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Gross National Happiness and Inequality

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Book cover Development Challenges in Bhutan

Part of the book series: Contemporary South Asian Studies ((CSAS))

Abstract

In the new millennium, the notion of Gross National Happiness (GNH), and the idea of promoting ‘happiness’ as a principle goal of development, has captured the international agenda and gained worldwide attention, recognition and influence. The notion is articulated as an alternative to the growth -oriented measurement of gross national product and as such emphasizes other and more spiritual values as opposed to the growth-oriented focus entailed in the neo-liberal development approach. Both approaches however share a strong commonality in their neglect of the idea of equal income distribution as a development goal. But perhaps even more concerning in the case of GNH is the added emphasis on traditional culture , which may well have the additional effect of promoting symbolic inequality between citizens: between state officials and bureaucrats as well as between women and men.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://www.tsheringtobgay.com/culture/2010/sonams-question.html

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Winnie Bothe

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  1. Winnie Bothe
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Correspondence to Winnie Bothe .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Johannes Dragsbæk Schmidt

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Bothe, W. (2017). Gross National Happiness and Inequality. In: Schmidt, J. (eds) Development Challenges in Bhutan. Contemporary South Asian Studies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47925-5_4

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