Looking in wider perspective, the problems of inequality have emerged relatively early even from the period of establishment of economy as a scientific discipline. However, those problems are also the subject of different socio-humanistic scientific research. That process lasts up to date, and it could be said that nowadays it is much more important than before. The main reason for that is that current inequalities are significant and radicalised nowadays as a cause of non-adequate development process.
TopNonballanced Development: Global Constraints
Rural Development theory represents the reaction on unequally and poverty that was caused by intensive development at the global level. But, as any other theory, it must be related to the fact that “Scientific paradigm sometimes might isolate the society from important problems that could be reduced in parts of the whole scientific theory mosaic, because it may be expressed through conceptual and instrumental meanings of the paradigm itself ” (paraphrased from Kuhn, 1962). As a result from that usually appears disorientation in development and often negative effects that create poor conditions for perspective rising of its own performances.
Some authors like Sir Arthur Lewis who has formulated so called dual-sector model put the pressure on that problem in the second half of XX Century (1954 and 1978). In the model, he focused attention on surpluses of agricultural labour force and on permanent growth of food producer’s productivity as well domestic demand. In continuation, author Mellor, J., pointed out the inferior position of rural sector (1976). He was writing about and trying to specify factors that influence such situation in agriculture and that are connected with that process. Also he tried to specify the role of the factors in the process of creation employment and income of rural population. Later on, author Meier, G. (1989) has tried to formulate the common opinion that agriculture is not only the source of supplying the industry with its surplus of labour, but that it is a dynamic factor of growth, employment and better distribution of income. In addition, Michael Lipton (1977) wrote about rural bias in the economic development process and like some other authors has described the territorial inequalities particularly in poverty i.e. wellbeing between urban and rural areas. The main argument he took is the conflict that stands in theory between capital and labour as well as domestic and international interest in that field.
The importance of rural development and rural development needs as a part of overall economic processes continues to be the main topic of different authors also during the last decade of XX Century. Many of them like Duncan and Howell (1992) as well Sahn at all (1997) had tried to articulate its research on potential effects of programs for adapting the development policies in order to lower the rural poverty caused by terms of trade. But at the same time Sahn, D. et al (2003) reminds that promoting export oriented agriculture in case of less developed countries, may result with lowering of its food security. Further on, Brayden at all (2001-2004) were explaining the importance and the role of particular segments like intersectoral connections and stressed the need for interaction of public and private partnership. In connection with that Porter, M. (1990) has pointed out the importance of social and cultural environment as a factor of improvement of competition. Besides that, many other authors and/or international organizations had tried to improve the theory and practice in the field of rural development and to make its own contribution in the field of rural development and poverty reduction.
And while the discussions on rural development and its role in overall economic development theory are expanding, it must be said that there is a huge number of opinions and actions that put great pressure and concern on the permanent growth of poverty and malnutrition also in urban zones (Haddad et al, 1999). They are usually focused on rural urban gaps in the cases when urban poverty exceeds (von Brown, 1993), as well as on urban poverty and malnutrition (Maxwell, 1998). Those are very important problems, but our opinion is that launching such problems as a main ones we are refocusing ourselves from rural problems toward overall poverty problems confirming in that way the inability to solve rural problems in less developed countries.