scholarly journals Beyond Western-Centric and Eurocentric Development: A Case for Decolonizing Development

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebeka Richard Plaatjie

This article focuses on the analysis of the development discourse from the viewpoint of critical decolonial perspective informed by the work of scholars such as Walter Mignolo that privileges ‘border thinking’ and is predicated on the notions of ‘I think from where I stand’. Its proposition is that there is a need for decolonization and ‘Africanization’ of the development discourse to reflect the core needs of the African peoples, particularly the poor. The paper starts off with a critique of mainstream development discourse and also proceeds to make a case for a new African development discourse that takes into account African historical experiences and indigenous African thought. This new African development discourse will put the African people first and be constructed from their core values, needs and demands.

Author(s):  
Scott Guggenheim

AbstractMichael Cernea’s key insight was that the core concepts of sociology and anthropology—social organization, culture, participation, and symbolic construction—could improve the quality and effectiveness of development. His key achievement was in the fact that he and the people he inspired were able to bridge the gap between analyst and practitioner to show that these anthropological and sociological concepts really could make a difference in how development affected the poor. In this article, I’ll do my best to use describe my own journey from naïve graduate student to World Bank team leader for the Kecamatan Development Program, one of the world’s earliest and largest community development programs.


Public Voices ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 82
Author(s):  
William D. Richardson ◽  
Ronald L. McNinch

"Forrest Gump" bas been extraordinarily popular with the ordinary citizens and one of the reasons is self-evident: it presents a Jeffersonian confidence in the moral stalwartness of the yeoman citizenry that runs counter to some of the current approaches in ethics. The film celebrates a basic decency and a common sense that are accessible to all. No real or imagined superiority is required for one to partake. The film is not only popular but also populist in its assertion of the primacy of the ordinary citizen within this regime. In a political climate that now finds the tenure of elected officials uncertain and the legitimacy of public administration suspect, the visible portrayal of exemplary citizen virtues may serve as a timely reminder to all that, more so than any other regime, a democratic republic is ultimately and fundamentally dependent on the core values possessed by its citizenry.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002188632110260
Author(s):  
Abraham B. (Rami) Shani ◽  
David Coghlan

In this essay, we are arguing that the field of organizational change and development is positioned to face the challenges of researching change and changing for the next decade and beyond. The core values in the field—that researching change and enacting changing are collaborative ventures undertaken in the present tense where the outcome is actionable knowledge, and that it serves the practical ends of organizations and generates the knowledge of how organizations change—are of utmost relevant for the emerging workplace and organizations. Through differentiated consciousness interiority challenges the polarizations that beset the field (between science and practice) and provides an integrative process focused on the operations of human knowing.


Author(s):  
BARBARA ARNEIL

Using two recently published folios by Jeremy Bentham, I draw out a fundamental but little-analyzed connection between pauperism and both domestic and settler colonialism in opposition to imperialism in his thought. The core theoretical contribution of this article is to draw a distinction between a colonial, internal, and productive form of power that claims to improve people and land from within, which Bentham defends, and an imperial, external, and repressive form of power that dominates or rules over people from above and afar, that he rejects. Inherent in colonialism and the power unleashed by it are specific and profoundly negative implications in practice for the poor and disabled of Europe in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries subject to domestic colonialism and indigenous peoples subject to settler colonialism from first contact until today. I conclude Bentham is best understood as a pro-colonialist and anti-imperialist thinker.


2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-122
Author(s):  
Columbus N. Ogbujah ◽  

Benedict de Spinoza (1632–1677) was about the most radical of the early modern philosophers who developed a unique metaphysics that inspired an intriguing moral philosophy, fusing insights from ancient Stoicism, Cartesian metaphysics, Hobbes and medieval Jewish rationalism. While helping to ground the Enlightenment, Spinoza’s thoughts, against the intellectual mood of the time, divorced transcendence from divinity, equating God with nature. His extremely naturalistic views of reality constructed an ethical structure that links the control of human passion to virtue and happiness. By denying objective significance to things aside from human desires and beliefs, he is considered an anti-realist; and by endorsing a vision of reality according to which everyone ought to seek their own advantage, he is branded ethical egoist. This essay identified the varying influences of Spinoza’s moral anti-realism and ethical egoism on post-modernist thinkers who decried the “naïve faith” in objective and absolute truth, but rather propagated perspective relativity of reality. It recognized that modern valorization of ethical relativism, which in certain respects, detracts from the core values of the Enlightenment, has its seminal roots in his works.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 433-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell Craig ◽  
Rawiri Taonui ◽  
Susan Wild ◽  
Lũcia Lima Rodrigues

Purpose This paper aims to highlight the accountability reporting objectives of four Māori-controlled organizations. The examples cited reflect the core values of the indigenous Māori people of New Zealand (Aotearoa) and help demonstrate how these values are manifest in the accountability reporting of Māori-controlled organizations. Design/methodology/approach Narrative sections of ten annual reports of two small and two large Maori organizations, drawn variously from their financial years ending in the calendar years 2009 to 2014, are read closely. These organizations represent diverse tribal and regional associations in terms of size, scope and structure; and in terms of the business, social and cultural activities they pursue. Findings Three core Māori values are identified: spirituality (wairuatanga); intergenerationalism and restoration (whakapapa); and governance, leadership and respect (mana and rangatiratanga). The commitment to these values and the way this commitment is reflected in accountability reports of Maori organizations, is presented. Originality/value The examples provided, and the associated discussion, should help inform reporting initiatives of organizations that are seeking better accountability in terms of their long-term engagement with indigenous communities, the environment and broader society.


2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (83) ◽  
pp. 4-6
Author(s):  
Janet A. Young

Incidences of match-fixing impinge on the integrity of the game and undermine critical confidence required to grow the sport. This paper reviews match-fixing in light of recent media coverage and highlights the role coaches can play to strengthen the core values of true competition, fair play and sportsmanship. Several strategies for coaches to consider are proposed.


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