Development: Impact on the Ground

The Question of Sustainability 

In the first essay on of this series on Development and its Alternatives, we saw the idea of Development from the perspective of societies that had witnessed it and which, with an evangelical zeal, were ready to export it to other parts of the World. Then we took our analysis to the civilisational context and the mindset in which Development was welcomed by those who were ‘underdeveloped’ and ‘backward’. In this final essay, we look into the changes that development brought about and if the present conception of development is sustainable.

Chinese action in Tibet: Denying
Tibetans their Tradition

More often than not, development has been used as a pretext to invade countries and regions that the aggressors perceive to be backward. China, for instance annexed Tibet in the 1950s, purportedly to free Tibetans of poverty and destitution. However, what we see in the form of development has also caused destruction of an entire race. The results of Mao’s Cultural Revolution focusing on purging traditional elements from the society are visible even today. Few weeks ago I met a girl of Tibetan domicile, at a café in McLeod Ganj - the seat of Tibetan government in exile. During the course of our discussion on Tibet, I came to know that she was in India to learn her language - Tibetan. She was fluent in Chinese but never had the opportunity to learn her mother tongue in her homeland. With a single minded commitment to Development in Tibet, the Chinese government is also following a policy of repression of local knowledge and culture. I am conscious enough to not fall prey to propaganda on any side be it the Tibetan Government in India or the Chinese, but this story of linguistic oppression perpetrated in order to ingrain certain ideas of development in a society is nothing less than barbaric.

Kondha Tribe guard their habitat

This straight jacketing of cultures, in the name of development is happening globally, the situation back home is not much different. The Kondha tribe inhabiting the Nyam Giri Hills in Odisha, known to worship nature, faces an existential crisis

as mining companies want to expand their operations into the hills worshipped by the tribe. Is it right for us to encroach upon the territories used by those who may not agree with a majority way of living? Instead of decrying indigenous people as backward or anti-development, I believe it is important for us to reflect upon predatory practices that development has ushered in. A good lesson can be drawn from Bolivia where the government has made an effort to reconcile and incorporate diverse traditions and cultures by enshrining in their constitution, rights specific to the nature. Under these laws, trees and wildlife have a right to life under conditions that are not a threat to their future existence.  This way, we may be able to protect indigenous ways of living, while pursuing development in a more humane way; one that is destructive neither for man nor for nature.

Signs of American Inequality

Not only is it a threat to cultures and environment, development of this kind is also creating inequality within societies. Development, originally conceived to remedy poverty of the ‘Third World’ has effectively created islands of destitution and suffering in the third world. No less than Jawaharlal Nehru, once a proponent of Mega Hydro projects and Industry, as evident from his adulation of  ‘Dams as Temples of Modern India’ was forced to reconsider his views when he saw the large scale displacement, suffering these projects caused to people who had to give up everything so that development could take place. Even to this day, people who had given up their lands for projects like Bhakra Nagal Dam have not been properly compensated for their lands. For that matter, even in United States large amounts of disparity between the rich and the poor exists. A cousin, living in Atlanta, Georgia told me how the city had a déjà vu with its poor when hordes of urban poor suddenly became visible as city tram services were made free of charge, effectively enabling them to use modern modes of transport for the first time.

Even if we apply a more humane version of development that is successful in addressing matters of cultural subjugation, environmental damage or inequality within society, how will we be able to address the question of resource limitation? Is the present Development model, closely bracketed with a consumerist economic behavior sustainable? The important question here to ask, as Ramchandra Guha, does in his book, ‘How much should a person consume?’ is can the entire world achieve American level of Development? Is it even possible given our limited natural resources? Already statistics show that if the whole world was to achieve American level of car ownership there would be 4 billion cars on Earth, where is the metal, oil and gas to achieve it. The trends that we see are already dangerous, China, with its mammoth demand, as Thomas Friedman cites, consumes 45 billion pairs of chopsticks every year accounting for 25 million fully grown trees. What kind of afforestation program can compensate for such scarring of the Earth? Who said Gandhi, was not a genius, his prescience about “Earth” having “enough to satisfy human needs but not greed” can be no truer today.

It would be woolly eyed optimism, if not plain foolishness on my part to say that Post-Development is the alternative and Development is bad. I would be fooling myself with such black and white characterization. But I believe that Development in its present form is not the best solution to improving livelihood of ‘All’ humanity, it may have worked for some but it is definitely not working for all. Post-development theory shows some promise in remedying the perversion of Development by preserving and propagating what exists in traditional ways of life. My sincere hope is that we will find a path somewhere in the middle of these two extremes. The first step though is to clearly recognize that there is something wrong in the direction in which the world is heading.