Document Type : Research Paper

Author

• Rostam Saberifar (Translator)

Member of Faculty, Payam Noor University

Abstract

Generally, great ideas are simple ideas. However, the specific analysis of any matter of importance is necessarily accompanied by complexity and difficulty. The fundamental concepts that lie behind a powerful paradigm are relatively understandable; opinions and beliefs that influence millions of people and guide the politics of nations (in the field of social sciences) should be accepted by all ordinary people of the community, not just the elite. Only such ideas form institutions from local to world level and become part of human heritage, that is, the principles and framework in which our life is defined. In the early part of the second half of the 20th century, there was such a concept of development. At that time, the meaning we already assume for development was rarely observed. The imperialist and colonial structure that dominated the world in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries did not provide much opportunity for social and economic progress in the regions today called developing countries. The colonial territories only served as the main supplier of cheap raw materials and labor, including supply of slaves (in the middle of the nineteenth century).
In the richest countries of Europe, North America and Japan, economic growth was largely based on goals such as advancement and modernization. On the other hand, little attention was paid to issues such as equality and social justice. Fatal poverty, weakness and lack of social security system in Europe and the United States during the Great Depression showed that even in these countries, politics (and planning) is not in line with the needs of the public. At the end of the Second World War, collective understanding of issues and policies has evolved. The improvement of economic and social conditions for the majority became the main concern of states, and by eliminating the system of colonial relations, this situation was extended to poorer nations as well. Economic development with its social and institutional attachments in politics and theorization, as well as the Cold War between the two capitalist and communist poles assumed important positions, as a great historian of economics, has stated: "Economic Development in the contemporary meaning of the word did not exist until the 1940s. This concept, with reference to what is already assumed by it, refers to areas and countries that have developed less than others. On this basis, it is commonly believed that these countries should develop by some way if they are not to become poorer than they are, compared with other countries".