An open systems critique of the macro theories of development

Abstract

This study is geared at an open systems critique of the macro theories of development. It is \nhighlighted in this study that we are living through the realities of the open systems, and yet \nmuch of development thought is based on closed systems philosophies, principle and \nideologies. The first chapter gives an orientation into the origins of both the closed systems \nand open systems paradigms respectively. Included in this orientation chapter, is the \nliterature review of the various research contributions of the major trends in development \nthought. The second chapter expands on the evolution of the closed systems paradigm and \nits influences on development thought. This chapter further explains the attendant \nphilosophies, principles and ideologies that underlie the closed systems paradigm. The third chapter captures the open systems paradigm and its influences on contemporary \ndevelopment discourse. Further to the discussion on the closed systems paradigm, the \nchapter elaborates on the philosophies, principles and processes that underlie this paradigm. \nThe fourth chapter is on a discussion of trends in development thinking, traced from the \ntraditional, through the medieval to the modern, right up to the contemporary. This entails \ntracing the theory to its ontological background right up to its implications for social reality in \ncontemporary development thought and experience. The fifth chapter is on the open systems \ncritique of the trends in development thinking, while the sixth chapter revisits the open \nsystems paradigm and its implications for development thought. In the seventh chapter is the \nrecapitulation of the findings in the study and recommendations for both development thought and practice.

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