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Development criticism is any of a number of viewpoints critical of modernism and its impact on contemporary society. It is also called anti-modernism. Development critical movements represent a wide range of critiques, including appeals to tradition, religion, spirituality, environmentalism, aesthetics, pacifism or agrarian virtues. Essential characteristics of modern society such as modern technology, industrialization, capitalism and globalization of economy are disapproved by most of development critics.

The most well known development critic is Mohandas Gandhi, who critisized heavily modern technology and many other characteristics of western culture. He - like many other development critics - recommened local food production instead of modern trade. These days, similar thinkers often criticize contemporary globalization.

Environmental issues are important for development critics. Many of them even have first arrived to development critical conclusions because they see modern society as a threat for environment.

Also the happiness of people is one of the central themes in development critical writings. Modern societies - despite of all their goal-orieted complexity and amount of labour time - do not help people to reach happiness according to critics. Instead, happiness is often seen as harder to reach in modern society compared to primitive ones.

Often development critics criticize concepts used in modern societies, such as poverty and other welfare-related conceptualizations such as human development index and gross national product. According to critics, these kind of concepts make misleadingly the life of primitive or alternative societies to look dull for modern people. For example, high longevity level is seen as a objectively good thing, which according to critics, is wrong. Modern societies have subjective standards for welfare, but they apply these standards universally and (mis)judge other societies with them. Also attempts to develope non-developed societies are often seen as cause of misery and trouble. It is thus recommended that the development project should be cancelled. Some even see the word "development" as negative and think that it represents the conceptual imperialism.

Development critics can be pacifists like Mohandas Gandhi or use violece like Unabomber. Development critics are often politically left leaned and favour ideas such as pacifism and local-level democracy. But some, like Pentti Linkola, have even favoured dictatorship. Development critics are in most of cases filantropists but some may be misanthropists, blaming human nature for the problems of the earth.

Also some religious organizations, like for example Roman Catcholic Church, have time to time taken anti-modernist and development critical stances by critizising modern technology or other principal characteristics of prevailing societies.

In modern academic discussion, post-development (and some other post-modernist lines of thinking), have been advocates of development critical views.

Famous development critics

• Arturo Escobar
• Gustavo Esteva
• Mohandas Gandhi
• Ivan Illich
• Pentti Linkola
• Henry Thoreau
• Unabomber

See also

• Amish
• Critical theory
• Eco-anarchism
• Deep ecology
• Industrialization
• High modernism
• Luddite
• Modernization
• Modernist Crisis
• Neo-Tribalism
• Primitivism
• Post-Development
• Religious fundamentalism
• Technophobia
• Victorianism

Development crticial literature

• Arturo Escobar - Encountering Development (1994)
• Development Dictionary (ed. Wolfgang Sachs, 1991)
• Mohandas Gandhi: Hind Swaraj (1909)
• Ivan Illich: Tools for Conviviality (1973)
• Post-Development Reader (ed. Majid Rahnema, 1997)
• Henry Thoreau: Walden (1854)

External links

• Antimodernism MSN Group
• Compost modernity

• Modernism
• Postmodernism
• Culture
• Society