Introduction
I am picking up the thread again also in response to reactions I received in a recent past.
For most of my readers my story so far must have been fairly easy to follow, most likely also because people will be aware of most concepts I discuss. But, apart from the fact that not everyone will go along with my line of thought, one may not find it easy to identify with it.
Feedback shows that it’s difficult for quite a few people to grasp the essence of programmatic thinking, let alone to fully internalize the crux of the matter. Reason why the idea took hold to reflect on its core values and the extent to which people accept them as their own.
Until now I have only spoken indirectly about values. For example, when I refer to views on society as an organic whole, make mention of a modular approach, or want to evoke interest in the leverage function of a social development program.
To begin with, programmatic thinking is hybrid in nature - it brings together and builds on philosophical concepts and ideas from thinking traditions that are rooted in very different social-cultural settings. It is therefore conceivable that such a way of thinking is not self-evident for everyone.
Before starting my analysis, it is to be noted that I will dwell only on influences originating from well-known patterns of thinking in the West and East.
So far I have not yet gotten round to reflecting a little longer on, for example, traditional value orientations in African and Arab cultures and assessing them on their merits from a programmatic point of view.
Besides overlaps with Eastern and Western views on group cohesion and individuality, it would uncover unique value orientations such as social loyalty, solidarity and self-reliance. I am sure, such additional insights will contribute to a further deepening of the programmatic way of thinking.
The Western way of thinking
In no small part, programmatic thinking follows Western ideas that build on Greco-Roman traditions. Of great importance is the Western belief that the world can be known and understood. To come to grips with reality, the complexity of the world must be unraveled, split up as it were, in coherent and stand-alone entities that are subject to scrutiny and intervention.
The programmatic way of thinking thus follows the analytical approach in which, by learning how social processes and structures work, one can influence and steer the direction in which societies should progress.
Man is central to the Western worldview - a self-reliant person who sees himself as the beginning and end of every development process. Freedom of choice is a key concept in the West. By the same token, it is up to program actors or stakeholders to decide for themselves how they wish to be involved and play a distinct and meaningful role in its implementation.
This perception of the individual as the engine of development is also at the core of the Western concept of causality, whereby autonomous actors cause and enforce results through their actions. Similarly, in programmatic thinking actors are considered to be the real drivers behind development of those parts of the program in which they operate.
It calls for an open and socially critical climate in which actors feel challenged. Programmatic thinking aligns with a Western rhetorical tradition in which there is plenty of room for exchanging views and discussion. Every program actor has the inalienable right to argue his point and stand his ground, based on which consensus is sought for that part of the program in which he participates.
Until recently, the Western way of thinking followed a worldview in which change was strictly perceived as a linear step forward, a process in which society continues to progress from A to Better ad infinitum.
However, what is being understood by progress is no longer a foregone conclusion in the Western discourse. Currently, there is ample space to dispute forms of linear growth patterns and opt, for example, for a circular or harmony model. At any event, whatever the outcome of the discourse, development programs have every opportunity to profoundly influence this process by actively speaking out in favour of paradigm A or B.
Programmatic thinking derives its roots from other sources as well, which in many ways validate also the antithesis of Western thinking.
[1] Obviously, this is a generalization. There are major differences between, for example, North America, different parts of Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
De volgende notitie will discuss the implications of more holistic principles.