 Exploring the Origins of Bhutan’s Gross National HappinessKatsu Masaki and Jit Tshering Journal of South Asian Development, 2021, vol. 16, issue 2, 273-292 Abstract: Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness (GNH) is often dismissed by its critics as being an instrument for policy elites to address ‘national security concerns’ that started to threaten their grasp on the state around the turn of the millennium. This study problematizes this line of criticism that relegates GNH to an ‘invented tradition’ of recent origin. For this purpose, this study draws on Roy Wagner’s notion of ‘invention’ that draws attention to how various sets of meanings are brought together. A historical analysis of the country’s development plans points to several origins of GNH, including ‘Buddhism and Bhutan’s traditional socio-economic system’ and ‘outside concepts’ holding sway in international debates on development. GNH has undergone a long and gradual process of elaboration in view of Buddhist mores and development discourses, while also taking into account national security concerns. This study concludes by warning against the reductionistic stance of GNH critics, in favour of a more balanced perspective that captures the multiplicity of the origins of GNH. Keywords: Gross National Happiness; ontological turn; invention; historicity; Buddhist approach to development; international development discourse (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:soudev:v:16:y:2021:i:2:p:273-292 DOI: 10.1177/09731741211039049 Access Statistics for this article More articles in Journal of South Asian Development |
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