The developmental trap is critical for understanding why people and communities remain impoverished despite various efforts to promote economic growth and development. I keep coming across development professionals, and civil society friends expressing their concerns about social and economic development and the urge to do something for society. Many such developmentalists do good work through their NGOs, CSR initiatives, and funds mobilised from different sources. However, I often fail to understand their motives. People are not asking them to come forward and do something for them. Why do they want to become self-proclaimed saviours of humanity and development? I often wonder whether their interventions have improved or harmed the lives of the people.
One needs to understand its origin, construct, and the political economy of development. People with development agendas have travelled to far-off places in quest of development and found people who were different from them, those who do not have what they should have. The first thing these developmentalists do is to create a hierarchy and label these naïve people as underdeveloped, poor, and marginalized. Nowadays, there is strong advocacy for creating a new class of ‘Ultra-Poor.’ Creating a ground to do something for development and bring change in the lives of these ultra-poor. They fail to understand whether people need them and their intervention prescriptions.
It is necessary to reflect on whether this quest to do something has made a positive change or destroyed people’s connection with their nature, society, social fabric, culture, and religion. Society evolves and develops gradually based on its needs, available resources, and sociocultural environment, in harmony without outside intervention. Often there is a demand for gradual change from within the society, and it evolves. Whereas the modern development agenda is imposed on people without understanding their society, culture, living, and needs from their perspectives. The feelings of supremacy, class, and hierarchy among developmentalists override the sense of what is right and wrong, leading to doubt and degradation of people’s ability to make decisions for themselves. This makes people dependent on others for their development. They lose control over themselves and their resources.
We do not allow people to interfere in our social lives and affairs. We know what is good for us. But when we extend this idea of ‘what is good for us will also be good for others,’ creates a class of haves and have-nots in terms of ideas, knowledge, resources, and supremacy over others. Knowingly and unknowingly, this supremacy of developmentalists, crusaders or saviours of humanity takes away the power from these people to make decisions and to decide what is good for them.
For the development of society, it is important to empower people to let them decide ‘what they want’ rather than imposing our development agenda and prescriptions. These prescriptions have not only impoverished people but their ecology too. Many development agendas have exploited natural resources, leading to deforestation, water scarcity, and so on. People have become poor because of the hidden agenda of powerful, self-proclaimed saviours of humanity in the name of development.
The politics of development and developmental traps are complex and require context-specific local solutions. Breaking free from these traps is difficult and requires empowering people and strengthening their institutions. By addressing these hidden development agenda that perpetuates poverty, it is possible to pave the way for an equitable future for all. Let people be free to choose and decide what is good for them.
The author is a Professor at Xavier Institute of Social Service, Ranchi; the views expressed are personal. Email: pandeyanant@hotmail.com
