Development is generally regarded as a good thing. It is often equated with progress. The prevailing pattern of development is the model to be emulated. The global economy is propelled by a relentless drive toward more exploitation of resources, more technological innovation, more markets and more profits. Consumerism is the dominant mindset. “Development” is its mantra. The world as refracted through this ideological prism is a kind of pie. There are questions of tactics as to how to cut it up. The First World, with the largest knives and a voracious appetite, cuts itself the most generous pieces. Everyone else scrambles for the crumbs. Helena Norberg-Hodge has examined and critiqued conventional notions of development. Interview.
Helena Norberg-Hodge, a native of Sweden, is an internationally renowned environmentalist. She is a leading critic of conventional notions of growth and development. She is the recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the alternative Nobel Prize. She is founder and director of the International Society for Ecology and Culture and author of Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh.