Deciphering UN development policies: from the modernisation paradigm to the human development approach?

The comparative analysis of the UN resolutions on the development decades reveals an evolution of the UN policies, a gradual shift from the modernization paradigm to the human development approach, even though the goal of economic growth was never entirely abandoned. Despite this evolution, all relevant resolutions define quantitative targets on inputs and outputs to be met through recommended policy measures involving State intervention in the economy and the society, introduced into developing countries’ plans for development, in accordance with the teachings of the modernization paradigm