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Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction Du Branch Patrimoine De I'edition EXPLORING 'DEVELOPMENT': SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCES OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN ADDU, MALDIVES AMINATH THEEMA MOHAMED THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ANTHROPOLOGY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO SEPTEMBER 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-51563-1 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-51563-1 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada Abstract This master's thesis in social anthropology explores local opinions and experiences of a state-led tourism development initiative in Addu Atoll of the Maldives called the Herathera project. The Herathera project is articulated through a specific government discourse on development. Through in-depth interviewing and participant observation this thesis reveals that although Addu people are highly sceptical and unsure whether the Herathera project would bring development to the region, they accept and support the government discourse that measures benefits to the community through a narrow economic lens that only defines development as increased employment opportunities as a result of tourism development. I argue that the narrow understanding of development used by the government fails to account for the social factors that limit Addu people benefiting from the Herathera project. I further argue that community development could be fostered through an active process of the community re-imagining the possibilities for their development. IV Acknowledgements First and foremost, I thank the Hulhudhoo community members and Herathera workers that participated in my research. This thesis could not exist without their participation and interest. I thank Mr. Hassan Zahir (Zero) and Mr. Ibrahim Noordeen for accommodating me at Herathera and for making my stay in Hulhudhoo comfortable and safe. I also thank Kalhumaguge family for their generous hospitality. I would like to acknowledge the timeless support of my supervisor, Prof. Teresa Holmes for her thorough readings and insightful recommendations. I would also like to thank Prof. David Murray for his timely comments and feedback. I am grateful for Prof. Daphne Winland and Prof. Paul F. Wilkinson for their participation in my thesis defence. I would like to say a special thank you to Ms. Stasha Labonte and Ms. Momina Afridi. I give warm thanks to my family and friends who provided endless support and encouragement. v Table of Contents Abstract iv Acknowledgement v CHAPTER ONE: Introduction 1 Theoretical Context 2 The Discourse of Development 2 The Anthropology of Development 7 Theories on Subjectivity 10 A Critical Reading of Marx 15 Postdevelopment Theory and Practice 18 Methodology 21 Ethical Concerns 31 Organization of Thesis 33 CHAPTER TWO: Locating Herathera 35 Geography 36 Locating Herathera within Changing National Economic Development Agenda 38 Conclusion 52 CHAPTER THREE: Exploring Individual Opinions and Experiences 54 Introduction 54 Addu's Political Relationship with the State 59 How Individuals Understood, Experienced and Explained the Herathera Project 71 Conclusion 84 CHAPTER FOUR: Subjective Accounts of Addu's Socio-Economic Past 87 Introduction 87 A History of Labour 89 A Subjective History 91 The Use of Subjective Accounts 92 Subjective Histories of Addu 95 Multiple-Narratives on the Socio-Economic History of Addu 97 British Occupation: Forced Displacement and Loss of Livelihoods 109 The Subject Position of 'Tourism Worker' 116 Conclusion 117 vi CHAPTER FIVE: Exploring Alternative Development Trajectories 120 Introduction 120 Acceptable Workers 122 Identifying the Addu People in Need of Employment 124 Acceptance of the 'Tourism Worker' Position 128 Development Only for Those Who Deserve It 133 Negotiating Postdevelopment Pathways 144 The Community Economy of Hulhudhoo 149 Conclusion 156 CHAPTER SIX: Conclusion 159 Appendix A: Map of Maldives 166 Appendix B: Maps of Addu Atoll 168 Bibliography 170 vii CHAPTER ONE Introduction This thesis explores subjective understandings, opinions and experiences of a state-led development initiative called the Herathera project. The Herathera project involved the construction of a 600 bed tourist resort in Addu atoll. It is expected that this project will bring socio-economic development to a marginalized region of the Maldives called Addu by developing tourism in the region, thus providing employment opportunities to Addu people. I conducted my fieldwork during the construction phase of the resort among the targeted beneficiaries of this project in a small island community called Hulhudhoo located near the area allocated for the development of Herathera. The idea for the Herathera project came out of current state discourse around national economic development in the Maldives. This discourse emphasizes the importance of developing the previously marginalized and rural areas of the country and posits tourism development and increased employment opportunities in tourist resorts as the solution to the social and economic problems faced by the marginalized regions of the country. However, research findings showed that many people from Hulhudhoo may not be able to gain employment at the Herathera resort. Hulhudhoo has a large population of youth male drug addicts and this makes these people 1 unemployable at the resort, thus insuring they are unable to benefit from the project. If development is understood through the lens of employment, the Herathera project will fail to develop Hulhudhoo community. In this research I consider why employment in the tourism industry is presented by the government as the only viable option for Addu people's development and why many Addu people accept the government discourse on development and construct all their hopes and dreams for the future through this discourse. I also explore how alternative possibilities to development could emerge from a community that is accepting and supportive of the dominant development trajectory. I use scholarly works on the theory and practice of development and on the concept of subjectivity to explore these questions. I argue that alternative possibilities for socio-economic development of Addu can only emerge from an active process of re-imagining the concept and practice of development. This chapter will consider the theoretical approach taken and the method utilized in conducting this research. Theoretical Context The Discourse of Development European thought has shaped a globally dominant understanding of development. Chakrabarty defines European thought as the intellectual and theological traditions of Europe that brought about the phenomenon of political modernity, such as the rule by modern institutions of the state, bureaucracy and 2 capitalist enterprise (2000: 4). Political modernity was the distinct, unique and idiosyncratic experience of one region of the world, Europe, but has today become the framework for realizing the future of all societies. European ideas about modernity are informed by a belief that all societies will experience a natural progression from a traditional or barbaric state of being to a modern and civilized state, similar to the historical development of Europe. This understanding of historicism was used by early modernization theorists such as Rostow (1960); who postulated that all countries go through five basic stages in a linear fashion; moving from "traditional society" to an "age of high mass consumption," the end point of economic modernization. Similarly, Alexander Gerschenkron (1962) argued that economic development goes forward in fairly determined stages and that by adopting technology developed in "advanced" countries, "backward" countries could skip several stages to achieve
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