Introduction to Development Studies

This textbook helps students understand the fundamentals of development studies by adopting a multi-disciplinary approach.

Introduction to Development Studies presents a balanced mix of economic, social, political, cultural and administrative premises of development and analyses its theoretical and practical dimensions.  Through preceding and contemporary examples from developing countries, it provides a holistic understanding of development, effectively demonstrating how it differs from economic growth.

Beginning with development theories, paradigms and actors involved in the development process, this book goes on to explain the concepts of development governance, management, communication and planning. It would prove to be an indispensable companion to students of economics, sociology, political science, public administration, public policy and other social science disciplines.

Key Features

• Presents an exhaustive treatment of ‘development’ from theoretical and practical perspectives

• Covers three key aspects of contemporary development—development governance, development administration and development communication

• Provides accessible and thematic explanation of the core concepts to engage students with/from various disciplinary backgrounds

B. K. Pattanaik is currently a professor at the School of Extension and Development Studies in the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi. He is the editor of the Political Economy Journal of India. He is also on the editorial board of the Journal of Economics and Development Studies, American Research Institute for Policy Development, New York; Asian the Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Oyama, Japan, and the European Journal of Education Studies, Bucharest, Romania. Professor Pattanaik holds master’s degree in economics, MA in human resource management and PhD in economics. He has more than 25 years of research and teaching experience to his credit in various national-level organizations, e.g. National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), New Delhi; National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW), New Delhi; and Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), an ICSSR Centre, Chandigarh. He has worked with and completed 26 projects sponsored by various international agencies such as the World Bank, USAID, the Ford Foundation, UNICEF, the European Commission, UNFPA, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as well as projects sponsored by various government departments such as the Department of Panchayati Raj, Rural Development, Health and Family Welfare, Water and Sanitation, Agriculture and Planning Commission of Government of India. He has also completed projects and studies sponsored by various departments of state governments of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh in different areas of development such as drinking water and sanitation, border areas, migrant labour, contract farming, studies on scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, health and family welfare, panchayati raj, education, rural development and decentralized planning, women and child welfare and preparation of district development plans.

So far Professor Pattanaik has authored three books, co-authored four books and edited one book. He has more than 130 publications (research papers, articles, editorial column and book reviews) in various national and international journals. He has also been guiding PhD students in different areas of development studies, and six candidates have already been awarded PhD Degrees. He has been instrumental in designing MA programme in development studies and PG diploma programme in urban planning and development. He has visited countries such as USA, China, Spain and Finland and attended international seminars, conferences and study tours. He has conducted an international conference on diaspora and development at IGNOU in which more than 100 participants from 25 different countries participated. Professor Pattanaik has been awarded the Distinguished Leadership Award in 1999 by the American Biographical Institute, USA, and the International Man of the Millennium by the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, London.