Elite Development Discourses under the Authoritarian Regime in Bangladesh

• In Event: Sociology of Development Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 2: Development & Organizations

Abstract

This study aims to develop an extensive literature review to help us understand the nature of elites who have developed and implemented development projects in Bangladesh over the last decades. Following the theoretical framework based on the literature on elites and their development discourse, this study analyzes how development projects in the post-colonial era differed from those of Bangladesh's colonial period. However, this study explores the understanding of development discourses under authoritarian regimes in Bangladesh, specifically from 2009 to 2024. During this period, Bangladesh experienced authoritarian regimes that contributed to the development of a specific development discourse serving the purposes of the Washington Consensus under the neoliberalist umbrella. Following neoliberal principles, the development discourses emerged that ultimately connected Bangladesh to the global market but underestimated local aspirations—the political settlement centered around economic profits, sacrificing law-and-order situations in the country.
Similarly, the functions of public and private institutions were politicized during the authoritarian regime under Sheikh Hasina. Based on data from various sources, including newspapers, interviews, and archives, this paper argues that development discourses under authoritarian regimes in Bangladesh reflect neoliberal agendas and the partisan politics that contributed to the country's development of authoritarianism under Sheikh Hasina. The results of the development projects completed during the period discounted human rights violations and encouraged them to bypass social transformation. Bangladeshi Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina, benefited the country's elites. In conclusion, this study suggests that Bangladesh followed an authoritarian development discourse that purported to visualize a development model when the country’s elites achieved the maximum development outcomes. However, this development model, driven by neoliberal principles, not only corrupted the country's economy but also hindered its social development.

Author

• Md Niamot Ali, Florida Atlantic University