened democracy, loss of cultural identity, or overconsumption of 
natural resources needed by future generations. As the links between
economic growth and social and environmental issues are better
understood, experts including economists tend to agree that this kind
of growth is inevitably unsustainable

CONCEPT AND DIMENSION OF DEVELOPMENT

Economic Growth-is an increase in the production of goods and services

over a specific period. To be most accurate, the measurement must
remove the effects of inflation. Economic growth creates more profit for
businesses. As a result, stock prices rise. That gives company’s capital to
invest and hire more employees. As more jobs are created, incomes rise.
Consumers have more money to buy additional products and services.
Purchases drive higher economic growth. For this reason, all countries
want positive economic growth. This makes economic growth the most
watched economic indicator.

Increased welfare and human development-Human development also

encompasses elements that constitute the critical issues of gender and
development. There are four major elements in the concept of human
Development such as productivity, equity, sustainability and
empowerment. As far as productivity is concerned people must be
enabled to increase their productivity and to participate fully in the
process of income generation and remunerative employment to
achieve higher economic growth, which is a subset of human
development models.

Productivity is not the only means to achieve welfare in a society. People

must have access to equal opportunities. All barriers to economic and
political opportunities must be eliminated so that people can participate in,
and benefit from, these opportunities. These benefits also need to be
distributed over generations. Access to opportunities must be ensured not
only for the present generation but for future generations as well. All
forms of capital such as physical, human and environmental should
be replenished. Besides, empowerment is a necessity as regards
human development is concerned. People must participate fully in the
decision making process that can shape their lives.

Modernization-refers to an attempt on the part of the people particularly

those who are custom-bound to adapt themselves to the present-time,
conditions, needs, styles and ways in general. It indicates a change in
people’s food habits, dress habits, speaking styles, tastes, choices,
preferences, ideas, values, recreational activities and so on. It is a thorough
going process of change involving values, norms, institutions and
structures .It implies an inherent change in the mode of life in a particular
direction for attaining modernity. Identify the social variables that contribute
to social progress and development of societies and seeks to explain the
process of social evolution.

Elimination of Dependency- is a sociological theory which holds that

economic events in history have encouraged developing countries to
depend upon the support of more advanced nations. This dependence
prevents developing nations from fully creating institutions and
infrastructure necessary for their full transition into industrial nations. This
process can take many forms for the developing country.  looks at the
unequal power relations that have developed as a result of colonialism. In
the colonial period, newly industrialized colonial nations expanded into
areas that were unclaimed by other colonial powers. The result was that
the natural resources of less-developed nations were used to fuel the
colonial nations' factories. The methods used by imperial powers often
involved direct military and political control.

Sustainable Development

- Defined as development that is likely to achieve lasting satisfaction of

human needs and improvement of the quality of life and encompasses:
-Help for the very poorest who are left with no option but to destroy their
environment to survive
- Idea of self-reliant development with natural resource constraints
- Cost effective development using different economic criteria to the
traditional –i.e. development should not degrade environment.
- People centered activities are necessary- human beings are the
resources in the concept

Development as History

-1940-50s- Keynesian growth theory -process of capital of formation is

determined by savings and investment

- Domestic savings are chanelled to productive investments such as

manufacturing which result –usually-in high productivity

-Growth is market driven as income levels rise, savings rises and frees
capital for alternative investment