Oxfam introduction to development

Although I fundamentally disagree with the views of Duncan Green, the head of research at Oxfam GB, he always proves a lucid exponent of the mainstream approach to development. Therefore anyone interested in the subject could benefit from looking at the Powerpoint slides for eight introductory lectures on development he gave to students at the University of Notre Dame.

Interesting that Green’s starting point is risk and vulnerability. This leads smoothly to the conclusion that the poor need protection – with non-governmental organisations such as Oxfam playing a key role in helping them achieve it. My approach, in contrast, would focus on the need to achieve economic growth and strive for global equality in the sense of raising the level of the poor to western levels of affluence.