Development Projects and the Western Paradigms

The western paradigms on economic are in crisis when considered applicative tools for development projects. The concept of homo economicus, at the basis of the western economics, is no longer a theoretical tool to put at the basis of International cooperative projects.It is now clear that the success of development projects is strictly connected, through a multidimensional and multidisciplinary approach, to the community life, which is the target of development actions and should, as such, take into account the notion of “fait social total” as defined by Marcel Mauss. This means also to reconsider the concepts of person, nature, community, needs, development, poverty, welfare, freedom, human rights, as well as the dominative strategies of the western world. On the contrary it needs to be considered the basic capacity that each per-son and each social group has