The ‘Post-Development’ Critique PDF

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the 'post-development' critique including Escobar’s elucidation and Murray Li’s manifestation...

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N.A.R The ‘Post-Development’ Critique Mainstream (‘neoclassical’) development thinking: Monetary poverty, Washington Consensus, structural adjustment Alternative development thinking: Human Development, capabilities, alternative development thinking ‘Post-Development’ thinkers argue that even ‘alternative’ development is insufficiently critical of existing global power structures and that the entire project of development needs to be rethought and abandoned Anti-Politics Machine - James Ferguson Post-development critique is rooted in a Focaultian perspective -Foucault was concerned with the link between power and knowledge →argued that those in power defined and shaped what constitutes ‘knowledge’ “Power relations are embedded within social relations and are exercised through institutional relations that discipline our ways of thinking and acting through self-regulation”F oucault, 1997 -discipline in not just a physical but intellectual sense -proposition of ‘genealogies  of knowledge’:  tracing the historical emergence and institutionalisation of certain ‘modes of thinking’ -for post-development thinkers, ‘development’ is one such mode of thinking Escobar’s Elucidation Escobar, A., 1996 Encountering Development -key text in the post-development movement -argues that ‘development’ emerges out of, and perpetuates, a colonial worldview -legitimized but not fundamentally transformed by the ‘Truman  Doctrine’, human rights discourse, etc -3 ‘axes’ that define development 1. Forms of knowledge 2. System of Power 3. Forms of ‘subjectivity’ -ppl become ‘problematized’ as ‘the poor’: technocratic, top-down solutions become inevitable -problem isn’t the global system, it’s the poor people even if we’re benevolent and want to help, it's a way of thinking that victimises the poor -poor become culpable in their own condition, they’re to blame and it’s their fault for being irrational agents and they should act the way ‘development’ expects them to Murray Li’s Manifestation -Escobar is very theoretical and abstract T.M, Li., 2007, The Will to Improve l ooks at a particular development project in Indonesia, the Kecamatan Development Project -model they developed has been replicated in Nepal, Sierra Leone and other developing countries -argues that the project, a ‘Community Driven Development’: about providing villages with what they needed was actually more about inculcating certain ‘modes of being’ and ways of thinking that were in line with the ‘development’ agenda -national level allocated funds to the local level, they then decide what to spend the money on -project was about ‘recreating’ ppl as compliant participants in a development process (primarily of benefit to outsiders)

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What does post-development hope to achieve? -acceptance of different ontologies/worldviews and epistemologies and ways of knowing -’autonomy’: not contesting power but opting out -critically challenging ideas of measurement, generalising, ‘scaling up’ -challenging notions of scientific truth -eco-centric valuing of the Earth, the land rather than anthropocentric valuing of humans first Indigenous Peoples’ Movements -defined by the UN as ‘politically under-privileged group, who share a similar.. Identity different to the nation in power’ -’fourth world’ as ‘cultural groups in a given region who formerly or currently inhabit the region before its subsequent colonisation or annexation, or independently or isolates from the influence of the claimed governance of a nation-state’

-UN declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People passed in 2007 -Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US voted against it →Autonomous Uni’s - from India to Canada ‘radical re-imagination’ student-led learning, emphasises responsibility to and relationship with the Earth, no entry criteria, no certificate, no fees -Political movement, e..g Peoples’ Rights Movement. Aim to openly oppose govt practices that inflict oppression on peasants; a ‘revolution through shared knowledge’ -their efforts are divided between helping afflicted communities to mobilise and stand up the govt and military to influence NGOs of different types to alter their own practices towards being overtly politicised. Opposed to donor funding - also Mexico’s Zapatistas Indigeous movements are about autonomy not power: the freedom to develop or not as they choose -indigenous cultures provide alternative epistemologies including: -oral transfer of knowledge -holistic way of viewing the world -context -history -dreams + visions -co-construction, inter subjective -spiritual ecology -deep connection to the animate world -environmental technology The World Social Forum -civil society isn’t only national →increasingly linked through international networking - one of the implications of ‘globalisation’ -World Social Forum - organised, global civil society to counter the World Economic Forum, name was purposeful due to similarity -Porto Alegre, Brazil as the location choice -alternativeness, left political party, participatory budgeting -WSF, broad anti-capitalist, anti-globalisation, anti-neoliberal collection including NGOs, social movements, individuals, artists cutting across social, class, regional + cultural divides. -counter-hegemonic movement, ‘alternative world beyond capitalism’...