Grassroots Postmodernism

With the publication of this remarkable book in 1998, Gustavo Esteva and Madhu Suri Prakash instigated a complete, epistemological rupture. Grassroots Post-modernism resolutely attacks the three sacred cows of modernity - the idea, entrenched in globalisation, that there is only one, universally valid way of understanding social reality; the exclusive and general validity of Western-defined notions of 'human'; and the notion of the self-sufficient individual, as opposed to people-in-community - that have so grotesquely warped hour view of the human condition. Rejecting the terminology and constructs of development in all its forms, Esteva and Prakash argue that even alternative development prescriptions deprive the people of control over their own lives, shifting this control to bureaucrats, technocrats, and educators. Rather than presuming that human progress fits some predetermined mold, leading toward an increasing homogenization of cultures and life styles, the authors argue for a 'radical pluralism' that honours and nurtures distinctive cultural variety and enables many paths to the realization of self-defined aspirations. This classic text is essential reading for those looking beyond Neoliberalism, the gobal project and the individual self.