{"id":689,"date":"2021-11-16T12:59:22","date_gmt":"2021-11-16T12:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/politicsofbeing.com\/?p=689"},"modified":"2021-11-16T12:59:22","modified_gmt":"2021-11-16T12:59:22","slug":"politics-of-being-a-decolonization-process-of-development-theory-and-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/politicsofbeing.com\/web\/politics-of-being-a-decolonization-process-of-development-theory-and-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Politics of Being: a decolonization process of development theory and practice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It is time for each nation to reconnect to its own wisdom to redefine its own vision of the good life and chart its unique path toward fulfillment.<\/p>\n<p>American sociologist Ronald Inglehart has shown that \u201csociocultural change is path dependent and cultural heritages are remarkably enduring.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\"><sup>[1]<\/sup><\/a> As each nation follows its own development path and may be at different stages of evolution, each one needs to define its version of the politics of being. As a nation\u2019s cultural heritage shapes its political imaginary, traditional wisdom is the basis through which each nation can define its vision of the good life.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, while there are important universal aspects, the vision and routes to happiness and the good life seem to significantly vary across cultures. Americans, for example, have a hedonic view of happiness, strongly associated with high arousal positive states such as excitement and enthusiasm<a href=\"#_ftn2\" name=\"_ftnref2\"><sup>[2]<\/sup><\/a> in which personal achievements<a href=\"#_ftn3\" name=\"_ftnref3\"><sup>[3]<\/sup><\/a> and self-esteem,<a href=\"#_ftn4\" name=\"_ftnref4\"><sup>[4]<\/sup><\/a> for example, matter a lot.<\/p>\n<p>The situation is very different in the East. Hong Kong Chinese associate happiness with lower arousal positive states (e.g., calm and relaxation),<a href=\"#_ftn5\" name=\"_ftnref5\"><sup>[5]<\/sup><\/a> and Japanese emphasize social harmony more as the source of happiness.<a href=\"#_ftn6\" name=\"_ftnref6\"><sup>[6]<\/sup><\/a> The Japanese view of happiness considers individuals as interdependent and understands happiness and unhappiness as ying-yang, both attracting each other. In Andean indigenous cultures, \u201cliving well\u201d or \u201cgood living\u201d means being in harmony with nature and one another, and various indigenous nations across South America are making explicit and advocating for their visions of the good life along these lines.<\/p>\n<p>Like Andean cultures, many nations have a word or an expression to summarize this vision. In Costa Rica, \u201cpura vida\u201d (\u201cpure life\u201d) is the most common answer to the question \u201cHow are you\u201d? It depicts the Costa Rican vision of the good life associated with simplicity, humility, nature, abundance, optimism, joy, and one\u2019s capacity to just savor life.<a href=\"#_ftn7\" name=\"_ftnref7\"><sup>[7]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Unlike the pursuit of economic growth, which provided a single metric common to all nations\u2014GDP\u2014the politics of being calls for a qualitative, ethical, and culturally appropriate approach to development, which reflects and honors cultural diversity. It is a decolonization process of development theory and practice.<\/p>\n<p>Through reconnecting to its traditional wisdom, each nation can offer as a gift to the world, its own \u201cgenius\u201d and art of living, its own version of the politics of being.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\"><sup>[1]<\/sup><\/a> Inglehart 2018, 11<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref2\" name=\"_ftn2\"><sup>[2]<\/sup><\/a> Tsai and Park 2014<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref3\" name=\"_ftn3\"><sup>[3]<\/sup><\/a> Uchida and Kitayama 2009<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref4\" name=\"_ftn4\"><sup>[4]<\/sup><\/a> Diener and Diener 1995 showed a stronger association between self-esteem and life satisfaction in individualistic compared to collectivist cultures.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref5\" name=\"_ftn5\"><sup>[5]<\/sup><\/a> Tsai and Park 2014<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref6\" name=\"_ftn6\"><sup>[6]<\/sup><\/a> Uchida and Kitayama 2009<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref7\" name=\"_ftn7\"><sup>[7]<\/sup><\/a> Ap\u00e9stegui 2012<\/p>\n<p>1.Inglehart, Ronald F. 2018.\u00a0<em>Cultural Evolution: People\u2019s Motivations are Changing,\u00a0<\/em><em>and Reshaping the World.\u00a0<\/em>Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.<\/p>\n<p>2 and 5. Tsai, Jeanne, and BoKyung Park. 2014. \u201cThe cultural shaping of happiness: The\u00a0role of ideal affect.\u201d In\u00a0<em>Positive Emotion: Integrating the Light and Dark Sides.\u00a0<\/em>Edited by Judith Tedlie Moskowitz and June Gruber, 345-62. New York, NY:\u00a0Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n<p>3 and 6. Uchida, Yukika, and Shinobu Kitayama. 2009. \u201cHappiness and unhappiness in\u00a0east and west: Themes and variations.\u201d\u00a0<em>Emotion\u00a0<\/em>9 (4): 441-56. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1037\/a0015634<\/p>\n<p>4. Diener, Ed, and Marissa Diener. 1995. \u201cCross-cultural correlates of life satisfaction\u00a0and self-esteem.\u201d\u00a0<em>Journal of Personality and Social Psychology\u00a0<\/em>68 (4): 653-63.\u00a0https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1037\/\/0022-3514.68.4.653<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is time for each nation to reconnect to its own wisdom to redefine its own vision of the good life and chart its unique path toward fulfillment. American sociologist Ronald Inglehart has shown that \u201csociocultural change is path dependent and cultural heritages are remarkably enduring.\u201d[1] As each nation follows its own development path and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Politics of Being: a decolonization process of development theory and practice - Politics of Being<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/politicsofbeing.com\/web\/politics-of-being-a-decolonization-process-of-development-theory-and-practice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Politics of Being: a decolonization process of development theory and practice - Politics of Being\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It is time for each nation to reconnect to its own wisdom to redefine its own vision of the good life and chart its unique path toward fulfillment. 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