IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/eurjdr/v35y2023i3d10.1057_s41287-022-00516-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Defining and Measuring Human Development: A Genealogical Analysis of the UNDP’s Human Development Reports

Author

Listed:
  • Juan Telleria

    (University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU)

Abstract

In the early 1990s, the UNDP’s human development approach became very influential in international development debates. Since then, the UNDP publishes yearly global Human Development Reports, where the Human Development Index of every country is listed and ranked. This article conducts a Foucauldian genealogical analysis of the UNDP’s understanding of human beings and development and finds two noteworthy aspects. Firstly, the calculation and publication of the Human Development Index reproduce the power–knowledge technique Foucault called ‘the examination’. Secondly, the UNDP implicitly reproduces the anthropological assumptions of nineteenth-century British Victorian evolutionist sociology. In this way, the article exposes the implicit power dynamics that the Human Development Reports of the UNDP subtly reproduce. The article concludes that the UNDP approaches complex twenty-first-century global issues relying on nineteenth-century theoretical assumptions and power techniques.

Suggested Citation

  • Juan Telleria, 2023. "Defining and Measuring Human Development: A Genealogical Analysis of the UNDP’s Human Development Reports," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(3), pages 520-544, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:35:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1057_s41287-022-00516-2
    DOI: 10.1057/s41287-022-00516-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41287-022-00516-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41287-022-00516-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Desmond McNeill, 2007. "'Human Development': The Power of the Idea," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(1), pages 5-22.
    2. Sabina Alkire, 2010. "Human Development: Definitions, Critiques, and Related Concepts," OPHI Working Papers 36, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    3. Ingrid Robeyns, 2005. "The Capability Approach: a theoretical survey," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 93-117.
    4. Elizabeth Stanton, 2007. "The Human Development Index: A History," Working Papers wp127, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    5. Sen, Amartya, 1993. "Markets and Freedoms: Achievements and Limitations of the Market Mechanism in Promoting Individual Freedoms," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 45(4), pages 519-541, October.
    6. Gustav Ranis & Frances Stewart & Emma Samman, 2006. "Human Development: Beyond the Human Development Index," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(3), pages 323-358.
    7. Frances Stewart, 2019. "The Human Development Approach: An Overview," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(2), pages 135-153, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jürgen Volkert & Friedrich Schneider, 2011. "The Application of the Capability Approach to High-Income OECD Countries: A Preliminary Survey," CESifo Working Paper Series 3364, CESifo.
    2. Yahya Z. ALSHEHHI, 2017. "Achievements In Terms Of Human Development Dimensions," SEA - Practical Application of Science, Romanian Foundation for Business Intelligence, Editorial Department, issue 13, pages 109-125, May.
    3. Sylvain K Cibangu, 2018. "Misunderstandings of Capability Approach: Towards Paradigm Pluralism," Journal of Social and Development Sciences, AMH International, vol. 9(2), pages 54-72.
    4. César González-Cantón & Sonia Boulos & Pablo Sánchez-Garrido, 2019. "Exploring the Link Between Human Rights, the Capability Approach and Corporate Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(4), pages 865-879, December.
    5. Abdillah, Kiky Kirina & Abdul Manaf, Azima & Awang, Abd Hair, 2022. "Land tenure security for low-income residents' urban livelihoods: A human development approach review of temporary occupation license," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    6. Nicolai Suppa, 2016. "Comparing Monetary and Multidimensional Poverty in Germany," OPHI Working Papers ophiwp103_1.pdf, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    7. Agni Kalfagianni, 2014. "Addressing the Global Sustainability Challenge: The Potential and Pitfalls of Private Governance from the Perspective of Human Capabilities," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(2), pages 307-320, June.
    8. Rachel M. Gisselquist, 2013. "Evaluating Governance Indexes: Critical and Less Critical Questions," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2013-068, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Mehmet Pinar & Thanasis Stengos & Nikolas Topaloglou, 2022. "Stochastic dominance spanning and augmenting the human development index with institutional quality," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 315(1), pages 341-369, August.
    10. Gisselquist, Rachel M., 2013. "Evaluating Governance Indexes: Critical and Less Critical Questions," WIDER Working Paper Series 068, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. Özlem Yorulmaz, 2016. "Assessing The Effects of Various Socio-Economic and Health Indicators on HDI Country Categories," Alphanumeric Journal, Bahadir Fatih Yildirim, vol. 4(1), pages 1-10, April.
    12. Pelenc, Jérôme, 2014. "Combining the capability approach and Max-Neef’s needs approach for a better assessment of multidimensional well-being and inequalities: a case study perspective with vulnerable teenagers of the regio," MPRA Paper 66277, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Diogo Ferraz & Enzo B. Mariano & Daisy Rebelatto & Dominik Hartmann, 2020. "Linking Human Development and the Financial Responsibility of Regions: Combined Index Proposals Using Methods from Data Envelopment Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 150(2), pages 439-478, July.
    14. Costantini, Valeria & Liberati, Paolo, 2014. "Technology transfer, institutions and development," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 26-48.
    15. Claudia Kettner & Angela Köppl & Sigrid Stagl, 2014. "Towards an Operational Measurement of Socio-ecological Performance. WWWforEurope Working Paper No. 52," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 47154, April.
    16. Pelenc, Jérôme & Ballet, Jérôme, 2015. "Strong sustainability, critical natural capital and the capability approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 36-44.
    17. Débora Pereira & Caroline Mota, 2016. "Human Development Index Based on ELECTRE TRI-C Multicriteria Method: An Application in the City of Recife," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 125(1), pages 19-45, January.
    18. Irem Güney-Frahm, 2018. "Agenda 2030: Haunted by the Ghost of the Third Way?," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 34(1), pages 56-76, March.
    19. Mattia Tassinari, 2023. "Interpersonal relationships, human development, and the trajectory of economic change: a social constructionist perspective," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 70(2), pages 177-193, June.
    20. Pelenc, Jérôme, 2014. "Développement humain responsable et aménagement du territoire. Réflexions à partir de deux réserves de biosphère périurbaines en France et au Chili [Responsible Human Development and Land-Use Plann," MPRA Paper 56094, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:eurjdr:v:35:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1057_s41287-022-00516-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.