Development Flashcards
What is Development?
Development, at its foundation, refers to the wide collection of projects and political-economic will to end the human suffering related to and emerging out of poverty:
¤ ‘to promote social and economic development through the provision of technical and financial assistance’ (Bryant and Bailey 1997: 76)
¤ Expanded to include: cultural and social projects, heritage and preservation, animal species, conservation.
DEVELOPMENT IS NOT SELF-EVIDENT: IT IS A PRODUCT OF HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL RELATIONS.
Context in which development emerged?
Historical moment: race science, colonialism, formal decolonisation. Through colonialism there was a racialisation that resulted in the White Man’s Burden.
There is a geographical specificity: ‘under-developed’/ ’developing’ / ‘developed’.
Modernisation theory provided a model example for development to reach this one ideal society - highly ethnocentric. Involves faith in linear progress of all societies.
Linear aspect?
¤ Idea that all cultures go through the same stages leading to ‘civilisation’
¤ Ethnocentric
¤ Cultures get ‘stuck’ in time
¤ ‘Development’ emerges as solution after independence
Rostow’s (1960) 5 stages of growth from traditional society to High Mass Consumption.
What is neoliberalism?
Idea that welfare is not the responsibility of the state but of civil society institutions (problematic).
‘Progressive’ neoliberalism?
Late 1990s/Early 00s... Emerged out of dissatisfaction with economic focus of development and lack of success. Belief that culture is important to understanding local needs. Rise of corporate social responsibility: ¤ ‘NGO-isation of corporation’ ¤ ‘corporatisation of NGOs’ Rhetorically adaptive: ¤ sustainable ¤ gender ¤ inclusive/ grassroots / local (Briggs and Sharp)
Critique of NGO-led development?
(Shivji, 2006) argues in dev. there is a moral imperative to act now and not consider consequences -> harmful.
‘act now, think later’ mentality.
NGOs, in practice, are apolitical, ahistorical, therefore cannot directly confront political and economic structures that create and reinforce poverty & inequality.
‘NGOs, by their very nature, derive not only their sustenance but also legitimacy from the donor community’ (p. 39)
Postcolonial development arguments:
Underdevelopment is an invention, perceived due to pre-existing ontology of the world and embedded representations of Orientalism.
Imposition of norms (e.g. patriarchal nuclear family) can lead to symbolic violence.
What is dependency theory?
Challenged modernisation theory, saying nation state cannot be the focus. Countries are part of a wider network in the global economy of capitalism which leads to uneven development.
Uneven geographies of development reveals over- development in some areas is more consequential to maintaining poverty in other areas.
Distinct stages are a myth
Underdevelopment of periphery is actively produced.
What is post-development?
“Post-development refers to the possibility of lessening the dominance of development representations when looking at situations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America” (Escobar 1997: 504)
Arguing that development offers a particular way of seeing the world, what other alternative epistemologies exist?
What is decolonised development?
Approaches to decolonize and articulate decolonial options seek to move beyond critique.
Decolonising or abandoning ‘development’ as an ontological project?
Idea of ‘buen vivir’ - being in the world is relational, transcends current political economy. Each decolonising project would have to unfold differently and so is case-specific. Disrupts current notion of one path.
