The Normative-Ethical Basis of International Development and the Development Ethics Alternative

In Chapter 5, the normative-ethical evaluation of international development is explored with development being defined as a process between means (institutions and policy instruments) and ends (objectives and outcomes). Normative-ethical analysis evaluates this relationship. The chapter explains why positive economics is penetrated by normative-ethical analysis and addresses the position that the normative nature of neoclassical economics is principally represented by social choice theory and welfare economics. In turn, international development theory and policy are associated with the dominant normative-ethical dimension of neoclassical economics. The chapter also offers a clear view of the normative-ethical goals and strategies in international development from the angle of development ethics as an alternative normative-ethical proposal to neoclassical economics and neoliberalism.