This post explores key debates around the concept of development, its history, and its relevance in today’s world.
This guest post is by Professor Andy Sumner, Programme Leader for the online International Development MSc.
If you’re been thinking of studying international development, you’ve likely encountered the term development countless times. It appears in policy reports, academic journals, and political speeches. But pause for a moment: what actually is development? And who gets to decide what counts as development, and for whom?
This question lies at the heart of the online International Development MSc at King’s College London. In our very first module—Foundations of Development Theory and Management—students begin to unpack the long and often contested history of this idea.
Students explore how different thinkers and institutions have understood development over time: as economic growth, as industrial transformation, as poverty reduction, as expanded human capabilities, or, for some critics, as an extension of imperial control in new forms.
More than just GDP
In the early decades after World War II, development was widely equated with national economic growth, industrialisation, and rising GDP per capita. Countries in the Global South—many of them newly independent—were seen as “lagging behind” and seeking “catching up” with richer nations. Development economics, as it emerged in the 1950s and 60s, focused on how to shift economies from agriculture to industry, from informality to formality, from dependence to self-sufficiency.
But over time, the limitations of this narrow economic view became clear. Growth does not always reduce poverty. Industrialisation may even raise some inequalities, such as urban-rural differences.
This gave rise to new definitions of development. The “basic needs” approach of the 1970s shifted attention to essential services like health, education, and housing. In the 1990s, Amartya Sen’s ‘capabilities approach’ defined development as the expansion of people’s freedoms and opportunities to live the lives they value. The United Nations Development Programme adopted these ideas in its ‘Human Development Index’, combining income with health and education indicators.
Today, the term sustainable development reflects growing concern with environmental limits and climate change. But even then, there is disagreement: can any form of development be sustainable if depend on substantial energy use and mineral extraction?
A contested concept
One of key theme students explore during the MSc is that development is not politically neutral. This remind us that who defines development—and how—is also a question of power.
But this does not mean abandoning the idea of development altogether. What it does mean is being attentive to whose voices are heard, whose interests are served. During the MSc, students engage with Global South scholars and explore a full range of meanings and forms of development.
Systems transformation or systems fixing?
One way to think about these discussions is to frame debates along a spectrum. At one end is “systems transformation”: development as a fundamental restructuring of economic and political systems, often rooted in anti-colonial or redistributive ideals. At the other is “systems fixing”: a more technocratic view of development as improving governance, public services, or project implementation within existing systems.
Neither view is inherently right or wrong. But understanding the distinction helps assess development strategies more critically. When is incremental reform enough? When are more radical structural changes required? How to evaluate success? These are not just academic questions—they are central to development policy and practice today.
Why it matters for studying development—and beyond
The King's online International Development MSc is designed not to give students one answer, but to equip students with the tools to interrogate competing answers. Across modules—covering theory, political economy, inequality, methods, and a dissertation—students engage deeply with debates on the nature of development.
Students learn how to analyse policies, but also to question their assumptions. They engage with thinkers who call for reform, and others who call for revolution. And students are encouraged to formulate your own informed perspective.
So, what is development in the 21st century? The answer is: you decide—on where you stand, whom you ask, and what you value. If you want to explore these questions critically, and with global relevance, join our MSc:
