Dreams Fall Apart: People’s Experience of a Development Project in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Today, “development” has become one of the most influential and dominant concepts among global political and economic discourses. For many scholars the concept of development has become a convincing notion after the Second World War. After sixty years of development, one wonders whether developing nations were able to achieve their targets. In order to examine the link between the hegemonic development discourse and the practice, this study focuses on a particular development project carried out by the renowned NGO, World Vision, in two rural areas in Sri Lanka. I spent a month in Mahakumbukkadawala and Nawagattegama areas to collect data and stories. The study examines the notion of development as adopted by World Vision and how the project has affected the people in these areas. Further, the research demonstrates that development is unique to the place and the people; hence, it is impossible to import, but needs to grow from within the communities and individuals.