The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are currently at the crossroads of major structural economic and political changes. This book provides a comparative analysis of the national innovation systems of the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and the trends in each of their science, technology and innovation policies. It makes use of an analytical framework, the concept 'systems of innovation and competence building' developed within 'Globelics' (the Global Research Network on the Economics of Learning, Innovation and Capacity Building Systems).
ABSTRACT The theory of “modernisation” and the concept of “development education” have moved over the past decades from Neoliberalism to a future digital paradigm. With the advent of logarithmic development in the digital environment over the past 20 to 30 years, the concept and emerging theories about development education require a more robust assessment and exploration. The definition and the very nature of modernisation, as well as the possibilities of modernisation theory, in relation to the knowledge economy, will be discussed by drawing on the concepts of the four elements by David Suzuki (Environmentalist). Market fundamentalism is probably one of the biggest impediments to modernisation and social reform. For many years, during the past decades, this thinking was introduced and used to bring about cultural, social, economic and political change in many developing countries with the focus on markets and market reform. Neoliberalism is now seen by many as an effort to promote personal and corporate gain in the industrial world as we know it today. Collaboration, the freedom to contextualise, and ‘free’ and ‘open’ education have moved to the forefront to promote change. Some have argued that Neoliberalism is promoting self-interest, expanding individual property rights, promoting rigorous market exchange, and building global free trade. This view has been rigorously debated and contested by many different leaders, researchers, academia, and students as resources and education have become more open, and the threat to the biosphere is identified. This essay will explore the new paradigm of openness and digital futures. The possible role it could play in future global education development and modernisation of the economies around the globe is the focus. The Commons will be considered, the Creative Commons (intellectual property rights) and the P2P (Peer-to-Peer) foundation is a force to be reckoned with. The possibilities of this discourse - as an alternative discourse to neoliberalism- has already profoundly impacted development. It is this digital framework of P2P collaboration that will be considered. It is the work of the commons - as tools for modernisation - and the knowledge economy, that will be the centre of discussion in this essay. The possible creative and innovative actions to promote global development education and modernisation, harnessing the digital revolution of the knowledge economy and the development of global citizenship will be explored as a practical and new paradigm. THE PRACTICAL INTENT OF THIS ESSAY: From a practical perspective, the work of the FLOK Society in Ecuador, which endeavours to modernise and develop the existing economy with ‘tools’ for creative and innovative change (development education), will be looked at. This pioneering agent for economic change in South America started in 2013. Excerpts and references to the blog posts of a member of the FLOK Society are included on activities in Ecuador as it unfolds to explain the process of modernisation in Ecuador, more on this later. KEYWORDS Global Development Education, Knowledge Economy, Creative Economy, Development Paradigm, Openness, Radical Openness, Modernisation, Neoliberalism, Market Economy, Future Education, Social Change, Bio-Politics, Digital Futures, P2P Foundation, Peer-to-Peer, The Commons, Creative Commons, Collaboration, Global Citizenship, Hacking, Crowdsourcing, Creative Approach, Innovative Approach. Book details: Word Count: 5955 Pages: 32 APA Referencing
First published in 1984, Michael Redclift’s book makes the global environmental crisis a central concern of political economy and its structural causes a central concern of environmentalism. Michael Redclift argues that a close analysis of the environmental crisis in the South reveals the importance of the share of resources obtained by different social groups. The development strategies based on the experiences and interests of Western capitalist countries fail to recognise that environmental degradation in the South is a product of inequalities in both global and local economic relations and cannot be solved simply by applying solutions borrowed from environmentalism in the North. The key to understanding the South’s environmental problems lies in the recognition that structural processes – markets, technology, state intervention – are also a determining influence upon the way natural resources are used. Through his review of Europe’s Green Movement, contemporary breakthroughs in biotechnology and information systems and recent feminist discourse, Michael Redclift has enlarged the compass of the environmental debate and produced a book which should serve as a benchmark in future discussions of development and the environment. It will be of importance to students in a range of disciplines, within development studies, geography, ecology and the social sciences.
More than half of the world's farmers are women. They are the majority of the poor, the uneducated and are the first to suffer from drought and famine. Yet their subordination is reinforced by well-meaning development policies that perpetuate social inequalities. During the 1975-85 United Nations Decade for the Advancement of Women their position actually worsened. This book analyses three decades of policies towards Third World women. Focusing on global economic and political crises - debt, famine, militarization, fundamentalism - the authors show how women's moves to organize effective strategies for basic survival are central to an understanding of the development process.
Can non-governmental organisations contribute to more socially just, alternative forms of development? Or are they destined to work at the margins of dominant development models determined by others? Addressing this question, this book brings together leading international voices from academia, NGOs and the social movements. It provides a comprehensive update to the NGO literature and a range of critical new directions to thinking and acting around the challenge of development alternatives. The book's originality comes from the wide-range of new case-study material it presents, the conceptual approaches it offers for thinking about development alternatives, and the practical suggestions for NGOs. At the heart of this book is the argument that NGOs can and must re-engage with the project of seeking alternative development futures for the world's poorest and more marginal. This will require clearer analysis of the contemporary problems of uneven development, and a clear understanding of the types of alliances NGOs need to construct with other actors in civil society if they are to mount a credible challenge to disempowering processes of economic, social and political development.
This book brings together a collection of essays that discuss alternative development and its relevance for local/global processes of marginalization and change in the Global South. Alternative development questions who the producers of development knowledges and practices are, and aims at decentring development and geographical knowledge from the Anglo-American centre and the Global North. It involves resistance to dominant political-economic processes in order to further the possibilities for non-exploitative and just forms of development. By discussing how to unravel marginalization and voice change through alternative methods, actors and concepts, the book provides useful guidance on understanding the relationship between theory and practice. The main strength of the book is that it calls for a central role for alternative development in the current development discourse, most notably related to justice, rights, globalization, forced migration, conflict and climate change. The book provides new ways of engaging with alternative development thinking and making development alternatives relevant.
Written by one of the leading authorities in the field, the Second Edition of this successful book: Situates students in the expanding field of development theory Provides an unrivalled guide to the strengths and weaknesses of competing theoretical approaches Explains key concepts Examines the shifts in theory Offers an agenda for the future In this book, the author brings a huge range of experience and knowledge about the relationship between the economically advanced and the emerging, developing nations.
