prevalent, and hence to categorise changes in it over time in any one society, even more so to
generalise across societies. Yet, despite the many qualifications that can and should be made,
in this paper I claim that there have been some mega-changes in norms and political economy
over the last century or so that are sufficiently distinctive to be classified, and which have in
turned greatly influenced group behaviour.
These mega-changes in macro-environment are partly a response to political developments
(for example, to the advent and then the demise of colonialism), and, partly, to a complex,
organic and cumulative process involving an interaction between the prevailing political
economy, development thinking and policy making. Changing policies then impact on the
prevailing political economy, leading to a new cycle of thought/policy/ political economy.
The macro-environment influencing group behaviour is the outcome of this process. This
environment consists in the nexus of norms and political economy which have both direct and
indirect effects on group behaviour.
There are some qualifications which need to be made to this view of the cumulative cycle
involved in changing paradigms. First, the political economy and thought which dominate
developing countries are strongly influenced by a parallel process in the developed
economies. While this influence was most clear and direct under Colonialism, after that the
norms prevalent in developed countries still continued to have a very important influence on
those in developing countries, partly via the activities of the international institutions.
Secondly, there is never a unique and universally held view of development; it is usually
possible to detect a dominant strand of thought, but given the multitude of views, and uneven
pace at which one view gives way to another, the dominant view at any particular time may
often be a matter of controversy. Views can vary quite radically according to the perspective
of the observer. Northern thinkers tend take a different view from Southern ones, with the
interests of their country informing their perspective. The views espoused by the
development aid community, however, typically led by the World Bank, are particularly
influential in development thinking because the World Bank and other aid donors devote
considerable resources to disseminating their message, and because they can use
conditionality to enforce it. Finally, differences among countries, in political economy, stage
of development and so on, influence the pace and nature of paradigmatic changes in their