‘Development’ in the last two centuries has been closely associated with industrialisation and its ideologies (‘Industrialism’), in which increased material growth and consumption by tapping into nature with science and technology produced nations, global corporations and the rise of the individual, which then grew to be the norm. This has led to the large-scale ecological catastrophe and have placed socio-cultural systems under enormous stress. 

This course engages with how this ​‘Industrialism’ has impacted the world in which we live. We attempt to bring justice, equity and sustainability into the idea of development and offer coherent and living alternatives to this scheme of things. We offer changes within the Human Development Index, Millennium Development Goals, Sustainable Development Goals and so on. We aim to open novel and liberating possibilities for how we live in this world. We explore Gandhi and Tagore’s visions of India, Ubuntu in South Africa, and anarchist concepts from around the world, as well as alternative technologies that can allow for a sustainable use of resources. 

In this course, you will maintain a learning log of things you have learnt, your thoughts, agreements and disagreements and present a term paper about a specific topic related to an alternative way of life.