OPEN DISTANCE LEARNING IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD: trends, progress and challenges 1 N Barney Pityana GCOB, PhD Principal and Vice Chancellor, University of South Africa Introduction: Conceptualising the Developing World The term “Developing World” is at once evocative and deceptive and, according to Raymond Williams, even “flattering”. Intrinsic to the term are layers of meaning drawn from the ordering of the world and the power relations that distinguish between the namers and the named; the centre and the periphery. It is redolent also of the fact that there are in reality two worlds – one steeped in privilege, power, resources and control over its destiny and the fortunes of others; the other its direct antithesis. By virtue of naming, this ‘other’ world reveals the pervasive intellectual and economic hegemonies that have come to be taken for granted in contemporary political discourse. The description suggests, according to Williams, that “economies and societies pass through predictable stages of development according to a known model.” 2 The condition of ‘underdevelopment’ reflects an externally imposed set of circumstances which societies and nations may have inadequate resources to respond to. The critique of these attitudes and processes may be expressed in terms of aid and not partnership, unequal power relations and “imposed processes of development for a world market controlled by others.” (Williams: 104). Williams concludes that 1 Keynote speech delivered by Prof N Barney Pityana on the occasion of the M – 2009 23 rd ICDE World Conference on Open Learning and Distance Education. “Flexible Education for All: Open – Global – Innovative” 7 – 10 June 2009, Maastricht, the Netherlands 2 Raymond Williams: KEYWORDS: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society;1988, London; Fontana Press;p.103