Unfolding the meaning of development

An avid fan of etymology, I traced the word "development" back to its roots. In Celtic or Germanic, "des" meant to "undo" and "veloper" meant to "wrap up." So to develop was originally to "unfold, unwrap, reveal the meaning of." This makes sense - think of how the word is used in photography or real estate applications.

So it's quite interesting how the word came to be applied to economics, GDP growth, and the categorization of nations. I much prefer the etymological meaning to these mathematics-based definitions. I would argue that "to develop" is to unfold a person's desires and abilities, and thus development is the process by which a person is enabled to express and achieve her own desires and expand her abilities.

Comments

[Marian]

I love your enthusiasm for etymology and I completely agree with you interpretation of the term development as a means of unwrapping or even unleashing the potential of the people. Unlike modern interpretations of development which use quantitative metrics, development in my opinion is rooted in the advancement of people through increased access and empowerment. Economic growth therefore is merely and indicator that development is taking place. Increasing GDP and accelerating growth should not be the ultimate goal of development because such these statistics often ignore the social inequity that exists in a society.

[Christina Bronsing]

Becky's definition lends itself to of asset-based development approaches. I particularly like the visual of photography development as it relates to the root of "reveal the meaning of" and the natural ties to asset-based models. The opportunities, gaps and pathways of development in a particular context are already existing but need careful processing. Through the process of gathering data through a formal needs assessment or something as simple as the informal process of listening and engaging conversations, the intrinsic assets and threats to freedom, economic, political and social autonomy and opportunity can be revealed.