1691. The Eight Manifestations of GNH: Multiple Meanings of a Development Alternative
- Author:
- Ritu Verma
- Publication Date:
- 05-2020
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Bhutan Studies
- Institution:
- Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
- Abstract:
- Despite growing recognition that GDP measures everything except deeper and meaningful aspects of life, conventional development approaches continue to centrally measure poverty, implement policy and operationalize practice in narrow economic and technical terms, without adequate attention paid to the holistic and interconnected nature of development as lived and experienced by those intended as its beneficiaries. The Royal Kingdom of Bhutan represents a rare context for the study and operationalization of a living development alternative that challenges GDP-metrics. The nation is best known for the articulation and practice of an innovative alternative and sustainable development path, exemplified in Gross National Happiness (GNH). In the contemporary context, it continues to be at the forefront of developing and advancing GNH as a unique and holistic development approach that values happiness and wellbeing of people and sentient beings. However, GNH is prone to popular misunderstandings of its concept, principles and manifestations within Bhutan, and subject to superficial and problematic scholarly analysis, hurried comprehension and limited due diligence in the international context. This paper makes a modest but concerted effort to respond to the dilemmas and challenges of understanding facing GNH by exploring its epistemological and historical foundations, and disentangling multiple meanings manifested in eight different forms. In doing so, it aims to contribute greater clarity to a growing body of multifarious writings on the subject, and more specifically, to an emerging body of scholarly literature on GNH by shedding explanatory light to the way it is conceptualized, operationalized, practiced, understood, internalized, and continuously undergoing change as it is refined and deepened over time.
- Topic:
- Development, Economy, Sustainability, and Gross National Happiness (GNH)
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and Bhutan