DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
DVA4801
DEVELOPMENT DEBATES AND ISSUES
DISCUSS POST-DEVELOPMENT THEORY AND HOW IT CONTRIBUTES TO
DEBATES ABOUT DEVELOPMENT DISCOURSE.
INTRODUCTION
Post Development Theory defines the practice of modernization in less economically
developed countries and the way in which Western ideologies were introduced as a
means of development rather than traditional ways of life. Post-development theories
have been heavily criticized by agents advocating modernization and Western
development ideologies. Post-development is seen as a radical reaction to the
unpleasant circumstances of development which is the failures of modernization
theory. Post-developmental theories are responsible for designing development from
Western perspectives and apply such specific designed development in less
economically developed countries and as a result try to achieve development that is
in the image of the West. Post-development theory overlooks local traditions and
values and has been the cause of many development failures due to their
irrelevance and unsustainability. In this way, the traditions and practices of less
economically developed countries are not taken into account when seeking to
improve the social, economic and political aspects of developing countries.
GOALS OF POSTDEVELOPMENTAL THEORY
A development concept is a development goal. The goal that the post-development
concept tries to achieve is the improvement of conditions while respecting the
subject of the development project. Through the lens of post-development thinking,
the practitioner should be able to listen, observe and apply indigenous knowledge
systems where possible, while trying to avoid essentialism. This concept has not
been perfected (Andrews and Bawa, 2014). For post-development thinkers, the very
idea that development can be taught within a system by virtue of its very existence,
in part the exploitation of the east and south, without a thorough examination of the
, system that created the global haves and have-nots. ” is problematic and dismissive
of world history. It is possible to speculate about what the world today would look like
if there were no imperialism, the slave trade, and colonial and neo-colonial business
practices; however, it seems reasonable to assume that developed parts of the world
could not have reached their current level of material comfort if these practices had
never occurred and indeed continue to this day.
THE CONTRIBUTION OF POST-DEVELOPMENT THEORY TO DEBATES ON
DEVELOPMENT
The contribution of Post-Development Theory is twofold: one, in the critique of
various power relations; the other, on its potential contribution to a more sensitive,
non-Eurocentric theory of positive social change naturalizing the universal scale:
The first and perhaps the most fundamental achievement of Post-Development
Theory is the realization that the categories and policies of "development" carry a
certain contingent perspective, rather than from a natural and normal way of viewing
the universal scale. things, which societies can be compared according to their "level
of development"; that nations are "developed" and "less developed"; and that the
latter can be found in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the need for "progress", the
development of experts, development initiatives and development support that are
from the former, assumptions that are not known by themselves (Demaria and
Kothari, 2017). Historically, they express a specific way of seeing different societies
and global inequality, the natural norms and the historical process of Europe itself.
It reveals the process of discovery of the difference and problematization: The
naturalization of the Self gives rise to the problems of the other as a deviant. A
universal scale makes it possible to measure and compare according to Eurocentric
standards, thus defining the most "developed" civilization. The other is seen not as
different but as a deficient version of the self, and so developmental discourse works
to identify deviation from the norm as inferiority ("unsophisticated", "illiterate",
"empty", etc.) and as a promise on improvement works as a legitimation mechanism.
Even if the provisions of the development discourse don't work, the development
industry claims that it has learned from its previous mistakes and strengthened its
knowledge of how to improve other people's lives, but now it offers a new aspect that
has been ignored until now (Poverty, demands, women), the environment, the
DVA4801
DEVELOPMENT DEBATES AND ISSUES
DISCUSS POST-DEVELOPMENT THEORY AND HOW IT CONTRIBUTES TO
DEBATES ABOUT DEVELOPMENT DISCOURSE.
INTRODUCTION
Post Development Theory defines the practice of modernization in less economically
developed countries and the way in which Western ideologies were introduced as a
means of development rather than traditional ways of life. Post-development theories
have been heavily criticized by agents advocating modernization and Western
development ideologies. Post-development is seen as a radical reaction to the
unpleasant circumstances of development which is the failures of modernization
theory. Post-developmental theories are responsible for designing development from
Western perspectives and apply such specific designed development in less
economically developed countries and as a result try to achieve development that is
in the image of the West. Post-development theory overlooks local traditions and
values and has been the cause of many development failures due to their
irrelevance and unsustainability. In this way, the traditions and practices of less
economically developed countries are not taken into account when seeking to
improve the social, economic and political aspects of developing countries.
GOALS OF POSTDEVELOPMENTAL THEORY
A development concept is a development goal. The goal that the post-development
concept tries to achieve is the improvement of conditions while respecting the
subject of the development project. Through the lens of post-development thinking,
the practitioner should be able to listen, observe and apply indigenous knowledge
systems where possible, while trying to avoid essentialism. This concept has not
been perfected (Andrews and Bawa, 2014). For post-development thinkers, the very
idea that development can be taught within a system by virtue of its very existence,
in part the exploitation of the east and south, without a thorough examination of the
, system that created the global haves and have-nots. ” is problematic and dismissive
of world history. It is possible to speculate about what the world today would look like
if there were no imperialism, the slave trade, and colonial and neo-colonial business
practices; however, it seems reasonable to assume that developed parts of the world
could not have reached their current level of material comfort if these practices had
never occurred and indeed continue to this day.
THE CONTRIBUTION OF POST-DEVELOPMENT THEORY TO DEBATES ON
DEVELOPMENT
The contribution of Post-Development Theory is twofold: one, in the critique of
various power relations; the other, on its potential contribution to a more sensitive,
non-Eurocentric theory of positive social change naturalizing the universal scale:
The first and perhaps the most fundamental achievement of Post-Development
Theory is the realization that the categories and policies of "development" carry a
certain contingent perspective, rather than from a natural and normal way of viewing
the universal scale. things, which societies can be compared according to their "level
of development"; that nations are "developed" and "less developed"; and that the
latter can be found in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the need for "progress", the
development of experts, development initiatives and development support that are
from the former, assumptions that are not known by themselves (Demaria and
Kothari, 2017). Historically, they express a specific way of seeing different societies
and global inequality, the natural norms and the historical process of Europe itself.
It reveals the process of discovery of the difference and problematization: The
naturalization of the Self gives rise to the problems of the other as a deviant. A
universal scale makes it possible to measure and compare according to Eurocentric
standards, thus defining the most "developed" civilization. The other is seen not as
different but as a deficient version of the self, and so developmental discourse works
to identify deviation from the norm as inferiority ("unsophisticated", "illiterate",
"empty", etc.) and as a promise on improvement works as a legitimation mechanism.
Even if the provisions of the development discourse don't work, the development
industry claims that it has learned from its previous mistakes and strengthened its
knowledge of how to improve other people's lives, but now it offers a new aspect that
has been ignored until now (Poverty, demands, women), the environment, the
