From ‘civilising mission' to ‘development'

The chapter briefly analyses colonial discourse as a system of representation based on differences before tracing its transformation to a discourse of ‘development’ in the first half of the 20th century. These changes reflect the shift from biological dualism between the ‘civilised’ self and the ‘uncivilised other’ to one more focused on economic, technological and cultural differences between ‘developed’ and ‘less developed’ societies, regions or nations. However, the structure of the discourse, the evolutionism linked to a Eurocentric philosophy of history and the social technology leading to the principle of trusteeship remain the same.