Theory of Knowledge - Course Companion for Students Marija Uzunova Dang Arvin Singh Uzunov Dang

the elds of economics and political science,
Within
studies is a large and important, as well
development
exciting, area of enquiry. The term “development”
as
meanings that reect and reinforce how
contains
has typically been approached. When one
development
of the associations of the words “development”
thinks
“developing”, one may imagine a small child
and
up”, developing strong bones and limbs,
“growing
bigger and gaining knowledge. This serves to
getting
the process of development and invokes a
naturalize
and status dierential between the developed
power
developing—between adults and children naturally,
and
between rich and poor nations problematically and
but
inaccurately.
developing nations “growing up” into actualized
Are
of themselves? Perhaps the term “economic
versions
would be more accurate and/or helpful, as
recovery”
alternative to “economic development”. A number of
an
historians, notably Mike Davis, have argued that
political
developing nations—the Third World, as they were
the
known—were “made” through the processes of
formerly
and imperialism that destroyed or depleted
colonialism
language is not merely a body of vocabulary
A
a set of grammatical rules. It is a ash of the
or
spirit, the means by which the soul of each
human
culture reaches into the material world.
particular
language is an old growth forest of the mind,
Every
watershed of thought, an entire ecosystem of
a
xplor linguisti divrsity is to ngag with
To
multipl prsptivs ontaind within ovr
th
human languags. Thr ar powrful and
7,000
fors ating on ths languags
unprdntd
resources. Instead of a young child who needs to
and
up, then, these nations might be more accurately
grow
through the metaphor of a patient recovering
presented
illness or, more specically, infection. This
from
is aligned with our exploration of dierent
argument
to history, such as restitutive and ethical
approaches
versus faithful histories, in Chapter 9,
histories
IV. section
metaphor of recovery avoids the paternalistic
The
of the word “development” and restores
overtones
to the recovering, rather than emphasizing
agency
need for development assistance. It centres the
their
of this inequity as something inflicted rather
cause
natural, for which justice, and not charity, is the
than
also the term “economic growth”, which,
Consider
sounds like an earnest and natural process
again,
nations should strive for. Children grow into
that
saplings grow into mighty trees. Indeed,
adults;
and plants that fail to grow are, like nations,
children
with concern. But, when confronted with
beheld
environmental devastation and
consumption-driven
depletion, perhaps we need another word
resource
target. We explore growth, green growth,
and
and economic happiness in Chapter 8.
de-growth
that dsrv our attntion. Thr
transformations
also diffrnt prsptivs aout th natur of
ar
its rol and rlationship to knowldg.
languag,
xplor a divrsity of prsptivs oth
W
was th UN’s Intrnational Yar of
2019
Languags, and lratd divrsity
Indignous
simultanously signalling onrn for th
whil
rat at whih this divrsity is ing lost.
rapid
th 7,000 human languags that w know of,
Of
wnt xtint twn 1950 and 2010. Th
230
has sin inrasd suh that on languag
rat
now lost vry two wks. Som stimats
is
II. Perspectives
I. Scope
II. Perspectives
Making connections
Growth and development as metaphor
more appropriate response.
knowledge systems, social systems, infrastructure
I I . P E R S P E C T I V E S
within and aout languag in this stion.
spiritual possibilities.
II.1 Linguistic and epistemic diversity
(Davis 2003)
du to gloalization, uranization and othr
93