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Development, in the context of creativity and innovation, refers to the ongoing processes by which things come into being, persist, and transform.
In this context, development is most often implicitly understood as the set of processes that produce incremental, continuous, and quantitative changes—what might be called “change in degree.” These are the slow, steady elaborations and improvements that expand, refine, and stabilize existing worlds, practices, or systems (what might also be termed Developmental Design).
The danger with this concept is when the logic of linear development becomes a metaphysical doctrine, which is what we see in concepts like “progress” or in the discussion of so-called third-world “development” or lack of development. Development no longer simply denotes a quantitative process but now gives form to an ideology of universal and singular progress.
This linear universalism contains within it an implicit sense that there is ultimately one way to develop or progress. Such an approach has been effectively deployed for the last two centuries to dominate, control, and exploit vast regions of the planet while denying cultures their autonomy, agency, and difference.
Additionally the logic of progress and development imply that there is an end – a final state (even if that state is never quite reachable). As such, creation and creativity come to an end – as does history. And within this there is an a strong ethical claim that there can be a universal judgement in advance of what is good or bad for “progress”. Now everything can be judged not simply as good or bad – but as Progressive towards full health/realization or as an disease/ailment to be overcome/removed.
Worldmaking / World Making, Change in Kind, Change in Degree, Developmental Design, Universalizing, Deficit Approach
