The psychologization of development: Westernization, individualization, and the universalization of human ways of being

Abstract

Western psychology has, over the course of three decades, come to play a significant role in the implementation of global development agendas, especially centered on societies in the so-called ‘Global South’. The individual focus that underpins many Western psychological theories and practices often clashes with many people’s ways of organizing and experiencing the world. Paired with the principle of universality, which has a strong foothold within many established Euro-American psychological orientations, such an individual approach may lead to an ignorance of context and local realities, which in turn may have detrimental outcomes for the local beneficiaries of global development interventions. In this thesis, applying a cultural psychological framework, I examine the intersection of Western psychology and development theory and practice by focusing on how people in the recipient end of development programs in Malawi understand and negotiate the ‘development’ implemented in their communities. As such, this doctoral thesis aims to contribute to the manifold debate on the role of Western psychology theory and practice in global development implementation.