An Inquiry into the Roots of the Modern Concept of Development

TLDR: In this article, the authors examined some historical examples of such dichotomies, with a special emphasis on the civilized-uncivilized conceptual pair and on the idea of civilizing the "Barbarian".

Abstract: Development policy rests on the conceptual division of the world between developed and underdeveloped countries. Th e article argues that this dichotomous way of splitting the world into one collective self, on one side, and a collective other, on the other, pertains to the category of what Koselleck has termed “asymmetrical counterconcepts.” Moreover, many of the characteristics of our modern concept of development directly derive from older counterconcepts or dichotomizations e.g. the idea that the underdeveloped can, in principle, “develop” and that developed countries should assist others in developing themselves. In this essay some historical examples of such dichotomies are examined, with a special emphasis on the civilized-uncivilized conceptual pair and on the idea of civilizing the “Barbarian.” Th e recapitulation of past dichotomies not only unearths the historical infl uences on the idea of development. Above all, it contributes to a better understanding of its present-day complexities.