This book is designed primarily to help
readers broaden their knowledge of
global issues, gain insight into their
country's situation in a global context,
and understand the problems of sustainable
development- both national
and global. Because development is a
comprehensive process involving economic
as well as social and environmental
changes, this book takes an
interdisciplinary approach. It attempts
to describe and explain the complex
relationships among various aspects of
development, including population
growth, economic growth, improvements
in education and health, urbanization,
and globalization. Teachers,
students, and learners of all ages are
invited to explore these relationships
even further using the statistical data
and theoretical concepts presented in
this book.
The book starts with three difficult
questions: What is development? How
can we compare the levels of development
achieved by different countries?
And what does it take to make development
sustainable? The authors do not
claim to have all the answers to these
and other questions posed directly or
indirectly in the book. Instead, students
together with their teachers are encouraged
to suggest their own answers by
analyzing and synthesizing the information
presented here. They should engage
in open discussions of problems that
have no simple solutions, in order to formulate
their own opinions and support
them with objective data and rational
arguments.
Many of the answers inevitably involve
value judgments, which makes absolute
objectivity impossible. Even the
authors have differing views on some
of the issues addressed here, but they
have based this book on one fundamental
idea: development should be a
tool for improving the lives of all
people. It is up to readers to define for
themselves the meaning of a better life
and to prioritize the goals of
development.
Perhaps, the main strength of this book
is that it is based on abundant statistical
data for most countries, presented in
data tables at the end of the book as
well as in figures, maps, and references
in the text. Statistics can be powerful
tools for learning. They can help paint
a more accurate picture of reality, identify
issues and problems, and suggest
possible explanations and solutions. But
statistics have their limitations too.
They are more reliable for some countries
than for others. And because it
takes a long time to collect and verify
some statistics, they may be out of date
before they are even published. The statistics
presented here were the most
recent available when this book was
written.
It is also important to remember that
many aspects of development cannot be
accurately measured by statistics.
Examples include people's attitudes, feelings,
values, ideas, freedoms, and cultural
achievements. Thus statistical data
can tell us only part of the story of
development- but it is an important
part.
Comparing statistical data on your
country with those on other countries
can be extremely revealing for several
reasons. First, seeing one's country in a
global context and learning how it is
different from or similar to other
countries can improve understanding
of the country's status and of its development
prospects and priorities.
Second, because the economies of the
world are becoming increasingly interdependent,
development processes in
all countries are becoming more interrelated.
The authors hope that this
book will help satisfy popular demand
for information about national and
global development processes and contribute
to a better understanding of
sustainability issues, from local to
international.
A word of caution is warranted here.
The authors hope that a better understanding
of the complex interrelations
among the economic, social, and environmental
aspects of development will
help readers avoid oversimplified conclusions
based on just one or two statistical
indicators. Readers would be wise to
explore each issue in more detail by finding
additional data, questioning their
accuracy, and taking into account social
processes that might be hard to measure
and quantify.
