Key Takeaways
- The “Confused Present”: Many developing societies are racing toward the future without a clear destination, trapped in consumption rather than production.
- Technology Transfer Illusion: Buying a factory doesn’t mean acquiring technology—technology is the knowledge and capability to design, build, and adapt.
- Cultural Code: Development cannot be air-dropped onto a society; it must be compatible with its values, history, and social fabric.
- Endogenous Development: Growth that comes from within, valuing traditional knowledge and local resources.
- Core Question Shift: Move from “How can we buy what they have?” to “How can we solve our problems using what we have?”
In a world obsessed with GDP figures, skyscrapers, and the latest tech trends, it is easy to mistake “modernization” for “development.” We often look at developed nations and think the path forward is simply to copy their output—to buy their machines, adopt their lifestyle, and import their systems.
But in his profound book Reflections on Development (Ta’ammulāt fī at-Tanmiyah), Dr. Hamed El-Mously asks us to hit the pause button. He argues that true development isn’t about importing a future ready-made from the West; it is about building one from the ground up, rooted in our own soil, culture, and reality.
The “Confused Present”
El-Mously begins by diagnosing the state of many Arab and developing societies as living in a “confused present.” We are racing toward the future, but without a clear destination. We are often trapped in a cycle of consumption rather than production, relying on what he calls the “illusion of technology transfer.”
We assume that if we buy a factory or a computer from a developed nation, we have acquired technology. El-Mously corrects this misconception: technology is not the machine itself; it is the knowledge and the social capability to design, build, and adapt that machine. Until we possess that, we are merely users, not developers.
Development with a Cultural Code
One of the book’s most striking pillars is the insistence that development must have a “cultural code.” A development model cannot simply be air-dropped onto a society; it must be compatible with its values, history, and social fabric.
El-Mously warns against a “blind imitation” that leads to a loss of identity. Instead, he champions Endogenous Development—growth that comes from within. This means:
- Valuing Traditional Knowledge: Seeing local craftsmanship and heritage not as “backward,” but as a partner to modern theoretical science.
- The Rural Potential: Viewing the countryside not as a neglected backwater, but as the potential launchpad for a “Green Industrial Revolution” that utilizes local renewable resources (like agricultural by-products) to create value.
The Core Shift
For this first step in our series, the lesson is a shift in mindset. We must move from asking “How can we buy what they have?” to “How can we solve our problems using what we have?”
True development is Self-Development. It is the liberation of the creative energy of the people—especially the poor and marginalized—to improve their own lives. It is about designing solutions that are environmentally sustainable, socially just, and culturally authentic.
Development is not a product you import; it is a process you generate. It requires looking inward at our own resources—both material and human—and building a future that looks like us.
Coming Up Next: Now that we’ve redefined the goal, how do we measure success? In Part 2, we will look at the Economic Aspect, moving beyond cold statistics to see how development affects the tangible reality of the “haves” and “have-nots.”
This series is based on Dr. Hamed El-Mously’s book “Reflections on Development” (Ta’ammulāt fī at-Tanmiyah), available at the Hindawi Foundation.