ABSTRACT
Most traditions of social analysis argue that the well-being of individuals and groups is intimately related to the ethics and rationale of social organisation. The important place of 'economic development' in Sarvodaya's work arose from the very real needs of its constituencies in the rural areas of Sri Lanka. This chapter illustrates the types of actions and forms of organisation that might arise from people rooted in Buddhist perspectives. It considers the matter of Sarvodaya's practice as reflected by its own processes of organisation and decision-making. Frederic Pryor begins the task through the use of a straightforward macroeconomic model. The more that the laity give to monks, he argues, the less will the economy grow. He states that, 'Buddhists hold that any appropriate dhammic action inevitably leads to an increase of the material welfare of the community'. Pryor offers an interesting although ambiguous mixture of interpretations of the meaning or root of radiation.
