In the name of aid, progress, growth, empowerment or sustainability, development has always had the sense of being something "good" or "positive". But poverty and inequality are outcomes of the systematic and unequal integration of "poorer" countries into the global economic structures. Learn more about this with a timeline of western development politics, its criticism and movements fighting for alternative concepts to improve and change the world.
Whether it's called development aid, development cooperation or development policy - development is a controversial field in politics and repeatedly sparks criticism and debate. Generally speaking, development can be understood as activities that aim to improve a country's economic, social, societal or technical situation.
In this idea of development, power hierarchies and imbalances between countries, people, economies and institutions are deeply rooted. A look at history shows that this is no coincidence: development in this sense is a legacy of colonialism, which is based on the exploitation of people and nature and is intended to maintain this. As such, development is also closely linked to the current economic system of capitalism with its ultimate goal of economic growth.
This timeline traces the emergence of development from its colonial beginnings to its current form.
As it turns out, global inequality is not a technical problem or a flaw in the system, but one that requires rethinking society as a whole. Development policy is an important means for the West to stabilize and constantly re-establish this global injustice and dominance in the world. So if we want to criticize the understanding of development described above, we must also question all the principles associated with it: A worldview that favors and centers Europe (Eurocentrism), capitalism and economic growth in general.
Das folgende Video bietet eine grundlegende Kritik an der Idee von Entwicklung als Wirtschaftswachstum. Es soll dabei helfen, dieses System zu analysieren und eine kritische Perspektive auf das Thema einzunehmen.
The ideas of capitalism and development are spread throughout Western societies in a very dominant way; to the extent that it seems almost impossible to change anything or imagine alternatives. While the Global North is fundamentally founded on capitalism, for ‘developing’ countries capitalism is the goal they are supposed to strive for. In this context, it is high time to challenge these dominant concepts:
In the following method, you can learn about some ideas to transform and decolonize development.
Alternatives to development does not mean looking for alternatives to development or alternative ways to become like the West. Rather, it involves a fundamental shift from the universal model of Western development to existing alternatives of self organizing among those most affected from the development project. Alternatives come from the grassroots movements and local communities from around the globe, especially in the Global South.
The following world map provides an interactive learning experience to the user with a compilation of concepts, worldviews, practices, social movements and resistances that question the modernist ideology of development and go beyond those practices based on their cultural contexts.
This article is part of the series Exiting the Crisis! - Understanding Crises and Paths to Global Justice, which was produced in cooperation with Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie (external link, opens in a new window). Online Editing by Alina Kopp. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons License CC BY 4.0 (external link, opens in a new window)! Share, use or adapt it for your educational work. Don't forget to republish it under the same conditions and mention L!NX and the authors.
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