Cynicism/Criticism not Misplaced

Since I've started working in development and academia, I feel that I've become a little cynical or overly critical of NGO and charity work. This is something I have struggled with and I imagine others in development and/or academia might feel similar. This critical perspective often leads to negativity towards projects of development, and then spawns a sort of guilt for criticising the hard work of individuals who are sincerely trying make a difference. I have often felt like my criticism and cynicism is misplaced because rather than criticising development workers, I should be critical of people who have done nothing for development or those who engage in activities which are counter productive to broader development goal. It's better to do something good rather than nothing, right? It's better that to have a project will minimal positive impacts than no project and no improvements, right?

WRONG!

After reading a recent post on the Blood and Milk blog, I feel guilt no more! The entry entitled, "Three bad ideas for helping Haiti" critiques bad projects in a way that brings to light how development goes wrong and why. One of the main things I took away from this critique is the impact of the "culture of nice", on which Blood and Milk has previously posted, on development. I can empathise with this because of the guilt I feel about critiques I make of water and development projects; I feel like I should not be so negative because people involved are just trying to do something "nice". However I think it is key to remember that without the critique, there cannot be improvement and progress. If we cannot develop more effective ways to promote progress, then people, countries, regions will not benefit and development might more commonly be viewed as a sort of neo-colonial project of the West.

While I do not agree with all the critiques Blood and Milk launches at these three projects, humanitarian aid and development projects need to be thought through prior to implementation, especially if they are high-profile projects.  Projects need to be focused on needs of local people, even if it might not make logical sense to the development community.  I also believe that not all development projects are created equal and there is such a thing as doing development poorly; there are a lot of projects which are designed to help, but somehow end up leaving people worse off than before.  So my cynicism and criticisms are not misplaced, they are where there should be: on projects that can be improved to have a meaningful and lasting impact. If people do not critique bad projects, or bad parts of good projects, then there would be no progress.  The way I see development is that there is always a way to make things better; critiquing the way projects are currently done pushes our standards higher and we should accept nothing less.

A Development Christmas

Happy New Year to all!  The holiday times have just recently passed and the team at SOAS has been re-gearing for the New Year.  The SOAS buildings were closed for a short time, giving the academic and support staff time away from the office and hopefully more time at home with family and friends.  While I was wandering London’s streets over the holidays I saw parents rushing to get last minute gifts, families searching the aisles for large amounts of food, children buying small gifts and wrapping paper; London exuded the normal holiday joy, excitement and energy.

It was a nice…..until the cynic in me came out.  The more I wandered London, the more I began to see the excessiveness of this time of year.  In relation to water, I was thinking about how much extra water is used during the holiday season.  When one thinks about the additional production of gifts like toys and clothing, greeting cards, food and beverages, wrapping papers and ribbons and decorations, Christmas trees, it becomes apparent how much water (and other resources) must be used to support this cultural celebration. Also a lot of the water (and other materials) used in production have been “virtually” outsourced to the countries which are producing the range of goods the West consumes during this time of year.

In addition, thanks to modern technologies of telecommunications, it is easy for people in developing countries to see the excess of the West and their relative lack, which reproduces global socio-economic hierarchies.  In that sense, the season can be seen as reproducing inequity and relative poverty, and also arguably promoting the modern, western culture of “want”.

So after my holiday break, I still have questions about water and development.  Since the holiday season is a global phenomenon with global effects, should holiday celebrations be scaled down for the betterment of the world?  Here I have theorised some of the effects of the holidays, but what are some of the “real” effects of this season on developing countries where our food is grown and our toys are made?  Are developing countries affected, or am I just being a post-modern, development Scrooge?