rhetoric of "development" & indigenous peoples?
FRIEDERIKE GRAUER (f.grauer@dundee.ac.uk)
Wed, 4 May 1994 18:10:32 GMT
I have subscribed to this list in order to listen in an attempt
to unlearn my 'western' cultural conditionning and, if necessary, to
check my idealistic conceptions of Native Indian values and
practices.
When I hear Clinton speak of 'economic development for all tribes',
of 'investment' and 'economic competition', something in me cringes....
From a 'western' perspective, I am all too aware of how the rhetoric
of 'development' has served as ideological tool justifying centuries
of colonial and neo-colonial exploitation. Hence my misgivings.
( I do of course realize that 'development' could mean all sorts of
things and is not an exclusively 'western'/capitalist concept )
My first question therefore is: what kind of 'development' is envisaged
and on whose terms? and second, how do Native Indians of the list
feel about that notion of 'economic development'?
I would be very interested any response...
thanks
Friederike
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