draft (26 April 2000)
RSOC 7630
POLITICAL ECONOMY OF DEVELOPMENT
5 credit hours
Summer 2000
The central insight of the political economy perspective is that development doesn't just happen, but is shaped by institutional, class, and state interests. Political economy provides a conceptual tool for understanding how social forces affect the allocation of scarce economic and natural resources to meet particular development goals. The seminar will be devoted to the exploration of these interests, and to a critical examination of development policies and programs shaped by international donors, state agencies, and local elites. Although the primary focus will be on the Third World, much of the material to be covered also is applicable to questions of regional underdevelopment in the United States.
Course objectives are to acquaint students with major theories concerning development, and with the conceptual tools necessary to analyze social and institutional factors associated with development. The course will begin with a review of key theories associated with the development literature (modernization, dependency, world systems theories, and political ecology).
The second section of the course will examine development as a process of globalization and social change, examining the emerging institutional framework of international finance and markets through a series of case studies of agriculture, automobile manufacturing, and international migrant labor. The rise to power of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the Generalized Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and most recently the World Trade Organization (WTO) also will be explored, allowing us to understand the rising chorus of concern that has sparked demonstrations and riots in Seattle and Washington, D.C.
The third section of the course will use the example of tropical forestry in Southeast Asia to explore the shadow ecology of Japan. The focus here will be on the emergence of common interests which linking national elites within Southeast Asian nations and the corporate actors that guide Japan's voracious appetite for tropical hardwoods. Additional examples documenting trade from marine fisheries and aquaculture (especially shrimp farming in the tropics) will be used to broaden the analysis of ecological and political implications of trade relations from developing to developed nations.
Seminar participant will take turns leading discussions on assigned readings, and for preparing and distributing in advance a set of discussion questions related to those readings.
INSTRUCTOR : Dr. Conner Bailey
313A Comer Hall
844-5632
cbailey@acesag.auburn.edu
http://www/ag.auburn.edu/~cbailey/
OFFICE HOURS : By appointment or chance, daily.
TEXTS :
Alvin Y. So. 1990. Social Change and Development. Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage Publications. (paper)
Peter Dauvergne. 1997. Shadows in the Forest; Japan and the Politics of Timber in Southeast Asia. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Philip McMichael. 2000. Development and Social Change; A Global Perspective. Second Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
Note: Books are available for purchase in the Campus Bookstore. Copies of the texts as well as supplemental readings are on 2 hour reserve in the main library.
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES : Every effort will be made to meet the needs of students with documented disabilities.
ASSIGNMENTS : Three writing assignments. Each will contain broad integrative questions based on readings and seminar discussions. Seminar participants will be given two days to prepare the essays, each of which will be typed, doubled spaced. Each essay is expected to require 4-6 pages to complete.
EVALUATION : 330 course points. All three writing assignments are worth 100 points. The final 30 points is earned on the basis of class participation. The criteria used in determining points for class participation are as follows:
(1) regular attendance - you can't be participating if you are not there (10 points);
(2) active participation in class discussion, showing evidence of having read and understood assigned readings (15 points); and
(3) creative contribution to class discussions evidence by the ability to integrate assigned and outside readings, lecture and discussions, and personal experiences (5 points).
Course grades will be assigned as follows:
ASSIGNED READINGS (PRELIMINARY DRAFT, ASSUMES SERIOUS DISCUSSIONS BEGIN WEEK OF JUNE 19TH)
Kaplan, Robert D. 1994. The Coming Anarchy. The Atlantic Monthly 273(2):44-76. (22 pages text).
Alvin So., Social Change and Development
WEEK OF JUNE 26: THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT: WORLD SYSTEMS AND POLITICAL ECOLOGY
Alvin So, Social Change and Development
FIRST WRITING ASSIGNMENT HANDED OUT END OF THIS WEEK,
ASSIGNMENTS DUE FOLLOWING WEEK
WEEK OF JULY 3: DEVELOPMENT AND THE GLOBAL MARKETPLACE
Philip McMichael, Development and Social Change
WEEK OF JULY 10: GLOBALIZATION
Philip McMichael, Development and Social Change
WEEK OF JULY 17: RETHINKING DEVELOPMENT
Philip McMichael, Development and Social Change
SECOND WRITING ASSIGNMENT HANDED OUT END OF THIS WEEK
ASSIGNMENTS DUE FOLLOWING WEEK
WEEK OF JULY 24: POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF FORESTRY IN THE TROPICS
Peter Dauvergne, Shadows in the Forest
WEEK JULY 31 POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF TROPICAL FORESTRY
Peter Dauvergne, Shadows in the Forest
WEEK OF AUGUST 7: COURSE REVIEW
THIRD WRITING ASSIGNMENT HANDED OUT
ASSIGNMENTS DUE ON AUGUST 10TH
LAST DAY OF CLASSES: AUGUST 8TH