Demystifying the Mythology of "Development"

[marmar]

by David Bollier:




Demystifying the Mythology of "Development"
Monday, March 28, 2011


I’ve always been uncomfortable using the words “developing” and “developed” when talking about countries. At a certain intuitive level I felt that that very axis of valuation was wrong. Should the United States be considered the apotheosis of “development” – an obvious ideal of human progress and satisfaction that the rest of the world should emulate?

In light of the many unsustainable ecological and social pathologies that the neoliberal market order has spawned, that seems presumptuous, if not ridiculous. Similarly, to call India or Brazil or Costa Rica a “developing” country is to imply that they are lagging behind the “developed” nations even though their cultures may be far healthier and happier than ours.

So how did the whole discourse of “development” and its theory of value get going in the first place, and evolve into the international ideal of human aspiration? I just had a crash course on that topic by reading a fantastic book, The History of Development: From Western Origins to Global Faith, by Gilbert Rist, a Swiss scholar of development. The book first appeared in French in 1996, and was translated into English only in 2008; the latest edition, the third, by Zed Books, came out in 2010.

What makes Rist’s history of the idea of development so illuminating is his deep perspective and insightful writing. (A shout-out to the translator, Patrick Camiller, as well!) Rist notes that “one of his principal intellectual interests has been to construct an anthropology of modernity in which he sees Western society as being every bit as traditional and indeed exotic as any other.” That sentence in effect discloses his book’s purpose – to demonstrate how the West has spent the past sixty years trying to elevate ceaseless economic growth into a natural, universal myth that the entire world must embrace. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://bollier.org/demystifying-mythology-development

[ananda]

1. The idea of "development" and "progress" is a masterly mindfuck...

.. that's for sure.

For the last thirty or forty years I cringe and get depressed whenever
I read about more development and progress. In my mind it just means
destruction of the landscape and environment, very ugly architecture,
and displacement of the poor and working classes.

[xchrom]

2. Recommend

[snot]

3. Extremely interesting article,

and well worth reading. The book author's conclusions are, to me, disappointing, however. I wonder if he actually scrutinized examples of human societies that have succeeded in "developing" themselves to some degree -- e.g., recognizing women's equality and maintaining economic systems in which wealth is not concentrated in the hands of a few at the expense of the many? I realize such societies may be few, but I believe that many have existed. E.g., I'd really like to see more scrutiny of existing socialist democracies.