The Ethics of Post-development: Re-examining North-South Relations through a Critique of the Totality of Economic Paradigm

Abstract

This article examines the ethics of post-development and its potential contribution to the normative debate on international development politics. The article principally focuses on the work of seminal French post-development philosopher Serge Latouche and scrutinises his epistemological and ontological critique of international development politics. First, through analysis, the article argues that Latouche's critique of development makes a unique contribution to development ethics in that it problematises the foundation of the conceptual framework of modern political economy (Section 2). Secondly, the article points to the pertinence of the themes of twentieth century French ‘philosophy of difference’ to Latouche's work (Section 2). Drawing in particular on Emmanuel Levinas' ethics, author explains the way in which Latouche criticises the modern paradigms of development and economy as part of the totalising logic of Western metaphysics as well as the manner in which he seeks to revalorise singularities of the existences of people who are marginalised and devalued by theories and practices of modernist development projects. By scrutinising Latouche's critical interpretation of the informal sphere of West Africa, the article argues that Latouche's post-development suggests the transformation of value system of North-South relations to a more equitable one (Section 3). Finally, the article remarks three potential contributions of the ethics of post-development to the contemporary debate on development ethics (Section 4).