The Fiction of Sustainable Development and the Silence of the Anthropologist: A Critique from Tribal Development

Development and its critical response by anthropologists had become a standard part of anthropological works and textbooks from the 1970s onwards. In the Indian context, this translated often to the problems of development, among other things. It seems that having failed to sustain this critique anthropologists have tacitly accepted the idea of development lock, stock and barrel in the present day. In fact, very few anthropologists even worry about the long-term effects of such development as an essential part of development. Under these circumstances, what stands out is the acceptance of even harmful practices for the community as a part of development. The real critique of the development process is lacking in such discourse and no one is even looking for a way out. In such a set of circumstances, the fact that paying lip service to sustainability in development has become a standard practice has led to the acceptance of the development agenda in toto, while small-scale and cosmetic changes are advised by the so-called advisors within the social sciences, including anthropologists. In reality, our current development practices cannot by any means be said to be sustainable even in the short term. In India, the real critique for such kinds of development has emerged from researchers and practitioners in the arena of tribal development, where they have often aligned themselves with activists, as well as rare practices that are available only for local areas. In such cases it was difficult for the administrators, bureaucrats and those in government to acknowledge that these practices could possibly be one of a range of behaviours that might help to save us all in the future. This chapter highlights some of these cases to show that an anthropological critique needs to again rise from the ashes of its complacency to show all of us how to improve our present conditions of existence without letting go of a shared and continuing future.