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Lecture GEOG 335 Fall 2007 Dec. 6, 2007

This course delves into the complexities of international development, addressing critiques and dilemmas surrounding intervention in the Global South. Examining historical contexts and theoretical frameworks, students analyze power dynamics, inequalities, and approaches to social change. With a focus on diverse development actors and subjects, discussions cover colonial legacies, modernization theories, and contemporary issues like MDGs and participatory approaches. Guest speakers provide insights on effectiveness and scalability, prompting students to reflect on their values and sense of responsibility towards global well-being. The course challenges individuals to consider their role in shaping a practical paradigm for positive change in a world marked by uncertainty and inequality.

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Lecture GEOG 335 Fall 2007 Dec. 6, 2007

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  1. Lecture GEOG 335 Fall 2007 Dec. 6, 2007

  2. GEOG 335Geographies of International Development “You’ve come a long way, baby!”

  3. Course Subtext: Dilemmas Amidst critiques of development, in the face of “anti-development” arguments, what is our response? How dare we assume we should intervene? How dare we assume we shouldn’t?

  4. Background to the Development Project

  5. “What is Development” Revisited • The Third World is hard to define in a manner that all can agree upon. • Development is also difficult, if not impossible, to define satisfactorily

  6. Development/development “…‘big D’ Development [can be] defined as a post-second world war project of intervention in the ‘third world’ that emerged in the context of decolonization and the cold war, and ‘little d’ development [as] the development of capitalism as a geographically uneven, profoundly contradictory set of historical processes.” (Hart, 2001: 650, quoted in Lawson 2006: 3)

  7. What is Development? We know it has to do with change, with improving people’s lives.

  8. Who “does” Development? (Development Actors) • Who has Development “done” to them? (Development Subjects) Development actors/subjects

  9. Colonial Imperialism • Slave trade • Resource extraction • Destruction of nations & communities • Political chaos • Impoverishment

  10. Emergence of the Modern Development Project Truman’s 1949 Inaugural Address

  11. Theoretical Underpinnings • Modernization Theory • Dependency Theory • Neo-liberalism • Keynesianism • Anti-development (Escobar) • Discourse

  12. Other Issues • Measurements of Development • MDGs, • GDP, • Inequality, • Happiness • Debt Crisis, Debt Relief

  13. Interventions, Scales, Approaches • Participatory Development • WID/WAD/GAD • Governance and Law • Single intervention (e.g., safe water) • Education • “Radical Politics” (Hickey & Mohan) • Social change, equity, empowerment, political participation for the marginalized

  14. Guest Speakers

  15. Your Response to the Guest Speakers? • Effectiveness of his/her work or scholarship? • Usefulness of his/her approach? • How many people can they reach? Can they scale up? Is their effect positive or negative? • Can you identify a theoretical position? • What are the major problems in their work? Are these outweighed by the benefits? • Would you a) donate to, or b) work for them?

  16. Mirror, mirror… What do your responses to each guest speaker say about you?

  17. There is much to be done… A balance-sheet of development and human well-being shows achievements and deficits. Power and poverty are polarized at the extremes, with a global overclass and a global underclass… …opportunities exist to make a difference for the better. The challenge is personal, professional and institutional, to frame a practical paradigm for knowing and acting, and changing how we know and act, in a flux of uncertainty and change. Chambers, Whose Reality Counts?, p.1.

  18. Power of a Personal Response • It starts with your values, your approaches to life and to the world. • What will you do with your life? Will the world be a better place for your having been here? • What is your sense of the interconnectedness of things in the world? • Where does your responsibility lie?

  19. My challenge to you:What will you do next? (I mean, after finals.)

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