Reconstituting damaged ecologies: ethics for post-colonial development

Abstract

Contemporary development goals of the Philippines, like those of many post-colonial states in the Third Word, strongly emphasize the need to catch up with the living standards of western industrialized countries. This article argues that following the western model of development through industrialization can only exacerbate existing socio-economic and ecological problems. The article contends that an historically appropriate and total development should aim for a reconstitution of natural, social, and moral ecologies. Drawing from historical sources, the first part of the article examines the ecological consequences of Spanish colonization in order to provide the rationale for a definition of development as a reconstitution of damaged ecologies. The second part propose that the ethics of post-colonial development should be based on equality of access to life-sustaining resources and the transformation of values. The article conceptualizes ethics as a social discourse that defends human communities from further environmental and social degradation.