By Robin Aarts.
How is the concept of development approached differently by Western and non-Western scholars and how is it put in practice by the World Bank and the New Development Bank?
It can be argued that the concept of development is mainly and almost exclusively based on the Western knowledge system and this has marginalised non-Western contributions to the literature on development. However, one may have the idea that the Western and non-Western view differ enormously from each other and that they both take a different practical approach to achieving development. It will be analysed if this is really the case or if there are more similarities between the two views than one might think. This blogpost answers the question: “How is the concept of development approached differently by Western and non-Western scholars and how is it put in practice by the World Bank and the New Development Bank?”
What Western Scholars Think
Several important Western scholars focus on the economic aspects of development and regard foreign intervention as something that will always lead to better outcomes for the developing world. Jeffrey Sachs for example has stated that developing countries cannot escape the poverty trap on their own and they need the West to help them achieve this. The developing world is thus portrayed as a passive actor that needs help and support from leading Western development institutions, such as the World Bank. Moreover, several Western scholars, such as Lundsgaarde, have been critical of South-South cooperation, and believe that it is important for the ‘traditional’ aid community to cooperate with the new actors. They insist that the West needs to maintain its leading position in guiding the course of development in the Global South. In that sense, it can be argued that one of the main interests for the West is the power that it enjoys being in the position of the donor, whereas its priority should be the improvement of the developing world.
There is a belief by the World Bank that it should take a leading role in the projects, and it thinks it knows the best strategies for tackling poverty and combatting income inequality. It also puts forward the importance of foreign aid, since intervention by the West can only improve the conditions of the developing world. It believes that development is achieved when countries take over their measures and regulations. Moreover, it mainly focusses its goals on economic development, which is in line with Western scholarship on development and economic growth. However, one should of course recognise that not all Western scholars write their arguments in a similar vein. There is also a large part of the Western community that is highly critical about development as a Western concept and it questions both the theoretical as well as the practical side of it, with scholars such as Donnelly and Pan, Briggs and Sharp, and Naylor. They believe that the developing world does not need the West as some sort of ‘saviour’ and that some forms of intervention will only make the developing world worse off. However, a critique that can be posed to this is that this whole viewpoint seems slightly contradictory. Critical Western scholars argue that the West is dominating the field and that a stronger voice should be given to the developing world. However, by writing on this topic, are they not contributing themselves to the Western viewpoint on development?
"Critical Western scholars argue that the West is dominating the field and that a stronger voice should be given to the developing world. However, by writing on this topic, are they not contributing themselves to the Western viewpoint on development?"
The View of Non-Western Scholars
The critical Western approach is similar to the non-Western approach on development. When analysing papers about development written by non-Western scholars about development, one of the things that comes to the fore is the critique of the West and how it tries to impose its norms and ideas on the developing world. Authors such as Escobar and Ibhawoh argue that the West has implemented some sort of development discourse to which the rest of the world needs to adhere. Moreover, they argue that foreign aid has not always led to the expected benefits because of the failed strategies of the West. However, not much attention has been given to alternatives to development by non-Western scholars. The main point of interest is that of criticising the West, without strongly arguing about how else it can be done. The only good example we could find in the literature is that of Buen Vivir, which is an alternative model from Latin America that tries to harmonise people with nature without just focussing on economic growth. Moreover, it was difficult to find a large number of papers written by non-Western scholars, which also indicates the nature of the problem of the South not having a strong voice in the academic field. Moreover, non-Western scholars based in the developing world do not get featured as often in mainstream academic journals and language itself can also form a barrier. This is contradictory, because the topic of development is something that mostly concerns the developing world.
When comparing the non-Western approach in literature with the approach of the New Development Bank (NDB), they appear to be quite similar. They both critique the Western dominance in the field and strive to have non-western voices heard. Non-Western scholars try to look at development from their own perspective, while that is also one of the main priorities of the NDB. Even though the NDB is a strong alternative to the World Bank, it does not differ completely in its strategies towards development. It is more focussed on infrastructure and national cooperation than the World Bank, but it also focusses on several economic aspects and it strives towards economic growth. Both literature written by non-Western scholars and the NDB are thus an alternative to the Western power, but it remains to be seen if these alternatives are strong enough to compete with Western hegemony.
By Robin Aarts
Robin is from the Netherlands. Before starting at IDS she did a Bachelors in Liberal Arts and Sciences with a major in Social Sciences and also completed a Masters in International Relations. She is mostly interested in how to tackle poverty and inequality, while also considering the environmental and sustainable aspects of development.
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