Development and progress: the myth of a moral ideal[Desarrollo y progreso: el mito de un ideal moral]

Briefly tracing the main critical theories around the development and progress paradigm allow us to focus attention on questions such as what does it mean to live in development? Why is it necessary to develop and to what extent? How is development achieved? The conceptual approach draws the key lines for the understanding of the hegemonic discourse established in the collective imaginary as a moral ideal in the economic, social and political configuration of societies, as a concept, theory and practice. Concepts understood as inevitable ideals of any traditional society towards a superior. This theoretical review is part of the ongoing doctoral research project entitled «Montuvias. A decolonial feminist look at the development / progress paradigm in Ecuador», so a brief conceptual description of the gender perspective in development is also made.