Post Development Theory
Post Development Theory
Post development theory (also post-development, or anti-development) holds that the whole concept and practice of development is a reflection of Western-Northern hegemony over the rest of the world. Post development thought arose in the 1980s out of criticisms voiced against development projects and development theory, which justified them.
To cite an example of this "mental structure", development theorists point out how the concept of development has resulted in the hierarchy of developed and underdeveloped nations, where the developed nations are seen as more advanced and superior to the underdeveloped nations that are conceived as inferior, in need of help from the developed nations, and desiring to be like the developed nations. The post-development school of thought points out that the models of development are often ethnocentric (in this case Eurocentric), universalist, and based on western models of industrialization that are unsustainable in this world of limited resources and ineffective for their ignorance of the local, cultural and historical contexts of the peoples to which they are applied. In essence, the problem post-development theorists see in development and its practice is an imbalance of influence or domination by the west. Post development theorists promote more pluralism in ideas about development.
Development is seen as a set of knowledges, interventions and worldviews (in short, discourses) which are also powers: to intervene, to transform and to rule. Post-development critiques challenge the notion of a single path to development and demands acknowledgment of diversity of cultural perspectives and priorities. For example, the politics of defining and satisfying needs is a crucial dimension of development thought, deeply entwined in the concept of agency. But who voices development concerns, what power relations are played out, how do the interests of development "experts" (the World Bank, IMF officials, professionals, and so on) rule the development priorities, and which voices are excluded as a result? The post-development approach attempts to overcome the inequality of this discourse by opening up spaces for non-Western peoples and their concerns. Postdevelopment theory is, above all, a critique of the standard assumptions about progress: who possesses the key to it and how it may be implemented.
for structural changes. According to Escobar, post-developmental thinking believes that the economy must be based around solidarity and reciprocity; policy must focus on direct democracy; and knowledge systems should be traditional, or at least a hybrid of modern and traditional knowledge.
various kinds are already embarked on this process of redefining the social, and knowledge itself."
denounces economism, utilitarianism in social sciences, consumer society and the notion of sustainable development. He particularly criticizes the notions of economic
efficiency and economic rationalism. He is one of the thinkers and most renowned partisans of the degrowth theory.[6] Jorion has also published in the Revue de Mauss, a French antiutilitarian journal.
Sachs explains that the concept of "underdevelopment" was actually constructed in Harry S. Truman's 1949 inaugural address, which popularized the term. Sachs argues that the creation of this term was a discrete, strategic move to secure American hegemony by reinforcing the idea that the United States is at the top, and other countries on a lower pillar, of a linear and singular trajectory of development. It created a homogeneous identity for these countries and stripped them of their own diverse characteristics. "It converts participation into a manipulative trick to involve people in struggles for getting what the powerful want to impose on them."[7] The Development Dictionary describes a biological metaphor for development. This biological metaphor was transferred to the social sphere and perpetuated the ideal that there is one natural way to develop into the perfect form. To develop in a manner disparate from the "natural order of things" was to become a disfigured anomaly. This definition held the potential to provide morally ambiguous justification for imperialist behavior and can be connected to colonial discourse and mainstream development theories. Under such categorization, Sachs explains, development was reduced to a simple measurement of the economic growth of per capita production. Sachs issues a cry for public awareness of the "limits of development." He leaves the reader with the idea of the "New Commons" and posits that men and women should begin with this awareness before attempting to introduce new political policies with room for creativity and innovation in diverse development paths.
Criticisms [edit]
Statistical Data [edit]
While post-development theorists claim that development has failed, some numerical statistics contradict this position. The United Nations measures development using the Human Development Index, a compilation of data on life expectancy, education, and income. The HDI, though criticized as a method for the measurement of well being in a nation, is often used by professionals in development to assess progress. The graph included shows that over the past
30 years, HDI numbers have been on a slow but steady ascendant trend across the globe. The file in its original, interactive form can be found here.
universalism, has equally dangerous implications. John Rapley points out that "rejection of essentialism rests itselfon an essentialist claim namely, that all truth is constructed and arbitrary[...]"[11] Kiely also argues that by rejecting a top-down, centralized approach to development and promoting development through local means, post-development thought perpetuates neoliberal ideals. Kiely remarks that "The argument - upheld by dependency and post-development theory - that the First World needs the Third World, and vice versa, rehearses neo-liberal assumptions that the world is an equal playing field in which all nation states have the capacity to compete equally[...]"[12] In other words, making locals responsible for their own predicament, post-development unintentionally agrees with neo-liberalist ideology that favors decentralized projects and ignores the possibility of assisting impoverished demographics, instead making the fallacious assumption that such demographics must succeed on their own initiative alone. Kiely notes that not all grassroots movements are progressive. Postdevelopment is seen to empower anti-modern fundamentalists and traditionalists, who may hold non-progressive and oppressive values.[13]
Edward Abbey John Africa Stafford Beer (Viable System Model) Charles A. Coulombe Stanley Diamond Jacques Ellul Arturo Escobar (anthropologist) Gustavo Esteva Julius Evola James Ferguson (anthropologist) Massimo Fini Masanobu Fukuoka
Mohandas Gandhi Edward Goldsmith David Graeber Ren Gunon Martin Heidegger Ivan Illich Derrick Jensen Theodore Kaczynski Ruhollah Khomeini Philip Larkin Pentti Linkola Ned Ludd
Degrowth Development criticism Myth of Progress Critique of technology Deep ecology Anarcho-primitivism Eco-anarchism Radical Traditionalism Neo-Tribalism Eco-feminism
Simple living Neo-Luddism Modernist Crisis Critical theory Social criticism Human history Industrialization High modernism Modernization Paradigm shift Principles of Intelligent Urbanism Degrowth
Opposing theories: