Socio-cultural paradigm of development

Abstract

Development planning and practices reflect the existence of a dominant paradigm of development accepted by a community of scholars and practitioners of the time. When we talk about a development paradigm, we are talking about a scientific approach to development that provides model problems and solutions to a community of scholars and practitioners (Rogers, 1983: 43). The study of paradigms is inherently related to scientific revolutions made possible through intellectual shifts also known as paradigm shifts. Thomas Kuhn (1970) in his landmark book, "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" has rightly pointed out that any given field of scientific research begins with a major breakthrough or reconceptualization - a revolutionary paradigm that provides a way of looking at certain phenomenon. Scientists and practitioners in any field and at any one time possess a set of shared beliefs about the phenomenon under study or in practice, and for that time the set constitutes the dominant paradigm. - Since 1945, development has become a major enterprise in nation- building. The dominant paradigm, then, was the achievement of political independence which, it was generally assumed, would make possible rapid economic development. For most, this meant capitalist development (Worsley, 1984:1). It was soon learnt that this political independence paradigm was not sufficient when viewed within the context of the world economic system. Sayogia dijelaskan bahawa keutamaan politik ada kaitannya dengan kemerdekaan politik, akan tetapi kemerdekaan politik belum lagi menjaminkan kedaulatan atau otonomi politik sesebuah negara selagi keutamaan politik itu ditentukan oleh kedudukan satelit negara tersebut dalam sistem ekonomi dunia. (Dahlan, 1986a:3)