Overdevelopment: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Concept in international economics, associated with overconsumption's downsides}}

In [[international economics]], '''overdevelopment''' refers to a way of seeing [[global inequality]] and [[pollution]] that focuses on the negative consequences of [[overconsumption|excessive consumption]]. It exists as the mutually constitutive counterpart to the more commonly known concept of '[[underdevelopment]]'.

{{about|the general concept of economic overdevelopment|the effects of land use overdevelopment|land use|the effects of excessive urban land use|urban sprawl}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}In [[international economics]], '''overdevelopment''' refers to a way of seeing [[global inequality]] and [[pollution]] that focuses on the negative consequences of [[overconsumption|excessive consumption]]. It exists asis the mutuallyopposite constitutive counterpartextreme to the more commonly known concept of '[[underdevelopment]]'.

In mainstream [[development theory]], the existence'underdevelopment' of 'underdeveloped' states, regions or cultures is seen as a problem that needs to be solved. States, regions, culturesPopulations and peopleeconomies are considered 'underdeveloped' in thatif they do not adhereachieve tothe levels of wealth through the [[Eurocentricindustrialisation]] idealsassociated ofwith the [[rationalityIndustrial Revolution]], [[Socialand progress|progress]]the ideals of education, rationality, and [[modernity]] that are associated with the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]]. In contrast, the framework of overdevelopment shifts the focus to the 'developed' countries of the [[North–South divide in the World|global North]], asking "questions about why excessive consumption amongst the affluent is not also seen foremost as an issue of development".<ref name="power">[http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/~courses/PoliticalScience/357B1/documents/MarcusPowerAntiRacismDeconstructionOverdevelopment.pdf Power, Marcus, "Anti-racism, deconstruction and 'overdevelopment' ", ''Progress in Development Studies'', 2006; 6; p. 27]</ref>

By questioning how and why uneveneconomic development is producedunevenly indistributed around the world, one can evaluate the global North’sNorth's role and responsibility as “overdevelopers” in producing global inequality. According to various surveys, consumptionthe isWestern seeminglyconsumer notlifestyle makingfails to make people notably happy, butwhile rathercausing increasingincreasingly the West'sdire [[ecological footprint|ecological degradation]].<ref>Barkin, Samuel J. "Trade, Sustainable Development and the Environment", ''Global Environmental Politics'' 3:4, November 2003</ref> Overdevelopment hasis a hugecrucial impactfactor onfor the environment, the social realm, [[human rights]], and the [[World economy|global economy]]. {{Citation needed|date=May 2011}}

In mainstream [[development theory]], the existence of 'underdeveloped' states, regions or cultures is seen as a problem that needs to be solved. States, regions, cultures and people are considered 'underdeveloped' in that they do not adhere to [[Eurocentric]] ideals of [[rationality]], [[Social progress|progress]], and [[modernity]] that are associated with the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]]. In contrast, the framework of overdevelopment shifts the focus to the 'developed' countries of the [[North–South divide in the World|global North]], asking "questions about why excessive consumption amongst the affluent is not also seen foremost as an issue of development".<ref name="power">[http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/~courses/PoliticalScience/357B1/documents/MarcusPowerAntiRacismDeconstructionOverdevelopment.pdf Power, Marcus, "Anti-racism, deconstruction and 'overdevelopment' ", ''Progress in Development Studies'', 2006; 6; p. 27]</ref>

By questioning how and why uneven development is produced in the world, one can evaluate the global North’s role and responsibility as “overdevelopers” in producing global inequality. According to various surveys, consumption is seemingly not making people notably happy, but rather increasing the West's [[ecological footprint]].<ref>Barkin, Samuel J. "Trade, Sustainable Development and the Environment", ''Global Environmental Politics'' 3:4, November 2003</ref> Overdevelopment has a huge impact on the environment, the social realm, [[human rights]], and the [[World economy|global economy]]. {{Citation needed|date=May 2011}}

==Origins==

[[Leopold Kohr]] published ''The Overdeveloped Nations: The Diseconomies Of Scale'' in 1977. Over development is characterised by [[hyperconsumption]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kohr|first1=Leopold|title=The Overdeveloped Nations: The Diseconomies Of Scale|date=1977|publisher=Christopher Davies Publishers|___location=Swansea}}</ref>

==Counterproductivity==

[[Ivan Illich]] describes a similar process by which industry develops a technology past the point of usefulness, so much so that industry's efforts effectively sabotage its stated aims. Thus, according to Illich, intensive schooling stupefies, high speed transport immobilizes, and hospitals kill, among others. <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.soilandhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/0303critic/030313illich/Frame.Illich.Ch6.htm|title=Ivan Illich. Medical Nemesis. Chapter 6: Specific Counterproductivity|website=www.soilandhealth.org|access-date=2020-01-26}}</ref> Illich believed that past this critical threshold, the product of industry served to deprive people of their native ability to subsist, to learn, move and heal autonomously, leaving them more ignorant, isolated and sick than if industry had not reached beyond the threshold of overdevelopment. Decay in the human condition appears because under industrial overdevelopment, "people are trained for consumption rather than for action, and at the same time their range of action is narrowed." Counterproductivity has been called "probably Illich’sIllich's most original contribution".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://infed.org/mobi/ivan-illich-deschooling-conviviality-and-lifelong-learning/|title=Ivan Illich: deschooling, conviviality and lifelong learning {{!}} infed.org|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-01-25}}</ref>

==Environmental implications==

Excessive consumption causes negative environmental impacts in both 'overdeveloped' and 'underdeveloped' regions. "Findings indicate that there are significant differences across countries of the world in the consumption quality of life of its citizens. Using the [[Human Development Index]], which is composed of longevity, knowledge, and standard of living, data reveal that lives worsen from west to east, with the worst conditions in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, environmental damage estimates, as determined by the EDI composite developed specifically for this investigation, demonstrate that wealthier nations create [[environmental degradation]] that is consistent with their higher consumption patterns rather than their absolute numbers."<ref>Hill, Ronald Paul, Peterson, Robert M., Dhanda, Kanwalroop Kathy, "Global Consumption and Distributive Justice: A Rawlsian Perspective", ''Human Rights Quarterly'' 23 (2001) 171-187171–187, 2001.</ref>

===Post Colonialcolonial===

The legacy of [[colonialism]] can be said to play a role in why overdevelopment has been largely unconsidered due to the "almost exclusive focus on 'underdevelopment' and the underdeveloped world that has characterized development studies and associated disciplines for so long needs".<ref name="power"/>

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Indigenous movements such as the [[Aloha ʻAina]] movement and the [[Zapatista Army of National Liberation]] movement, often have their own concepts of development, overdevelopment, and [[sustainability]]. Their versions of these concepts overlap with those of environmental activism, but differ in many important ways, many of which relate to the ideal interrelation of humans and environment in the particular places in question.{{Citation needed|date=February 2008}}

== See also ==

* [[Degrowth]]

==References==