Preface
In my last article, I discussed the topic of foreign aid (click here to read). During the writing process for that post, I consistently used the term “developing country/ developed country.” While writing it and upon further reflection, this term doesn’t sit right with me. In discussions about global development topics, language matters. While exploring global inequities, human rights, quality of life, and global power imbalances, it is extremely important that we do our best to avoid pushing certain narratives. Language is a powerful tool when it comes to engaging others in these kinds of topics, but it can also be harmful by perpetuating narratives that are best left in the past. I, like everyone, am still learning. And that is okay. Let’s go on this learning journey together and explore the history and revelations about the term “developing country.”
Measuring Development
To get to the root of the term “developing country,” we must ask ourselves, what defines development? Traditionally, countries are categorized into levels of development based on economic measurements such as GDP or Gross Domestic Product (essentially how wealthy the economy is). However, as the society learns and grows, this method of measuring development is being questioned and new methods are being suggested.
My favourite example of defining development is the case of Bhutan. Bhutan is a small country located in southern Asia. In 1988, Bhutan’s Prime Minister suggested to the United Nations that the measurement of GNH (Gross National Happiness) be applied to development studies (McCarthy, 2018). Although I’m sure the economists and cynics out there would find this suggestion comical, it did turn some heads. Realistically, what defines development? Why can’t the overall happiness of a population trump riches?
While determining measures of development, what about social equality in terms of race and gender? Or environmental protection and living in harmony with the earth? These are all things that are essential to life, wellbeing, and happiness but aren’t considered on a global scale. That seems strange, right? However, all these factors would likely have a “negative” impact on the economy. So. In today’s world, I am not hopeful that they will be taken seriously although it is clear that they should.
The Problem with Blanket Terms
When you think of a “developing country” what comes to mind? Poverty? Famine? Poor education and quality of life? Or, do you think of a growing economy with endless potential for the surrounding community? While “developing” in the essence of the word should mean the second option, unfortunately many often think of the less-optimistic version. This is because there is a bias attached with a broad and ambiguous term such as development.
Overtime, countries that were originally categorized as “third-world” were presented to the international community for their challenges and perceived hardships. Then, biases were created against the people that were deemed “less-fortunate” to have been born there.
When we categorize a country as either “developed” or “developing,” there is an underlying connotation of “better” and “worse” or “right” and wrong.” Thinking about it in this mindset, I hope we can all see how that is problematic, and creates a negative divide of class, culture and ways of life in our minds. This is the problem with blanket terms. They assign labels that fit the narrative of whoever created them. On that note, let’s take a look at the western superiority complex.
Western Superiority Complex
If there is one thing to take away from this post, it is the concept of ethnocentrism and the western superiority complex. By labelling western countries as “developed” this insinuates that all other countries must work towards achieving the same goals and lifestyle as those who live in the West. It is extremely important to understand that not everyone wants to live like the West does.
One measure of development that I left out earlier in this post is HDI, the Human Development Index. The following image lays out the criteria:
Although at first glance this image appears to be a happy balance between quality of life and economic measures, take a closer look at the criteria. Longevity, knowledge, wealth. These are all top priority in the West. Are these criteria top priority across the world? I doubt it. Once again, we see the ethnocentric measurement of how everyone else “ought” to be living in order to have a good life based on western values. Just some food for thought.
Colonial nations successfully engrained these beliefs into future societies. An article by Kerri Whelan at Plan International captures this linguistic issue as “comparing countries with the vague terms of ‘developed’ vs. ‘developing’ is almost a modern way of describing ‘colonizer’ vs. ‘colonized’” (Whelan, K, 2022). I wholeheartedly agree with this comparison. Colonial nations drained colonized countries of their land, people and resources to build their powerful empires. Then, they looked down at the rest of the world for not striving to achieve the same goals. The western view of the world is perpetuated by using language that, whether we realize it or not, maintains this colonial mindset.
So, I think it I time we stop perpetuating colonial views and use terminology that affords colonized countries the chance to shed this label. Each country across the world has unique culture, history, landscape and ways of life that are incomparable to another. One cannot be better than another or further developed simply because they are so different and should be seen as such.
Better (and more accurate) Terms
So, you may be thinking, what word should I use to describe “developing” countries? I have read suggestions such as income-based scales (low, middle, high) but I think these have the same issue. Over time, biases will take over and perpetuate the narrative of the “poor and underdeveloped” countries compared to the powerhouses in the West.
So, my suggestion is to avoid these broad, comparative terms all together. We can refer to countries by name or geographical location. Or, if we are focussing on one specific area of concern such as famine or health inequities, we can simply say “countries facing…” or whatever the commonality is. This may sound precarious, but this is where the importance of language comes in. By using more specific terms, we categorize countries based on their unique location and circumstance. It comes down to dignity, international respect, and understanding that all regions have their strengths and struggles, and should not be grouped together based on a skewed view rooted in colonialism.
Key Terms
Ethnocentrism: judging, comparing and evaluating another culture based on criteria and standards created from one’s own culture
Sources
McCarthy, J. (2018, February 12). The birthplace of “Gross national happiness” is growing a bit cynical. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/02/12/584481047/the-birthplace-of-gross-national-happiness-is-growing-a-bit-cynical
United Nations. (n.d.). Human Development Index. Human Development Reports. https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/human-development-index#/indicies/HDI
Whelan, K. (2022, June 10). Did you know: “Developing countries” is more controversial than you think. Plan International USA. https://www.planusa.org/blog/did-you-know-developing-countries-is-more-controversial-than-you-think/
Leave a Reply