Journeys of postdevelopment subjectivity transformation: a shared narrative of scholars from the majority world

Development has been the dominant regime in this globalized world. Recent decades have witnessed a growing concern on the influences of such an overarching development discourse, which unfortunately has also colonized the minds of many from the majority world, making it difficult to think of alternatives. However as emerging researchers from the majority world, the authors have developed a critical perspective towards the dominant development discourse resulting from the systematic exclusion of their traditional values and knowledge. The authors describe how the devaluation of their being has made their academic journey a struggle along with limiting their imagination of potential social change. In this chapter, they share narratives on their embodied journeys of the postdevelopment framework. They are particularly interested in how diverse economies theory has enabled them to recognize the potentials of local, community oriented, and customary practices as a new social order. Further possibilities are thus opened up as the authors are empowered to re-embrace their subjectivities as researchers from the majority world.