Resetting Our Goals?

The term “developed” seems to be this era’s version of “civilized”. The Ancient Greeks called anyone who was not a part of civilized Greek society “barbarians” (barbaros), yet they also used the term derogatorily between their own city states. Gilbert Rist’s article “Development as a buzzword” lays out the multifaceted but entirely vague concept we have come to know as “being developed”. This idea of development is somewhat difficult to discuss in the context of my study abroad experiences in England. England was the original modern super power. It was the seat of western civilization after the Renaissance and only gave up the title last century. It has been a developed nation for hundreds of years. But there was a time it was not developed.

On my sixth day in England, Lancaster University had arranged a trip to Chester, one of the best examples of a walled city in the UK, for the Study Abroad students. Chester also has Roman ruins. The Romans came to England around 55 B.C.E. The Romans, believing themselves to be the more civilized people, seized the lands from the Celtic peoples. With the Romans came Roman ideals of development. Amphitheaters were created. Baths were built. Gladiatorial combat was ordered. All the things the Romans believed to be the epitomes of western civilization were brought to the barbaric Celts.

Keeping this in mind, we can now, as Rist writes, "debunk the 'development' buzzword." Rist also writes: 
To do so [debunk 'development'] means that we must define it properly – relying on actual social practices, rather than wishful thinking. We must be aware of its inclusion in a corpus of beliefs that are difficult to shatter, expose its mischievous uses, and denounce its consequences. The most important thing, however, is to make it plain that there is life after ‘development’ – certainly a different one from what we in the privileged regions are used to, but there is no evidence to suggest that we would lose on such a deal.

 
Romans forced their beliefs on the Celts. They used these beliefs to hold themselves above the 'lesser' Celts. But this was not the end of the so called development. Today, England has developed past the Romans, past the Normans. But this doesn't mean that it is done developing. There is no ultimate utopia that marks the supposed end of development as things are constantly changing, constantly in flux.

Amphitheater in Chester

Roman Baths