The more I live and work here in India, the more I realize the great divide that exists between this part of the world and the other. The other being the West. That is a different thought. The idea of Western society being prescribed the identity of "the Other." It shouldn't be such a strange concept but it really is. Otherness requires a kind of isolation, which if you really think about it, absolutely exists in the west.
As a student of international development, I know I like to think of myself as an open-minded, knowledgeable and receptive person. I'd like to think of myself as someone who understands cultural relativism and accepts what it really means in different parts of the world. But the more time I spend here in the "global South," the more I realize how much of a colonial approach the West takes, especially in terms of pedagogy. Despite being born in India and living here for the first seven years of my life (and several summer visits), I've had a completely one sided image of the country built up in my head.
For years, we have been taught (limitedly at that) about India not as an overwhelmingly diverse and fascinating country, but as a subject of pity and as ground zero for development. I don't think I ever realized how condescending the term development (the context in which we use it) is/ tends to be. The connotation of development promotes this image of a completely backwards society that needs help from us in the West. Even as someone who has been to India many times, I found myself surprised by so many of the things I noticed and experienced here.
What is it within our education system that reinforces the belief that Western society is superior and therefore has a moral obligation to help the rest of the world? Honestly, I think it's everything. From a young age, we are taught about the unsophisticated aspects of many of these countries, especially India. A classmate of mine in the third grade actually asked me if I hunt for my food, or if I had a pet elephant I rode to school everyday. Why, yes, yes I do. His name is Alejandro and he is my best friend in the whole world because apparently, he is the smartest of us all. But this is just as an example.
One of the most apparent signs that the West continues to maintain this superiority complex is the behaviour of the American government. I'm not sure if anyone else watches the West Wing but the other day I was watching an episode and it was about the White House staff helping draft the Belarussian constitution or something like that. WHY does the United States government have to get itself involved in every single thing that the rest of the world is doing. It makes sense the term FOMO (fear of missing out) originated from the U.S. This incessant need to control everything stems from the perceived superiority and is then marketed into the West being a leader in saving the world.
As someone who naively has always wanted to save the world, I can confidently say that our first priority should be to first correctly identify what the world's problem really is. And what saving the world would really mean or even look like.
As a student of international development, I know I like to think of myself as an open-minded, knowledgeable and receptive person. I'd like to think of myself as someone who understands cultural relativism and accepts what it really means in different parts of the world. But the more time I spend here in the "global South," the more I realize how much of a colonial approach the West takes, especially in terms of pedagogy. Despite being born in India and living here for the first seven years of my life (and several summer visits), I've had a completely one sided image of the country built up in my head.
For years, we have been taught (limitedly at that) about India not as an overwhelmingly diverse and fascinating country, but as a subject of pity and as ground zero for development. I don't think I ever realized how condescending the term development (the context in which we use it) is/ tends to be. The connotation of development promotes this image of a completely backwards society that needs help from us in the West. Even as someone who has been to India many times, I found myself surprised by so many of the things I noticed and experienced here.
What is it within our education system that reinforces the belief that Western society is superior and therefore has a moral obligation to help the rest of the world? Honestly, I think it's everything. From a young age, we are taught about the unsophisticated aspects of many of these countries, especially India. A classmate of mine in the third grade actually asked me if I hunt for my food, or if I had a pet elephant I rode to school everyday. Why, yes, yes I do. His name is Alejandro and he is my best friend in the whole world because apparently, he is the smartest of us all. But this is just as an example.
One of the most apparent signs that the West continues to maintain this superiority complex is the behaviour of the American government. I'm not sure if anyone else watches the West Wing but the other day I was watching an episode and it was about the White House staff helping draft the Belarussian constitution or something like that. WHY does the United States government have to get itself involved in every single thing that the rest of the world is doing. It makes sense the term FOMO (fear of missing out) originated from the U.S. This incessant need to control everything stems from the perceived superiority and is then marketed into the West being a leader in saving the world.
As someone who naively has always wanted to save the world, I can confidently say that our first priority should be to first correctly identify what the world's problem really is. And what saving the world would really mean or even look like.
