PANDEMIC AND DEVELOPMENT DISCOURSES

In Solomon Islands, the government has declared a State of Emergency in response to COVID-19 although the country is yet to have a positive case. 

As part of this declaration, both the Governor General and the Prime Minister have asked Solomon Islanders in towns, especially Honiara, to return to their villages. 

A crowded boat traveling to East Guadalcanal from Honiara - Photo: Jared Koli
This week, we have seen thousands of Solomon Islanders in crowded boats going “home” – to their villages.
It is interesting that in the face a global health crisis – a pandemic – Solomon Islands leaders see villages as a place of refuge and safety from COVID-19.
This also highlights the resilience of our people, especially our village folks and village governance.
Yet, in discussions about “development” we rarely acknowledge or build on that resilience. We always look for answers elsewhere, especially from neo-classical economics, which preaches and measures "development" based on economic growth.
COVID-19 highlights the superficiality of our development agendas and the need to critically examine “development” discourses. It also raises questions about how we manage our global connections (and disconnections).

Despite our "development dreams", when things collapse and #@%& hits the fan, we resort to the village as a place of refuge.

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