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The Waves of Post-Development Theory and a Consideration of the Philippines
... The approach to sustainable surf tourism offered in this analysis is different, however, and aligns itself instead with decolonial, post-development, and postcapitalist perspectives. These critical perspectives fundamentally challenge the neoliberal growth-based paradigm and center local/endogenous/subaltern alternatives to development, instead of promoting modernizing, market-oriented approaches to governance and socioecological wellbeing (Escobar, 1995(Escobar, , 1996Ahorro, 2008;Sachs, 2009;Ruttenberg & Brosius, 2017;Klein and Morreo, 2019). While postdevelopment perspectives center endogenous expressions of knowledge, life and livelihood as intrinsically valid and distinct from the modernizing approach of the international sustainable development agenda (Escobar, 1995;Esteva, 2009;Klein & Morreo, 2019), the postcapitalist lens offers a means of reframing socioeconomic realities in surf tourism beyond capitalist notions of "the economy" toward strengthening diverse economic, community-based alternatives to development (Gibson-Graham, 2005;Cameron & Gibson, 2005;Ruttenberg & Brosius, 2017. ...
... The sustainable development discourse is fundamentally questioned by post-development, post-capitalist, and decolonizing perspectives (Escobar, 1995(Escobar, , 1996Gibson-Graham, 2005;Ahorro, 2008;Sachs, 2009;Klein & Morreo, 2019). These perspectives challenge the growthand income-oriented strategies championed by the global sustainable development agenda and instead highlight alternatives to development, including diverse economic, local/endogenous/subaltern, and community-based approaches to environmental governance and socio-ecological wellbeing (Gibson-Graham 2005; Gibson-Graham et al. ...
... In attempt to move beyond the contradictions inherent in neoliberal surf tourism governance, as analyzed in this chapter, the critical framework of decolonizing sustainable surf tourism is offered as a means of envisioning, enacting, and making more visible postcapitalist realities in surf tourism scenarios (Ruttenberg & Brosius, 2017). Decentering the unsustainable modern-materialist metanarrative on socioeconomic development, of which the neoliberal governance paradigm is a fundamental component, alternative development possibilities align with the discourse of post-development (Escobar, 1995;Maiava, 2002;Santos, 2004;COMPAS, 2007;Ahorro, 2008;Esteva, 2009;Sachs, 2009) and praxis of diverse community economies (Cameron, 2003;Cameron & Gibson, 2005;Gibson-Graham, 2005). As described in greater detail elsewhere (Ruttenberg & Brosius, 2017;Ruttenberg, 2022), this approach supports critical participatory action research toward three interrelated strategies for strengthening decolonial and postcapitalist alternatives to development in surf tourism: 1) Engaging with practices and activities geared toward decolonizing Global South surfing communities' internalization of the modern-capitalist, growth-and income-based notion of economy (Cameron & Gibson, 2005), as well as processes of "decolonizing the colonizer" that address the colonial imaginaries inherent in Global North surfers' Endless Summer dreams (Mignolo & Walsh, 2018); 2) Supporting communities toward envisioning ecologically sustainable modes of socio-economic interaction based on postcapitalist explorations into the diverse forms of practicing and experiencing the economy as 'networks of flow' among an interdependent more-than-human community, contributing to what Fletcher (2019) offers as "communal governmentality" centering local 'resilience, identity and wellbeing' (Gibson-Graham, 2005); 3) Working alongside local residents in surf tourism communities to visibilize, envision and enact assets-based community development alternatives (Kretzmann & McKnight, 1993Cameron, 2003;Gibson-Graham, 2005) by drawing on community members' existing skills and local assets to strengthen non-capitalist activities, lessen tourism dependence, and allow for the emergence of endogenous, self-determined socio-ecological futures and alternative productive rationalities (Escobar, 1996). ...
... This feminist and postcolonial thinking sees sustainable development as a valuable initiative (Braidotti, 1994), but also argues that it's problematic because it's based on the concept of development. As such, the idea of post-development emerged in the 1990s (Ahorro, 2008) and continues today. Post-development contributors reject the concept of development because of its flaws and attempt to develop alternatives (Ahorro, 2008 Similarly, the LCSDSN report categorized the sustainable development indicators according to topics of special concern where certain categories like industrialization, science, technology and innovation, sustainable cities and human settlements and sustainable production and consumption have particular relevance to industrial design. ...
... As such, the idea of post-development emerged in the 1990s (Ahorro, 2008) and continues today. Post-development contributors reject the concept of development because of its flaws and attempt to develop alternatives (Ahorro, 2008 Similarly, the LCSDSN report categorized the sustainable development indicators according to topics of special concern where certain categories like industrialization, science, technology and innovation, sustainable cities and human settlements and sustainable production and consumption have particular relevance to industrial design. I flagged many of the indicators in these categories as well as several others that were particularly relevant to industrial design in the table in Appendix 1 (Table VII). ...
This project investigates how feminist perspectives can inform industrial design and design for sustainability theories and practices. Feminist perspectives on and in industrial design promise to offer a range of valuable and unique contributions to the discipline. Yet, there is relatively little feminist work in industrial design, so feminism’s potential contributions are not well known and are minimally explored and exploited. As such, this project asks: how does feminism inform industrial design and design for sustainability theories and practices? It aims to identify feminism’s critiques and proposals toward industrial design and feminism’s relationships with and insights for design for sustainability. This study employs a feminist and critical constructivist framework. It is based on a literature analysis of existing feminist work in industrial design and the conduct and analysis of three projects applying a participatory project-grounded research strategy. The results show that feminist perspectives identify systemic problems in industrial design based on the presence of power and masculinity, unequal power dynamics between people and negative situations facing women. In turn, they encourage grass-roots changes in the field that rely on actor interventions drawing on women’s perspectives and/or feminist perspectives. Feminist work in design can also be understood as a sub-initiative within the broader design for sustainability field and could be applied consciously as a tool for design for sustainability, especially supporting its social and economic dimensions. Together, these insights can inform sustainable changes in industrial design, legitimize and encourage alternative and feminist perspectives in the discipline, and help industrial design contribute to feminist and social causes.
... rooted in the experiences of Latin America, Africa, and lndia. 19 Economic development was concerned in the expansion of people's entitlements and their corresponding capabilities, morbidity, nourishment, literacy, education, and other socio-economic indicators. 20 Economist Albert 0. Hirschman, a major contributor to development economics, asserted that economic development grew to concentrate on the poor regions of the world, primarily in Africa, Asia and Latin America yet on the outpouring of fundamental ideas and models. ...
This paper is a introduction of Voluntary organizations. It also summarizes the specified areas of activities of VO and also enumerates its features. Partnership role of VO in development is also explored in this article.
... Post kalkınma yaklaşım(lar)ı kalkınma iktisadında bilgi üretimine meydan okuyan, kullanılan kavramları deşifre etmeye çalışan ve kalkınmayı bir meta-teori olarak sorgulayan eleştirel yaklaşımlara öncülük eder (Ziai, 2015: 846). Bu nedenle post kalkınmacılar Ahorro (2008) Post kalkınmacılar, kalkınmanın tarihsel olarak belirli çıkarlar etrafında şekillendiğini ve belirli iktidar ilişkilerini içine alan, zihinsel ve dilsel bir yapı olarak söylem olduğunu savunurlar. ...
Although the development economics that emerged after World War II had its golden age until the 1980s, it was
subject to considerable criticism due to the failure of the policies implemented in the name of development in the
post-1980 period. It has been suggested that development economics was at an impasse during this period.
Different views have tried to produce solutions to the impasse of development economics. Post-development
approaches, which are among these different views, criticize the impasse of development economics from a
postmodern perspective and try to offer solutions. Post-development approaches have brought important criticism
to the idea of modernist development, emphasizing cultural differences and criticizing how universal metanarratives oppress other views. In this study, the basic criticism of post-development approaches based on
postmodern views to the development literature and the development analysis of post-development approaches
will be evaluated. Post-development approaches will be discussed in general terms and the perspective of
development problematic will be observed.
... reduction performance (Balisacan, 2010;Aldaba, 2009). Similarly, the Philippines ranked 90 out of 177 nations in the Human Development Index (Ahorro, 2008). These conditions impede growth and development. ...
Poverty is a phenomenon that is brought by several factors which are further aggravated by social conditioning, behavior, and practices of these marginalized folks. A grounded theory qualitative research approach was utilized to distill information relative to understanding poverty among the adolescents and elderly participants using focus group discussions as data triangulation method. Results showed that adolescents had high hopes and aspirations to escape poverty given the proper education. Yet, their actions did not complement towards the attainment of such goal. The elderly, on the other hand, believed that young people when taken the right action could escape poverty, but admitted they had failed in their efforts when they were young due to wrong actions and habits. Moreover, their contradicting practices of poverty alleviation had a direct influence on the young ones, thus, might exacerbate this dire situation. Irene's understanding poverty theory is generated explaining the understanding of persistent poverty in Samar. It is a composite of several constructs such as conditioning, the low education, the felt helplessness and habits which were embedded in the subculture of Samar people. A recommendation to adopt more mainstream behaviors, eradicate bad habits while policies should also be designed to move these marginalized communities towards an economic reform mindset is necessary.
... We find that many academic authors did not share the view that the PD debate is obsolete, but used it as a theoretical foundation or at least a starting point from which to develop their argument in the 2000s (see among others Agostino, 2007;Brigg, 2002;Cavalcanti, 2007;Cox, 2010;Cupples et al., 2007;Curry, 2003;Gephart, 2014;Gibson-Graham, 2005;Gilgenbach and Moser, 2012;Hacker, 2005Hacker, , 2012Lie, 2007;Lind, 2003;Matthews, 2004Matthews, , 2008McGregor, 2007;McKinnon, 2007;Megoran, 2005;Nustad, 2001;Rapley, 2004;Saunders, 2002;Sauviat, 2007;Sidaway, 2007;Simon, 2006;Underhill-Sem, 2002;Van Ausdal, 2001;de Vries, 2007;Ziai, 2004;etc.). Ahorro (2008) has termed this the 'second wave' of PD. ...
While the Post-Development school in development theory tried to bury the concept of ‘development’, this attempt turned out to be unsuccessful. A closer investigation reveals that different post-development texts reproduce the polysemy of ‘development’ in their criticism of it, attacking different phenomena subsumed under this heading. Development theory, on the other hand, was also premature in declaring post-development obsolete fifteen years ago. By examining the works of two prominent authors, this contribution shows that the critics of post-development have adopted central arguments of that approach. It concludes by identifying some points of convergence between post-development and its (progressive) critics in development theory.
As we face different crises – democratic, social and environmental – there is a need to rethink the assumptions we have made about sustainable development. This paper aims to consider alternatives to development and their fundamental connections to economics. Because discourse is connected to practice, it is important to question definitions. By drawing on existing theories, discourses and practices, I present an economic perspective to accompany post-developmentalist theories and contribute to the collective thinking on alternatives to development. Using the framework of Polanyi, I show that the mainstream view of development, based on a formal definition of economics, has not only failed to address the needs of many but also built a strong imbalance between the Global North and the Global South. A substantive view could be the basis for an alternative to development, relying on the relationship between basic needs, nature and institutions. Profound transformations are needed to balance the economy, society and the environment. To achieve these transformations, alternatives to development must involve rethinking structures, re-embedding the economy and considering the power of collectives and the multiplicity of ideas across the world.
At a glance, this study is a critique of local development policies with specific reference to the Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipalities in the Eastern Cape. The researcher enters the debate by posing a primary research question: Do the Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) ventures that constitute anti-poverty strategies succeed in addressing the issues of poverty, and achieving more equitable development at the municipal level in the Eastern Cape? This research proposes a problem statement: The local development policies of PPP and BBBEE that are being applied through Local Economic Development strategies are not in the interests of the majority of people living in the Eastern Cape. At a methodological level this research employs both quantitative and qualitative approaches to answer the central question and to verify the problem statement of this study. This triangulation approach is employed to utilize the strengths of both quantitative and qualitative methods. More specifically, the researcher uses a number of different research instruments to collect the data including four hundred questionnaires, four focus groups and elite interviews in both municipalities. The findings of this study indicate that local development policies in both municipalities do not improve the lives of the people. This line of thinking is indicated by both the empirical study conducted by the researcher and is supported by a number of scholarly materials. This study contributes to the body of knowledge in Political Economy and Development Studies including other disciplines in Social and Economic Sciences. The central argument of this thesis is that both BBBEE and PPPs are inspired by neo-liberalism (BBBEE is not neo-liberal per se though it may be heavily influenced by it) and neo-liberalism in practice is contradictory in nature as it involves the allocation of state resources to politically influential individuals, rather than promoting economic development for the majority. The evidence of this research further shows that the local business and political elites through the BBBEE, PPPs and outsourcing of services are using their strong networks (associated political, social and capital resources) in their efforts for personal accumulation. The researcher in this study examines the local development policies from a particular standpoint which is a political economy approach. The business and political elites according to political economic perspective use state resources to enrich themselves ii Acknowledgements
Seit den 1980er-Jahren stießen Rankings, die sich vorwiegend am Bruttoinlandsprodukt von Staaten orientieren, zunehmend auf Kritik. Humane Entwicklung und Nachhaltigkeit spielt dagegen eine immer größere Rolle im öffentlichen Diskurs, bis schließlich 2015 die Sustainable Development Goals zu einem wichtigen Referenzpunkt der internationalen Umwelt- und Entwicklungspolitik wurden. Dieser Wandel ging auch mit der Entstehung neuer Rankings wie dem Human Development Index (HDI) und dem Social Progress Index (SPI) einher. Der Beitrag untersucht Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede von HDI und SPI vor dem Hintergrund des diskursiven Wandels von der humanen Entwicklung zur Nachhaltigkeit und zeigt, dass und wie sich dieser Wandel auch in der Produktion neuer Indizes und Rankings niederschlug.
The historical understanding of progress as economic, social, and cultural finds its strongest disavowal when we measure “progress” against the right to clean air and water. Progress is also a word upon which ideas of nationhood and identity have been built and buttressed, wars fought and forests plundered, rivers dammed, people dispossessed and displaced, and animals and plants driven to extinction. The irony of Harold Crooks and Mathieu Roy’s documentary Surviving Progress does not escape this narrative from its start to the very end. Inspired by Ronald Wright’s A Short History of Progress, the documentary takes off from making sense of the term progress to the causes and outcomes of the particular idea of progress that has won universal traction and remains the foundational cause behind much of the world’s environmental problems. Interpolated with commentary from across the world and cutting across disciplines, the documentary cuts an arc across the common denominations of progress in different parts of the world. This chapter argues that modernity is the cornerstone upon which this particular idea of progress took shape and examines the variant themes of Surviving Progress as well as analysing the medium and the message of the documentary.
This paper is concomitant with our comparative study analysis of the interests and power of the stake-holders involved in Community Forestry (CF) in six countries. The study hypothesises that, “governance processes and outcomes in CF depend mostly on interests of the powerful external stakeholders”. For this paper which is on CF in Cameroon, the study hypothesizes that, “Power is a hidden factor in Develop-ment cooperation”. Based on political theories, the paper uses the “actor-centered power” (ACP) concept of the Community Forestry Working Group (CFWG) in Göttingen, Germany, the post-development the-ory and empirical findings, to back up the assertations made in the study through the analysis of thirteen different CFs in the South West region (SWR) of Cameroon. It analyzes the empirically applicable ACP concept, that consists of three elements: trust, incentives and coercion and at the same time connects these elements with the post-development theory. The elements were derived from the basic assumptions on power made by Max Weber in political sciences and Max Krott in forest policy. The study confirms the existence of powerful internal and external stakeholders that influence CF in Cameroon and aims to em-power important but marginalised communities. It concludes that, CF as a development instrument to al-leviate poverty and increase livelihood while sustainably managing the forest has actually not brought significant or meaningful development to the targeted sector of the society
Keywords: Community Forestry; Devolution; Power; Development; Post-Development; Theory; Trust; Incentive; Coercion
The work of the French anthropologist-cum-philosopher Bruno Latour has influenced a wide variety of disciplines in the past three decades. Yet, Latour has had little noticeable effect within development studies, including those sub-fields where it might be reasonable to expect affinity, such as the anthropology of development. The first half of this article outlines some core aspects of Latour's oeuvre as they relate to development and anthropology, particularly focusing on the post-development critique. Latour's approach to constructivism and translation, his analytical commitment to ‘keeping the social flat’ and his distribution of agency offer novel ways of maintaining some of the strengths of post-development without falling prey to some of its weaknesses. The second half of the article explores the potential for a Latour-inspired theory of development that may provide fruitful avenues for scholarship and practice beyond post-development, emphasizing materialism, relationality and hybridity.
This article seeks to introduce scholars outside of development studies to post-development thought, and to restate its relevance and value to those working within the development field. It begins with an overview of post-development thought and its critique of the post-World War Two development project. Following this, specific critiques levelled at post-development thought and various responses to these are considered. In the last section, the possibility or desirability of raising the living standards of Third World people to a level comparable to those of the First World through economically based development strategies is questioned. The article concludes by drawing attention to First World overdevelopment and the continued value of post-development thinking in unsettling the development trajectory for either the First or Third World.
This paper is concomitant with our comparative study analysis of the interests and power of the stakeholders involved in Community Forestry (CF) in six countries. The study hypothesises that, “governance processes and outcomes in CF depend mostly on interests of the powerful external stakeholders”. For this paper which is on CF in Cameroon, the study hypothesizes that, “Power is a hidden factor in Develop-ment cooperation”. Based on political theories, the paper uses the “actor-centered power” (ACP) concept of the Community Forestry Working Group (CFWG) in Göttingen, Germany, the post-development the-ory and empirical findings, to back up the assertations made in the study through the analysis of thirteen different CFs in the South West region (SWR) of Cameroon. It analyzes the empirically applicable ACP concept, that consists of three elements: trust, incentives and coercion and at the same time connects these elements with the post-development theory. The elements were derived from the basic assumptions on power made by Max Weber in political sciences and Max Krott in forest policy. The study confirms the existence of powerful internal and external stakeholders that influence CF in Cameroon and aims to em-power important but marginalised communities. It concludes that, CF as a development instrument to alleviate poverty and increase livelihood while sustainably managing the forest has actually not brought significant or meaningful development to the targeted sector of the society.
This article rehearses the critical theory of Craig Calhoun's book on nationalism and applies his threefold typology of 'project, discourse, evaluation' to the peculiar case of modern Philippine nationalism. The Republic of the Philippines is a marine archipelago of over 7100 islands and 85 million people of various ethnic, linguistic and cultural identities. Because of its history of colonizations (Spanish, American, Japanese), the predominance of Christianity, and the lack of a unified or prestigious pre-modern religious, political or economic order, the Philippines is frequently positioned as 'in but not of Asia'. Because Filipinos are made acutely aware of their peculiar trajectory as a modern nation-state and precarious position within the region, the dominant discourses of 'the Philippines' have been too anxious to construct a genealogy of the modern nation-state as telos and to assert some form of 'Filipino' identity and spirit. Now that the nationalist moment of contemporary nation-states has passed with the fading of the post-Second World War 'developmentalist state' project and its usurpation since the 1980s by 'the globalization' project, an opportunity is afforded for a changing of our critical lens from searches for revolutionary projects of founding myths and ends, of romantic nationalisms, or of nostalgic returns to pre-modern idylls (whether ethnic or colonial). Accordingly, this article has three parts. Part One provides a brief synopsis of Calhoun's arguments about nationalism. Part Two applies these critical insights to the case of Philippine nationalism, especially as it is expressed in the historical and social sciences. Part Three then introduces alterative ways of thinking about the Philippines as sites of cultural hybridity and traffic.
Nepantla: Views from South 2.3 (2001) 429-447
Postmodern and postcolonial feminist theories applied to development have opposed universalizing and essentializing notions of a homogeneous "third world woman" assumed to need saving by first world experts (see Marchand and Parpart 1995). From this perspective, alternative constructions of development require that we recognize the diverse experiences and "listen to the previously silenced voices" of third world women (Chowdhry 1995, 39). But can this be done without relying on demands for authenticity from "native informants" that maintain existing structures of power and approaches to development?
"Development" as a discourse is revealed in the theoretical commentary of both academics and "practitioners," as well as in the application and evaluation of policy by international agencies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). In general, this discourse is one that operates among professionals working "in" development rather than among people designated as the recipients or beneficiaries of policy. It is difficult, therefore, to avoid confronting the problematics of power in development discourse. To escape this problematic, recent critics (themselves academics and practitioners of development) attempt to better incorporate the voices of development's subjects, particularly poor third world women. In doing so, these critics acknowledge and seek to counter the power of colonial and postcolonial representations of "the native" to shape development (further) into a medium of domination. Speaking with and listening to previously silenced women, they suggest, will transform development into something good.
I argue below that, though motivated by the desire to limit or eliminate the complicity of development in postcolonial forms of domination, the new demand to give voice to the voiceless third world woman authorizes, in new and equally problematic ways, the theory and practice of gender and development as a field. Further, listening to "previously silenced voices" in postcolonial contexts is certainly more vexed a process than development critics envision it to be and may be impossible in the way that they mean. To listen in ways that are not themselves complicit with the operation of postcolonial domination may require more than these critics are willing or able to give, on terms and with results that will not satisfy. Either way, the problematics of power in development are not eluded. Ultimately, the founding definitions of development may forestall that possibility.
Representations of women in development theory and practice have been a particular focus of postcolonial and postmodern feminist critics. According to Chandra Mohanty, much of the literature on women and development "discursively colonize[s] the material and historical heterogeneities of the lives of women in the third world" and thereby "produces the image of an ‘average third world woman'" who is the object of development (Mohanty 1991, 53, 56; see also Ong 1988). This homogenization is problematic in itself; without acknowledgment of women's diversity, universal principles of gender and development can be and are applied uncritically across region, culture, class, and ethnicity.
Beyond the problem of homogenization, however, is the one of how women are homogenized. The average third world woman defined in the women and development literature, Mohanty argues, has very specific attributes that are presented as essential to her character: she is ignorant, irrational, poor, uneducated, traditional, passive, and sexually oppressed (see Mohanty 1991, 56, 72). So defined, the third world woman cannot be anything but a victim—of a similarly homogenized third world man, of universal sexism, of globalization, and of history.
The essentialist characterization of the third-world-woman-as-victim serves simultaneously to define the first world woman as liberated, rational, and competent (Mohanty 1991, 56). In the context of development theory and practice, first world women appear as academic specialists on gender and development or as development practitioners at international agencies and NGOs. Mohanty suggests that the third world woman is constructed as essentially "other" to a similarly essentialized and homogenized first world woman. As Aihwa Ong (1988, 85, 87) points out, since "non-western women are what we are not," the passive and ignorant figure of the third world woman points to the cultural and intellectual superiority of the first world development expert.
Construction of the third world woman as Other and victim thus functions to authorize...
The post‐development critique of development discourse has by now been widely discussed and criticised. Post‐development texts have been interpreted as a cynical legitimation of neoliberalism or a futile romanticisation of premodern times; more sympathetic critics have at least acknowledged its potential to criticise the shortcomings of development theory and policy. There is, however, widespread agreement on the assumptions that post‐development can be seen as a Foucaultian critique of development and that it forms a sort of theoretical school. This article is concerned with challenging these assumptions by showing that 1) post‐development only employs (if at all) a rather impoverished version of Foucault's discourse analysis; 2) there are in fact two variants to be found under the heading post‐development—a sceptical and a neo‐populist one—and most of the criticisms are only valid for the latter. Whereas neo‐populist post‐development has reactionary political consequences, sceptical post‐development uses elements of postmodern and post‐Marxist theory and can best be described as a manifesto of radical democracy in the field of development studies. For scholars interested in emancipation, the point is to identify the crucial differences between post‐development sliding into (sometimes reactionary) neo‐populism and post‐development converging with theories of radical democracy.
Contemporary Africa is generally depicted as a ‘failure’. ‘Progress' has eluded the continent throughout the 20th century, and despite new ways of thinking about the reasons for failure and possibilities for success, allusions to the ‘natural weakness and incapacity’ of Africans and their social realities remain evident in theoretical, policy and political discourse on development in Africa. The practice of ‘reductive repetition’, as identified by Abdallah Laroui and Edward Said, has been imported into African development studies from Orientalist scholarship. Reductive repetition reduces the diversity of African historical experiences and trajectories, sociocultural contexts and political situations into a set of core deficiencies for which externally generated ‘solutions’ must be devised. In the field of development studies, the notion of development is introduced to Africa as a deus ex machina. In this article modern conceptualisations of development are challenged in three steps. First, it traces the history of development discourse over the post-Berlin Conference colonial and post-WWII development eras, suggesting that, while rhetoric of racial and cultural inferiority has been transformed, the notion of African deficiency remains at the conceptual and discursive levels. Second, the primarily liberal idea that ‘development for all’ is possible is challenged as being an ecological and economic, and therefore also social, impossibility. Third, given the problems of growth-based development, the article suggests that modern development theory ought to give way to post-developmental thinking which challenges standard a priori assumptions regarding rationality, linearity and modernity, thus offering some modest hope for a move ‘beyond’ the current development impasse.
This article analyses a radical critique of the discourse of ‘development’ as a hegemonic form of representation of the Third World that has been advanced recently by a number of Third World scholars. Although originating in various geographical areas, the authors of this group nevertheless share certain assumptions and concerns. Prominent among these are the interest in local knowledge and culture as the basis for redefining representations; a critical stance with respect to established scientific knowledge; and the defence and promotion of localized, pluralistic grassroots movements. The call of these authors for the dismantling of ‘development’ is discussed in the context of broader questions posed by the emergence of 1980s' and 1990s' social movements generally.