Abstract

A careful reading of the literature reveals that the significance of race in development discourse is something that is hardly mentioned or discussed. In response to this gap in the literature, this article firstly builds on and contributes to the available literature—albeit scarce—that critically analyses the significance of race in development. Secondly, the article argues that the absence of critical race analysis is due to the dominant white-centric ideology of “colour-blindness”, which serves as an ideological and institutional tool to mask the whiteness that remains central to development discourse. The centrality of white racial ideology, namely whiteness, in development translates into a sophisticated maintenance of long-established racial hierarchies, which translates into white privilege and the preservation of white racial projects. The article maintains that, rather than a phenomenon of the past, the white racial project continues to be central to development discourse, albeit under the guise of colour-blindness. The key argument of the article is that critical analysis of race, rather than being dismissed or marginalised, should be central in efforts to dismantle white racial development discourse. As a discourse that is seemingly concerned with addressing inequality, freedom, and the empowerment of societies, critical race analysis is needed in order to dismantle entrenched racial inequalities.

摘要

仔细阅读文献就会发现，种族在发展话语中的重要性很少被提及或讨论。针对文献中的这一差距，本文首先建立并贡献了现有文献——尽管很少——批判性地分析了种族在发展中的重要性。其次，文章认为，批判性种族分析的缺失是由于以白人为中心的“色盲”意识形态占主导地位，它作为一种意识形态和制度工具来掩盖仍然是发展话语核心的白人。白人种族意识形态的中心地位，即白人，在发展中转化为对长期建立的种族等级制度的复杂维护，这转化为白人特权和白人种族项目的保护。这篇文章认为，白人种族项目不是过去的现象，而是继续成为发展话语的核心，尽管是在色盲的幌子下。这篇文章的主要论点是，对种族的批判性分析，而不是被驳回或边缘化，应该成为废除白人种族发展话语的核心。作为一种似乎与解决不平等、自由和社会赋权有关的话语，需要进行批判性的种族分析，以消除根深蒂固的种族不平等。与其被解雇或边缘化，不如成为废除白人种族发展话语的核心。作为一种似乎与解决不平等、自由和社会赋权有关的话语，需要进行批判性的种族分析，以消除根深蒂固的种族不平等。与其被解雇或边缘化，不如成为废除白人种族发展话语的核心。作为一种似乎与解决不平等、自由和社会赋权有关的话语，需要进行批判性的种族分析，以消除根深蒂固的种族不平等。