| The understanding of socio-economic development is intrinsically connected to the nature of the human condition. This research shows that a critical hermeneutic approach to the study of work, undergirded by interpretive anthropology, allows for an analysis of the informal logic of everyday life, which is the centerpiece of development.; This logic is housed in language and is expressed in conversation, which when transcribed serves as texts for analysis. Such analysis is possible because of the work carried out by Martin Heidegger who took an ontological turn in language studies moving away from traditional concerns of subject and object toward an analysis of human beings in-the-world who speak one to another.; Complexity and ambiguity characterize the field of socio-economic development work. There is no legitimate foundation to the Cartesian claim that there is---or should be---a permanent, a-historical matrix or framework, to which one can ultimately appeal for understanding society. Development efforts since World War II primarily have been influenced by a positivist outlook in both philosophy and methodology. For the most part, increased poverty and a paucity of human freedom mark the results of the West's development efforts. Sustainable development does not reside in the replication of the economic, social, and political institutions of the West. The social fabric of more traditional societies cannot simply receive an injection of capital, technology and know-how in the everyday world of work. Rather the challenge is how to create conditions under which personal agency and self-determination take on legitimacy in traditional societies.; As established through research conversations in Jilin, China and Tanzania, there are two relevant implications for establishing an ontological foundation for socio-economc development. First, there is an inherently linguistic claim to universality justified by a shared humanity. Secondly, the impetus to more ahead-of-oneself is endogenous and is embedded in human nature. There is no need for external empowerment. This is not to say there is no need for support. The value of this inquiry resides in both theoretical and applied evidence that human beings are already ontologically equipped to personally and communally determine the direction of their lives. |
