Comparison of human development approach and neoliberal policies for developing countries

Development is a process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy, as described by Amartya Sen. Main concern of development and its primary focus is human beings. Actual development can eventuate only in a society where the main focus is enriching human lives. An approach which focuses the expansion of income or economic outcomes is inadequate to explain such a process; a high income by itself was no defense against human deprivation. Many human choices extend far beyond economic well-being. Thus, only a multidisciplinary approach may reach the primary content of development process, by including both economic and non-economic factors and other social, political and cultural variables which make human life valuable. Only then, there's a major chance to understand human well-being.Amartya Sen's influential "capability approach" constitutes the philosophical and conceptual foundation of a human centered development view. There, human development approach stands as a considerable progress in development. This approach focuses on people's basic capabilities and their freedom by putting them in center of its analysis. In contrast, economic growth is the trend focus of neoliberal approach and content of development is an increase in national income. But, such a development view remains deficient and non-functional according to the experiences of developing countries. What is needed is to understand that the quality of this growth is just as important as its quantity. By no means, a conscious public policy is needed to translate economic growth into people's lives. Accordingly, a human development approach with an efficient public policy seems more effective than neoliberal policies.