Justice Above Profit, Sustainability Above Growth, Humanity Above Economy

145 Pages·2014·0.51 MB·English

by  Julia Magon Braker

Claremont Colleges
Scholarship @ Claremont
Pomona Senior Theses Pomona Student Scholarship
2009
Justice Above Profit, Sustainability Above Growth,
Humanity Above Economy: Vandana Shiva and
the Alternative Development Movement
Julia Magon Braker
Pomona College
Recommended Citation
Braker, Julia Magon, "Justice Above Profit, Sustainability Above Growth, Humanity Above Economy: Vandana Shiva and the
Alternative Development Movement" (2009).Pomona Senior Theses.Paper 31.
http://scholarship.claremont.edu/pomona_theses/31
This Open Access Senior Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Pomona Student Scholarship at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been
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JUSTICE ABOVE PROFIT, SUSTAINABILITY ABOVE GROWTH,
HUMANITY ABOVE ECONOMY: VANDANA SHIVA AND THE
ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT MOVEMENT

JULIE BRAKER

THESIS SUBMITTED TO POMONA COLLEGE
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
BACHELOR OF ARTS.

PROFESSORS ZAYN KASSAM AND JERRY IRISH
24 APRIL 2009
© JULIA MAGON BRAKER


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Acknowledgements

WITH UTMOST APPRECIATION:

TO PROFESSORS ZAYN KASSAM AND JERRY IRISH FOR THEIR WISDOM AND SUPPORT;
TO MY FRIENDS FOR ENRICHING MY LIFE;
TO ALL THOSE WHO WORK TOWARDS SOCIAL JUSTICE;
AND TO MOM, DAD, EMILY AND SARAH FOR THEIR UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.

WORDS CANNOT FULLY EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE.

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Table of contents

INTRODUCTION
1

CHAPTER 1: GAINING PERSPECTIVE: AN OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENT THEORY
15

CHAPTER 2: ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: AN EXPLORATION OF SUSTAINABILITY
45

CHAPTER 3: HUMAN JUSTICE: ANALYSIS OF INTERNATIONAL ORDER AND COMMUNITY NEEDS
76

CHAPTER 4: GENERATING THEMES AND CONCLUSIONS
102

CONCLUSION
132

WORKS CITED 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
















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If you have come to help me

You can go home again,

But if you see my struggle

As part of your own survival

Then perhaps we can work together

—Attributed to an Australian Aboriginal woman


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We need to affirm one another, support one another, help, enable, equip, and empower
one another to deal with the present crisis, but it can’t be uncritical, because if it’s
uncritical, then we are again refusing to acknowledge other people’s humanity. If we are
serious about acknowledging other people’s humanity, then we are committed to trusting
and believing that they are forever in process. Growth, development, maturation happens
in stages. People grow, develop, and mature along the lines in which they are taught.
Disenabling critique and contemptuous feedback hinders. – Cornel West1

Cornel West’s exhortation to engage in critical consideration of our every action
comes at a pivotal moment, when notions of development, globalization, post-
colonialism and human justice are at the forefront of the international order. West’s
advice must be incorporated into the issue of development and its aims to alleviate
poverty, ensure sustainability and establish social justice. Development is a controversial
topic, attracting extreme supporters and fervent denouncers. Multi-national corporations
and governmental organizations, such as the World Trade Organization, the International
Monetary Fund and the United Nations, have pursued a narrow track to development.
They promote neoliberalism, claiming to be the bearers of progress and prosperity by
encouraging such practices as free trade and trade liberalization. These bodies directly
and indirectly affect poor people in both developed and developing countries, with
supporters claiming that globalization and liberalization will resolve income and quality
of life inequalities. Yet, the World Institute for Development Economics Research at
United Nations University reports that, in 2000, the richest 1% of adults alone owned
40% of global assets, while the bottom half of the world adult population owned barely

1 bell hooks and Cornel West, “Black Women and Men: Partnership in the
1990s” African Philosophy: An Anthology ed. Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze
(Massachusetts: Wiley-Blackwell, 1998) 475.

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1% of global wealth.2 Despite claims by its supporters, the supposedly miraculous
impacts of neoliberal development have not reached the majority of the world’s poor.
Multiple activists challenge the established development paradigm, prioritizing
issues such as human rights, economic justice and environmental sustainability, as
opposed to neoliberal development’s focus on macroeconomics and corporations. These
activists include Dr. Vandana Shiva. Vandana Shiva aims to “live by transcending
polarities–between people and planet, between modern science and indigenous
knowledge, between environment and ‘development,’ between north and south, the local
and the global.”3 Her personal philosophy drew her to assume a leading role in the
international development community. This physicist/activist/scholar has captured the
attention of diverse segments of society, from rural communities in India to the World
Trade Organization to liberal-minded elites from the North. Shiva has made a name for
herself and the alternative development movement by working from the grassroots up to
critically analyze and revolutionize globalization trends. Shiva roots her work in
communicating and learning with rural communities in India, through Navdanya, a
participatory research and environmental activism organization that she spearheads.
Simultaneously, she works to enact systematic change by influencing major international
governing bodies, such as the World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund
and World Bank.

2 World Institute for Development Economics Research, “Pioneering Study Shows
Richest Two Percent Own Half World Wealth.” 5 Dec. 2006, 12 Jan. 2009.
http://www.wider.unu.edu/events/past-events/2006-events/en_GB/05-12-2006/.
3 Vandana Shiva, “The Practice of Earth Democracy.” 05 Nov. 2008.
http://www.navdanya.org/about/practice_earth_dem.htm.

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Well-renowned activists, academics and politicians criticize the stances that Shiva
takes on globalization and development issues, claiming that they are uninformed, too
radical or misguided. For example, Deepak Lal, professor of international development at
University of California—Los Angeles, criticizes Shiva and the alternative development
movement, asserting that “its primary target is to prevent the economic development
which alone offers the world’s poor any chance of escaping their age old poverty.”4 Such
criticisms lead to the need for analysis about these movements. It is important to critically
examine and analyze Shiva’s ideas and opinions, while simultaneously contextualizing
her work in the broader alternative development movement. These thoughts provoke the
core question of this thesis—do Vandana Shiva’s theories and practices promote just,
sustainable development?
Motivations
Because this thesis in rooted in personal values and interests, it is useful to
communicate where I am coming from. My motivations for exploring this topic are
multidimensional. I hope to be a good world citizen, meaning that I advocate the
wellbeing, self-realization and empowerment of all people, while also promoting the
sustainability of the land that we inhabit. I am constantly searching for and learning new
ways to live out my (admittedly) lofty ideals. Consequently, the social problems that
pervade the world bother me. I have always been confused about why there are literally
thousands of governmental organizations, non-profits and policy/research centers devoted
to development, but poverty and inequality still exist and, in some instances, are
worsening. It worries me to observe that people working in the development field act on

4 Deepak Lal, “The New Cultural Imperialism: The Greens and Economic Development.”
The Liberty Institute, 2000. <http://www.libertyindia.org/JSlecture_DeepakLal.pdf>.

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