Krishna Gandhi
Abstract : An attempt is made in this article to explain the genesis of the term 'Development' and its implied meanings. In 1949, the then US President Harry Truman emphatically declared that it was America's duty to bring “Development” to the industrially backward and underdeveloped areas of the world. This duty, he claimed, America could perform on the basis of modern Science and Technology it possessed. In this narrative of “Development”, backward countries are considered incapable of “Developing” themselves as they lack the knowledge of modern Science and Technology. Only through the help of external governments and international institutions like the World Bank that command such knowledge, can they hope to ascend the ladder of &” “Development”. In contrast to this, the Swarajist vision assumes that countries and social formations are equipped with the knowledge to collectively decide their own future, and that they do not need an external agency or government (including even their own) to chart out the course of their “Development”.
The issue of 'Development' has been at the centre of post colonial political discourse for more than seven decades now. In the present national and international context where in the name of 'Development' unjust and anti-people systems of exploitation and deprivation are being imposed, It may be worth looking at the origin and meaning of 'Development'. The word 'Development' was first used by the former US President Harry Truman during his inaugural speech on 20 January 1949. The following excerpts from his speech may help us understand the post second world war American vision of Development.
"...we must embark on a bold new program for making the benefits of our scientific advances and industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas.
More than half the people of the world are living in conditions approaching misery. Their food is inadequate. They are victims of disease. Their economic life is primitive and stagnant. Their poverty is a handicap and a threat both to them and to more prosperous areas.
For the first time in history, humanity possesses the knowledge and skill to relieve suffering of these people.
The United States is pre-eminent among nations in the development of industrial and scientific techniques.
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I believe that we should make available to peace-loving peoples the benefits of our store of technical knowledge in order to help them realize their aspirations for a better life. And, in cooperation with other nations, we should foster capital investment in areas needing development.
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Greater production is the key to prosperity and peace. And the key to greater production is a wider and more vigorous application of modern scientific and technical knowledge."
The following conclusions follow from his speech:
There is only one path of Development and it is the American path. Alternative paths of Development do not exist.
Maximizing production is what constitutes Development.
Industrial scale centralized production is necessary for maximization of production.
The US is at the forefront of this Development path and all other nations follow it.
More than half of the world are "underdeveloped" and are lagging in the path of development.
It is the duty of the US to bring Development to the underdeveloped areas of the world.
By claiming that "for the first time in history humanity possesses the knowledge and skill to relieve the suffering of more than half of the world", all knowledge of non-western origin is dismissed as having no value.
Development will be realised through the "vigorous application of modern scientific and technical knowledge".
Implicit in this idea of Development are the following controversial assumptions:
9. Time is linear. The pre-modern conception of cyclical time - a repeating sequence of seasons/epochs/aeons is discarded.
10. Agriculture and other decentralized and distributed modes of (artisanal) production are primitive, backward and unscientific and result in underdevelopment. As opposed to this, only centralized industrial production using modern S&T can bring Development.
11. The necessary condition for Development, namely, ever increasing production, ignores the fact that production and destruction go hand in hand: that they are in fact two sides of the same coin. And industrial production destroys not only the raw materials but also natural resources essential for human sustenance like Land, Forest, Water and Air. Such is the scale of destruction that pollution and global warming are threatening human survival itself.
12. From an intransitive verb, 'Develop' has been transformed into a transitive verb, meaning that an external agency (subject) Develops a nation or community (object). Thus Development now is considered impossible without the intervention and expertise of the World Bank, IMF, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, the UN, the governments of developed nations, and so on or at the very least NGOs. Simply put, this paradigm of Development considers that peoples and nations outside the sphere of influence of the western world are morally and intellectually too weak and incapable to solve their own problems. Such an attitude is shockingly similar to the civilizing mission of the European nations during the colonial era. In this light, 'Development' seems to be nothing but Colonialism in a new garb.
13. The ostensible reason why the non-western world is considered incapable of self-development is that they lack modern scientific and technical knowledge.
Both the capitalist and the communist paths of development (gifts of the West) cause concentration of power and accumulation of Capital (resources and knowledge combined) in the hands of corporations or of the state. The result is disempowerment and deprivation of the vast majority of people.
Gandhi's conception of Swaraj, on the other hand, is premised on preventing concentration of power in the hands of individuals and/or the state. There was no question of state control over resources or over knowledge. And individual ownership of capital was to be treated as a form of trusteeship. But society, consisting of autonomous communities of people (panchayats) and following a moral code or dharma, was to control, if not own, the means of production. Economics was not to be reduced to the study of the play of individual greed. Every member of society was required to participate in production processes and that was to include physical labour. There was to be no unemployment. All labour was equally dignified, be it manual or mental. The mad rush to produce more through more and more powerful machines would only lead to inequalities of wealth and power, ultimately resulting in the enslavement of the vast majority by a powerful few. His warnings stand vindicated by the tragic state of affairs of the world today.
This Swarajist vision considers that peoples or communities are equipped with the knowledge and capacity to self-develop themselves. The very beneficiaries of Development must be allowed to decide what is good for themselves and act accordingly. Even the role of elected governments must be minimized, for, that government is best which governs least.
In the Swarajist vision, ends do not justify the means. Future goals (teleology), however noble, cannot be used to justify oppressive present (ontology). Non-violent action is the ideal. This is in conformity with our Sant Parampara, where living the present the correct way (the path of dhamma/dharma) is considered non-negotiable. It is, as if, that If we take care of the present the correct way, the future will take care of itself.
This Swarajist vision stands opposed to the UN exercises of setting up MDGs and SDGs which are nothing but attempts by powerful corporations to control the destinies of the people of the world for their own profit. It equally stands opposed to the policies of nation states like India and China that dispossess people of their livelihoods, lands and habitats in the name of Development.
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The author taught Physics at the Bipin Bihari PG College Jhansi. He is an alumnus of IIT Kanpur (PhD), IIT Kharagpur (MSc) and University College Thiruvananthapuram (Bsc). He is an active participant in the farmers movement, and has varied interests ranging from Society, Science &Technology to Music.
In 1949, the world was recovering from a devastating World War. Countries from the Global South were emerging after years of exploitation and grinding poverty. The US was probably the only economy which emerged stronger after the War. So these comments by Truman should also be seen in that context. Gandhi's message for Swaraj was relevant for mobilizing the masses against an imperial power whose only intent was to drain and loot the country. But in the post-independence world order, countries had to make hard choices. We opted for centralized planning which was a mix of self sufficiency and a deep suspicion of luxury goods. How that panned out can be easily cross checked with our indicators pre and post-1991.