Discuss how indigenous life projects engage with development projects. In what ways do they generate alternatives to the structures of governance promoted by external development initiatives?
(Note: This summary of readings was written in the second half of 2020 as part of a Mega development course)
Indigenous life projects engage with development projects by making the case for accountability and consultation with indigenous communities. However, they struggle to generate alternatives to the structures of governance promoted by external development initiatives because of unequal power relations where actions external development actors have more power and are able to steer outcomes in their favor.
Although, advocates of indigenous life projects do not achieve their desired outcomes in many cases, they are able to obtain some compensation. These compensations, is most cases, is also not equitable because it does not fully capture the loss of ecosystems and culture that is associated with “development projects.” Irrespective of their valid narratives about the impacts of development projects, the agency of local communities still gets undermined as they end up taking what the proponents of the development projects consider a good enough offer.
In addition, there is less flexibility to the needs of indigenous peoples, civil society, and the environment when the development project is market- and state-mandated. In these cases, communities in resistance set up “life projects” that “embody local history and incorporate visions and strategies for enhancing their social and economic ways of living and their relationships to state and markets.” According to Baras B. (Chpt. 3), these organized resistance development projects sometimes create rare opportunities to further those life projects that have been consistently blocked by the dominant society and provide communities an opportunity to live a purposeful and meaningful life.
Unlike life projects, “development projects” take more than they bring in (Baras B. (Chpt. 3)). The development projects create an impression that the value of what they bring in is greater. Without strong community leaders, these kinds of narratives inform actions in many contexts. Life projects empower communities, allowing them to speak for themselves and design projects that align to their needs. Baras B. (Chpt. 3) describes these development projects as treating local communities as if they are “babies still drinking from feeding bottles.” Life projects are also guided by expert indigenous projects for examples “expert shamans” who “like astronomers who observe the cosmos and its movements” and know how best to care for nature.
However, as McGregor D. (Chpt. 5) noted traditional expert knowledge (TEK) are not quantifiable in the same way development projects are and “corresponds poorly with Western intellectual ideals of ‘truth’.” Those advancing development projects, try to usurp TEK have no incentive to contribute to validate TEK. The relationships that exists between local communities and development projects proponents is not one where direct consultation, communication, and mutual respect thrives. Finally, when these development projects fail because of poor planning, local communities are accused as being complicit in the failure of the projects. The project implementers leave with “savings from their salaries and their four-wheel-drive vehicles” and local communities “left as poor as ever and with their two legs.”
Resilience is an important attribute that proponents of life need as they work towards the survival of their ecosystems and culture, as they work towards convincing proponents of “development projects” of the importance of dialogue and coexistence. Hopefully, someday, we will begin to see more of this in the planning and implementation of “development projects” and life projects that generate any alternatives that are significantly meaningful.
References
In the Way of Development: Indigenous Peoples, Life Projects, and Globalization. Mario Blaser, Harvey A. Feit, and Glenn McRae, eds. New York: Zed Books, 2004.