Today’s episode will be the last of a part of a 3-part series where I, your host, Nathan Greene, interview a group of my current professors here at Clark University.
I was first introduced to the concept of development in my economic growth and development course at St. John’s University. There, we explored how economic growth led to improvements in living standards that allowed people to achieve their full potential. This is what Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen calls his capability approach: when societies are able to produce the conditions necessary for people to flourish.
But, since coming to Clark, my idea of development has changed. I began to separate economic development from general development. Growth wasn’t always desirable, and could even lead to entrenched inequalities, environmental degradation, or accumulation by dispossession. So I want to ask you, what does development mean to you? Is it different from economic growth? Are the two mutually exclusive? And, should we even strive for economic growth?
To answer these questions, I’ve enlisted the help of three of my professors, who have helped shape my understanding of development. Today, we’ll be speaking with Dr. Dave Bell to get a metaphysical understanding of what development really means.
Dr. David Bell is an international education consultant trained in psychology. He is the founder and director of Ubuntu Consulting, an educational evaluation company, where he works as a program evaluation consultant, designing and assessing education initiatives both in the U.S. and globally. Before moving to the United States, Dr. Bell worked extensively in Southern Africa, focusing on community development and educational improvement. He has worked at numerous international NGOs focussing on social change, such as the Center for Cognitive Development, the Kellogg Foundation, and the Karuna Center for peace building. Much of Dr. Bell’s research explores transformational leadership, experiential learning, and the role of education in development. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Education and Counseling Psychology from the University of Port Elizabeth, his master’s in Education and Counseling Psychology from Rhodes University, and his doctorate of education in Education Policy, Research Administration, and Comparative Education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Dr. Bell joined the Henry George School to discuss what development means to different people, the difference between economic growth and development, and why people conceptualize these two things so differently.
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