What is development?

Development can be defined as a process of economic and social advancement in terms of quality of human life.  It can be measured in terms of culture, wealth, education, healthcare, opportunities and can be commonly classified by the following terms: HDI- human development index, a UN standardised measure based on 3 factors: life expectancy, literacy/education, and standard of living.  GDP- Gross domestic product, value of goods and services divided by the number of people in the country. Development has been traditonally classified into first, second, third world countries, or the global north/ south. However this is where we reach a problem. There is a 'development continuum'. This means that there is not a gap seperating rich from poor countries, North from South. All countries are at different stages of development- the Asian Tigers, BRICS, America- how do you actually define the term if it encorperates so mnay different types, levels and stages? The second problems is that the term 'development' can be seen as 'western centric' - destructive to traditonal cultures and ways of life, damaging to indigenous populations or sustainability.  Therefore in conclusion, development is a complex and difficult to define term that requires unpicking and deconstructing, not simply taking for granted its meaning at face value.