The Following is an excerpt taken from my own writing, submitted for Sociology of Development and Globalization, submitted February 13, 2012 (SOCI 301, highly recommend it!!!)
It was amazing for me to study the history and context of “development”, and start to see how and why the world is the way that it is, and realize just how meaningful our words are! One very interesting reading for this class was a short text taken from Arturo Escobar’s ‘Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World, (Princeton University Press, Princeton N.J. , 1995), called ‘The Discourse of Development’. It is upon this text that I expand.
Enjoy!
“What does it mean to argue that development should be understood as a discourse?”
Amartya Sen describes public discussion as a vehicle for social change. Something happens, something is created as ideas are formed into sentences that are then pronounced, agreed upon, and disseminated. Perhaps the reason for this is due to the reality that everything that is translated into the natural, tangible world begins in thought form, is fortified as it is spoken, and is ignited into reality as perceptions and mindsets are molded in response. Conversation is the process of naming and un-naming, (Freire, Paolo) of speaking realities into existence, and of forecasting futures. When someone whose words hold weight says something, they are in essence creating a new reality in the dimension of the unseen and bringing it into the physical realm where its implications are tasted, touched, and felt by the people whom it affects. Development as a discourse is a particular way of understanding the world in which we live, and the powers that shape it. This paradigm considers the power of a word, which is the embodiment of a thought, the expression of a belief, and the action of a value. A discourse brings abstract ideas and concepts into an arrangement that can then be translated into an action, or series of actions. A discourse is a process of identifying values and establishing connections that shape perceptions, which then shape actions. Arturo Escobar refers to discourse as the process through which social reality comes into being, the articulation of knowledge and power, of the visible and the expressible,(Escobar, p. 84) and discusses the way in which words create space (p. 85) that guarantee a certain response. I doubt that Escobar is referring to physical space; rather, he is describing an unseen reality that houses our words. Words express values; and when those words are spoken with power, a reality and way of relating is established. Everything exists in relationship, the premises for engagement within are critical.
“A report that is issued by an expert has the potential to shape a reality for many, for it creates a premise upon which a response is justified. This report is an example of the ways in which a discourse creates a context for ‘development’”
Sen, Amartya, Development as Freedom
Friere, Paolo, Pedagogy of the Oppressed Escobar,
Arturo Escobar, Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World