Development
Writing in 1931, Albert Sarraut, former governor general of French Indo-China, found mankind confronted by a dilemma: “While in a narrow corner of the world nature has concentrated in white Europe the powers of invention, the means of progress, and the dynamic of scientific advancement, the greatest accumulation of natural wealth is locked up in territories occupied by backward races who, not knowing how to profit by it themselves, are even less capable of releasing it to the greater circular current that nourishes the ever growing needs of humanity.” Cloaked in the garb of progress, and the greater good of humanity, Sarraut’s observation does not quite manage to conceal the imperial impatience when confronted by obstacles in alienating resources controlled by the “backward races.” In highlighting the identity between human development and the objectives and activities of Western white populations, the passage reveals the deeply held belief of Western administrators and scientists that it was the white race that stood at the helm of progress. Consider, for example, the American writer, Richard Davis, who visited Honduras in 1896. He asserts: “There is no more interesting question of the present day than that of what is to be done with the world’s land which is lying unimproved; whether it shall go to the great power that is willing to turn it to account, or remain with its original owner, who fails to understand its value. The Central Americans are like a gang of semi-barbarians in a beautifully furnished house, of which they can understand neither its possibilities of comfort nor its use.”[1]
Sources
- ↑ Agrawal, A. (1997). The Politics of Development and Conservation: Legacies of Colonialism1. Peace Change, 22(4), 463–482. doi:10.1111/0149-0508.00062