1.2 Looking at development: context and practice
1.2.1 Different contexts
We've already indicated that we see ‘development’ as a global phenomenon, not confined to the ‘developing world’, but happening anywhere and everywhere. It's all over the place, something we're all caught up in. But for all that it's global, it is also intensely local. In different contexts development proceeds differently, shaped by the specifics of local history and the specifics of the ‘actors’ – the individuals and organisations involved. All the ‘problems’ that ‘development’ is intended to address – poverty, disease, unemployment, environmental degradation, conflict, and so on – play themselves out differently in different places. And the ‘solutions’ need to be fashioned in ways that respect the specifics of time and place and people.
So, whilst we look to present you with a framework for understanding development interventions and the problems they address, we also ask you to look at the specifics of the development processes you are concerned with.