Rotating the Pyramid: Towards a New Vision of Holistic Globalization and Holistic Development

Metaphor of 'pyramid' has been widely used in the top down approaches to development. Organizations and societies have been structured around the idea of pyramid. In fact, study of history shows that one type of pyramid has been replaced by another type of pyramid. In many countries, 'Feudal pyramid' was replaced by, 'Socialist pyramid'/'Communist pyramid' and during recent years it has been replaced by 'Market pyramid'.

During the era of 'socialist pyramid', reaching out to the bottom of pyramid was the key note of a responsive State. During the era of the 'market pyramid' we hear a similar echo in the form of 'Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid' (Prahalad, 2005). However, for holistic development and holistic globalization, we need to take a new perspective and balance various 'pyramids' and be ready to rotate the pyramid at times by inverting the same. For this we need to understand the dynamics of underlying forces that shape our existence in the contemporary context.