Development and wellbeing in Peru: comparing global and local views

James Copestake

The paper presents and reflects on multidisciplinary research into the relationship between global designs of development and the stated priorities of poor people living in Central Peru. Global designs are first presented through an analysis of four shared mental models of Peru as a welfare regime. A eudaimonic model of subjective wellbeing is then presented, based on data collected from inhabitants of seven rural and urban sites. Congruence and disjuncture between this and the global models are then systematically explored. The paper concludes that such analysis can contribute to analysis of social change and public policy that is sensitive to the cultural and political biases identified by Walter Mignolo.

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