Dissertation

DISSERTATION Titel der Dissertation Enactive Development Contributions of Buddhist Philosophy to Development Theory and Practice Verfasser Mag. Istvan Rado angestrebter akademischer Grad Doktor der Philosophie (Dr. phil.) Wien, 2014 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: A 092 300 Dissertationsgebiet lt. Studienblatt: Politikwissenschaft Betreuerin / Betreuer: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Ulrich Brand ii Preface This dissertation has undergone many developments, and its emphasis and contents have changed over the years. Originally it was supposed to be a work about Sufficiency Economy as a national development strategy. My plan was to examine both the theoretical solidity of Sufficiency Economy and its applicability in practice. Through exposure to different theoretical frameworks, and due to experiences during my research in Thailand, as well as discussions with colleagues, my interest gradually shifted away from evaluating Sufficiency Economy on the national level towards possible applications of Buddhist philosophy on the community level. I have found, for instance, that Sufficiency Economy has seen its most successful and innovative applications when appropriated by alternative rural communities. Moreover, community projects, the people involved, and communal decision-making processes are often relatively accessible for interested outsiders, whereas macro-political processes lend themselves to a great deal of speculation. Nevertheless, the latter gain most of the public attention, whereas even the most successful communal projects seem to unfold ―below the radar‖ of public awareness. One example of such a lack of coverage is the global Economy of Communion project. In personal communications I have noted that people in different parts of the world are familiar with this movement and therefore unsurprised when it is mentioned. Others are at times amazed when hearing about it for the first time. Apart from this change in orientation away from a macro-social approach towards community development I had also turned towards Buddhist Economics, because it grounds development work in exploratory techniques of the human mind. As such, this approach seemed more elaborate in explaining the origins of its normative orientations compared to Sufficiency Economy. These were thus the main changes I had undergone prior to my return to Austria in 2012. Back at my university, I exposed my work to the scrutiny of fellow PhD students in dissertation seminars. By asking the right questions and highlighting certain theoretical weaknesses in my work these groups, including my advisor, made me explore theories of science in order to provide my work with solid ontological and epistemological underpinnings. iii In doing so, I have become aware of fruitful dialogues between Buddhism, cognitive science, and social science. This interdisciplinary approach, applied consistently throughout this dissertation, helped me to extrapolate the data and findings in a most productive way. This work has thus incorporated the evolving linkages between cognitive science and social science from relatively early on. I would like to encourage other social scientists to be attentive to these developments as well, since their theories often include assumptions about human nature and free will, about people‘s reasons for acting, or about the possibility of identifying social mechanisms through detached reasoning. Moreover, the interdisciplinary links between social science and cognitive science are already the subject of ―popular scientific‖ magazines, such as the German-language ―Spektrum der Wissenschaft,‖ available at newspaper stores, directed at the general public, and written in a language accessible for laypersons. The fact that scientific discoveries reach the wider public with a time-lag of many years, whereas many social scientists still seem unaware of these developments, is quite unfortunate. I would be more than glad if this dissertation provides a small contribution to stimulate a similar interdisciplinary approach among colleagues at the University of Vienna. After all, I am indirectly indebted to them for having chosen this approach myself. In particular I am thankful to Armin Puller for having commented on an earlier draft outlining critical realism; to the political-scientist-turned-entrepreneur Jürgen Reder, who has shared my enthusiasm for my research in inspiring conversations during the past two years; to Nakamol Bongkojkerd, who has greatly helped me with the research design for my field visit in Sakon Nakhon province; to Chutarat Praparat for valuable comments on the research data; last but not least to my advisor, Ulrich Brand, who has patiently provided input, whenever it was needed. I also would like to thank the institutions, which have offered financial support, such as the University of Innsbruck, which has provided the only scholarship for my research in Thailand; the University of Linz and Thammasat University, in particular Nakharin Mektrairat, for involving me in collaborative projects; as well as my mother, who has supported iv me during the past two years and enabled me to devote most of my time to the completion of this work. v Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 1. Performative Ontologies: Discourse Analytical Approaches and Enactivism ................. 10 1.1. On Discursive Formations in the Work of Foucault ................................................. 14 1.2. Discursive Formations in Laclau and Mouffe .......................................................... 18 1.3. Fairclough‘s Critical Discourse Analysis.................................................................. 22 1.3.1. Essential Features of Critical Realism ..................................................................... 25 1.3.2. Critique of CDA and Critical Realism ....................................................................... 29 1.4. Harré‘s Critique and Alternative Conception ........................................................... 30 1.4.1. Positioning Theory .................................................................................................. 32 1.4.2. Neuroscientific Explanations ................................................................................... 36 1.5. Enactivism .............................................................................................................. 42 1.5.1. Enactivism as the Analysis of Living Systems ......................................................... 45 1.5.2. Enactivism as Embodied Cognition ......................................................................... 50 1.6. A Radical Constructivism: Enactivism and Discourse Analysis ............................... 55 1.6.1. Analysis of Concrete Interactions and the Ambiguity of Meanings ........................... 58 1.6.2. Connection between Interaction and Phenomenology ............................................. 62 1.6.3. Differences .............................................................................................................. 65 1.6.4. Harré‘s Contribution from an Enactivist Perspective ................................................ 70 1.7. Summary: Multimodal Constituents of Meaning ...................................................... 76 2. EMBODIED CONSTITUENTS OF MEANING ............................................................... 80 2.1. Embodied Cognition: Providing a Scientific Basis for Social Phenomena ............... 81 vi 2.1.1. Embodied Sense-Making, Its Relations to Conscious Representations, and the Phenomenal Self in Embodied Cognition .......................................................................... 83 2.1.2. Implications for the Social Sciences and Development ............................................ 91 2.2. Exploring and Intervening on Embodied Sense-Making: Scientific Examination of First-Person Experience and Micro-Political Interventions ........................................... 100 2.2.1. Basic Buddhist Concepts ....................................................................................... 103 2.2.2. Making Use of Buddhist Techniques in Neuroscientific Studies and Therapies ..... 111 2.3. Summary .............................................................................................................. 124 3. DEVELOPMENT ALTERNATIVES: POSTDEVELOPMENT, COMMUNITY CULTURE, AND BUDDHIST ECONOMICS....................................................................................... 127 3.1. Postdevelopment .................................................................................................. 129 3.2. The Community Culture School in Thailand .......................................................... 139 3.3. Buddhist Economics ............................................................................................. 147 3.4. Summary: Development Alternatives and the Enactive Approach ......................... 155 4. TOWARDS AN ENACTIVE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY .......................................... 161 4.1. Community Economic Projects and Micro-Political Interventions .......................... 163 4.1.1. Applications of Postdevelopment in Practice ......................................................... 163 4.1.2. An Analysis of Gibson-Graham‘s Micro-Political Interventions Using the Enactive Framework................................................................................................................... 177 4.1.3. The Efficacy of

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