ABSTRACT
In the 1960s when development first became a catch-word in international politics it was synonymous with 'progress'. The countries of the Occident were considered to be 'developed' (industrially, economically, technologically, institutionally and often culturally). Others were considered to be progressing towards the goal of development on the occidental model. This is a very ethno-centric view of the world; a late manifestation of the social Darwinist ideas of the Victorian era, which produced such notions as the 'White Man's Burden', 'Manifest Destiny', pressures for 'Reforms' in the Ottoman Grand State, and the like. The norm of development was the Occident and in order to develop, or be developed, one had to occidentalize oneself. Implied in this was an abandonment of cultural and other legacies which inhibited progress towards this goal.1
