develop-man

is a local pacific variant to development, meaning both the material and social enrichment of local lifestyles.

a local Pacific variant to development, meaning both the material and social enrichment of local lifestyles. Sahlins defines the term 'develop-man' as capturing the spirit behind indigenous ways of coping with capitalism. Pacific peoples are neither awed nor overwhelmed by external systems beyond their control. Their response is rather to appropriate. Such pragmatic behavior lies at the heart of every cultural scheme known to history. The impulse of local people in the Pacific and elsewhere, writes Sahlins, is not to become like us, but to become more like themselves. Living in cultural systems still concerned with the relationships of kith and kin, Pacific peoples employ Western goods to aid in the fulfillment of the obligations these social arrangements entail' (Remaking Micronesia: Discourses Over Development in a Pacific Territory . . . By David L. Hanlon)

develop man, n.Definitions

develop man