WELLESLEY COLLEGE
Pol2 204 The Political Economy of Development & Underdevelopment
Fall 2010
Prof. William A. Joseph, PNE 232, x2201
rev. 05/02/10

This course is an introductory overview of development studies. The overall approach is that of political economy: the connection and interaction between politics and economics in shaping development and underdevelopment as historical and on-going processes. No previous background in the subject or in economic is required or expected.

Course requirements:

  • "Development Studies Internet Resources" review (5%), due Friday, Feb. 12th.
  • 2 short research papers (1500-2000 words) due approximately March 11th and April 22nd (30% each).
  • Self-scheduled final exam (35%).
  • Attendance, attentiveness, and participation will be seriously taken into account when determining the final grade. This will include a current events posting and commentary at least once during the semester. Please see the list of Responsibilities and Expectations attached to this syllabus.

NOTE: For the two short research papers, you may have a total of five days of "extensions" from the due date to use throughout the term as best fits your schedule. These extensions allow you to hand in a paper late without a grade penalty, but after your five days have been used up the assignment will be marked down 1/3 grade per day (or fraction of a day) late (e. g. from B+ to B).

This course will make extensive use of the rich Internet resources on development studies. Students are expected to keep up with current events in the developing world. For suggested sources for news about the developing world, see my Development Studies Internet Resources web site, which is also accessible via the course conference on FirstClass and the instructor's homepage. Each student will be asked to submit an interesting and substantive article (or link) with commentary to the course conference at least once during the semester. The first 10 minutes or so of class each Thursday will be spent discussing current events. The events/issues discussed during this time may be part of the final exam.

There may be one or two additional videos assigned during the term.

Required books: Available for purchase at the bookstore [and elsewhere] and on reserve.

  • Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart
  • Kamala Markandaya, Nectar in a Sieve
  • Peter Burnell and Vicky Randall, Politics in the Developing World, 2nd edition, (2008)
  • Robert Griffiths, Annual Editions: Developing World, 20th edition (2009)

COURSE SCHEDULE & READING ASSIGNMENTS: Assignments marked (ER) are available via Electronic Reserve in the FirstClass Conference for this course. Assignments marked (OL) are online and can be accessed via the online version of the course syllabus or through the Online Readings folder in the course FirstClass conference. Those marked (OR) are in the Other Readings-204 Folder of the course conference. Those marked (ebrary) are available through the online library catalog. The readings are generally listed in the order in which it is recommended that they be done.

*denotes items that have been added or moved since syllabus was distributed in class

Jan. 28 Introduction to the Course

  • Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, "Development in the 21st Century," speech delivered at the Center for Global Development, Washington, D.C., January 6, 2010. Watch the video and/or read the text.
  • Noam Unger, "President Obama and U.S. Global Leadership on Development," Brookings Institution, January 7, 2010. LINK

Feb. 1, 4, 8, 11: The Meaning of Development & Underdevelopment

  • Nicholas Kristoff, "Wretched of the Earth," The New York Review of Books, Vol. 5, No. 9, May, 31, 2007. (OR)
  • David Brooks, "The Underlying Tragedy," The New York Times, January 14, 2010. LINK
  • *Paul Collier and Jean-Louis Warnholz, “Building Haiti’s Economy, One Mango at a Time,” The New York Times, January 29, 2010. (OR)
  • Paul Collier, The Bottom Billion, ch. 1. (ER)
  • William A. Joseph, "Developing Nations in a World of Transition," ch. 1, section 3, in ed., W. Joseph, M. Kesselman, J. Krieger, Introduction to Politics in the Developing World, 5th ed., Cengage, 2009. LINK (PDF)
  • Amartya Sen, Development as Freedom, Introduction, ch. 1. ebrary
  • Tony Smith, "Political Development," in ed. J. Krieger, W. Joseph, et. al.,Oxford Companion to Politics of the World. LINK
  • Peter Burnell and Vicky Randall, Politics in the Developing World, 2nd edition, (2008), chs. Intro,3, 4, 23a, 23b.
  • Robert Griffiths, Annual Editions: Developing World 10/11, selections, 1, 6, 7, 8, 10,11, 12, 13.
  • Video: "Africa: Who is to Blame?" TBA

Feb. 16 [Tuesday = Monday], 18: Measuring Development & Underdevelopment

  • World Bank PovertyNet, "Overview: Understanding, measuring, and overcoming poverty." Read sections on "Basic Notions and Concepts about Poverty"; "Measuring Poverty"; and "Poverty Trends." LINK
  • Video: Hans Rosling, "Let my dataset change your mindset," TED talk at the State Department, June 2009. LINK
  • *Video: Esther Duflo, "Fighting Poverty: What Works?" June 10, 2006, MITWorld (40 mins.). LINK
    • First read about Prof. Duflo's background (and perhaps take a look at her linked homepage); then listen to the lecture.
  • Kamala Markandaya, Nectar in a Sieve (all).
    • Recommended video: "Pather Panchali," (Song of the Little Road), a film by Satyajit Ray (1955). Available in the Art Library Reserve (PN1997 .A691 2003) or online at http://www.dailymotion.com/ (search title). Evocative of many of the issues/themes in Nectar in a Sieve, by one of the 20th century's great filmmakers with music by Ravi Shankar.

Feb. 22, 25 History Matters

  • Jared Diamond, "Why Did Human History Unfold Differently On Different Continents For The Last 13,000 Years?" (OR)
  • Angus Maddison, "The Contours of World Development," ch. 1 in The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective (2001), esp. 42-48. (OR)
  • Video: The Day the World Took Off, Part 2. "Wheeling and Dealing" (Windfall Films/BBC4, 50 minutes). LINK
  • Burnell & Randall, ch. 2.
  • Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart (all).
  • Karl Marx, "The British Rule in India" (1853). LINK
  • *Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England (1845), ch. VI, "Results of Industrialization." LINK [SKIM]
  • M.K. Gandhi, Hind Swaraj Or Indian Home Rule (1908), excerpts: "A Word of Explanation"; chs. 14, 16, 17. LINK
  • Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (1961) (excerpts). LINK
    • Read the very brief biography of Fanon on Wikipedia. LINK

Mar. 1, 4, 8, 11, 15, 18 The Development of "Development Thinking" (Explanations, Theories, Ideologies, and Strategies)

  • [Burnell & Randall, chs. 1, 5, 15, 16.
  • *Lawrence Harrison, "Culture Matters." The National Interest 60, (2000): 55-65. (OR)
  • W.W. Rostow, The Stages of Economic Growth, ch. 1 (selections). (OR)
  • Andre Gunder Frank, "The Development of Underdevelopment," Monthly Review, Vol. 18, 1969. (ER-TBA)
  • Jeffrey D. Sachs, "The Development Challenge," Foreign Affairs. March- April 2005, pp. 78-90. LINK
  • Griffiths, selections 3, 4, 5, 9, 16, 17.
  • Nicolas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn, "The Women’s Crusade," The New York Times, Aug. 17, 2009. LINK
  • Video: "Dambisa Moyo on her book, Dead Aid," Commonwealth Club of California, June 5, 2009 (60 mins.). LINK
  • Video: "Tongpan" (63 mins.). LINK

April 8: The "Third World" State

• Burnell & Randall, chs. 11, 12, 13.
• Griffiths, chs. 18-27.
• Robert Draper, "Somalia: Inside a Failed State," National Geographic, Sept. 2009.LINK (Main article, sidebar, photo gallery, & map)

April 12, 15: Democratization

  • Burnell & Randall, chs. 10, 14, 18, 21, 22.
  • Griffiths, chs. 28-35.
  • Sen, "Democracy as a Universal Value," Journal of Democracy, 10.3 (1999) 3-17. (Other Readings)
  • "Crying for freedom: Democracy's decline," The Economist, Jan 14, 2010. (Other Readings)
  • Video: "Beyond Elections" (PM Press/Estreito Meios Productions/102 mins.). LINK (Follow links on right hand side of page)

Apr. 22, 26, 29, May 3 Issues and Challenges

Ethnopolitics and Nationalisms

  • Burnell & Randall, chs. 6, 7, 20.
  • Griffiths, ch. 24.

Gender

  • Burnell & Randall, ch. 8.
  • Griffiths, chs. 43-48.
  • Tina Rosenberg, "The Daughter Deficit: When Development Makes Life Harder for Daughters," The New York Times, Aug. 17, 2009. LINK
  • Maria C. Correia and Ian Bannon, Other Half of Gender: Men's Issues in Development, ch. 1. (OR)

Environment, Population, Resources, & Health

  • Burnell & Randall, ch. 17.
  • Griffiths, chs. 36-42.

Tourism

  • Frances Brown and Derek Hall, "Tourism and Development in the Global South: the issues," Third World Quarterly, 29: 5, July 2008. 839 - 849.
  • David Harrison, "Pro-poor Tourism: a critique," ibid., 851 - 868.
  • Harold Goodwin, "Pro-poor Tourism: a response," ibid., 869 - 871.
  • NOTE: THE ABOVE CAN BE ACCESSED AT LINK.

May 6 What is to be Done?

Video: Munk Debates 2009: Foreign Aid Does More Harm Than Good.

  • The 2009 Munk Debates: "Be it resolved, foreign aid does more harm than good" Dambisa Moyo and Hernando De Sotto argue in favor of the motion. Paul Collier and Stephen Lewis argue against the motion, June 1, 2009 (2 hours). LINK