Goulet on Development Ethics and Non-elite Participation

Crocker, David (2007). "Goulet on Development Ethics and Non-elite Participation" Paper presented at the 4th annual conference of the HDCA, 18-20 September 2007, New York, USA.

One of the ideas that has changed the recent history of development theory and practice has been development ethics -- ethical reflection on the ends and means of local, national, and global development. One of the pioneers of this interdisciplinary field was Denis Goulet. In this paper I address four interrelated themes in Goulet’s work: (1) the three-fold curse of underdevelopment—poverty, powerlessness, and hopelessness; (2) “authentic” development as the “transforming the [the victims of underdevelopment] into subjects, conscious and active shapers of their history;” (3) the diverse tasks of the development ethicist as analyst, critic, advocate, and change agent; (4) the three ethical principle of “decent sufficiency for all, solidarity, and non-elite participation. Especially important in this paper is my analysis, evaluation, and attempts to strengthen Goulet’s suggestive typology and assessment of types and channels of citizen participation in development.
scroll to top