Comparative Development Questions

Answer each of the following questions with around 500 words each. Please use only the sources provided, relevant authors and lecture notes to answer the questions. Do not use outside sources. Each answer should draw specific examples from the sources, relevant authors and lecture notes provided and each answer must have a central argument.

1.Write an essay explaining the perspectives on the politics of development found in the political development/modernizationand dependency perspectives. Refer specifically to the ideas of Almond and Powell, Lerner, Samuel Huntington, and Andre Gunder Frank in your answer. In what ways do these two perspectives differ. Are they similar in any way?

Sources: Daniel Lerner. 2000. The Passing of Traditional Society (1958). In J. TimmonsRoberts and Amy Hite (Eds.), From Modernization to Globalization,Perspectives on Development and Social Change (pp. 119-133). Malden:Blackwell Publishers.Samuel Huntington. 2000. Political Order in Changing Societies (1968). In J.Timmons Roberts and Amy Hite (Eds.), From Modernization to Globalization,Perspectives on Development and Social Change (pp. 147-156). Malden MA:Blackwell Publishers.Andre Gunder Frank. 1969. Latin America: Underdevelopment or Revolution.New York: Monthly Review Press, pgs. 371-388.

2. Mainstream discussions of “development” in the Global South have often ignored issues of power inequalities. To what extent does postcolonial and postcolonial feminist thought help us understand this disregard of power? Be sure to explain how Escobar, Esteva, and Mohanty have challenged mainstream ideas.Sources:Gustavo Esteva, Salvatore Babones, and Philipp Babcicky. 2013. The Future ofDevelopment. A Radical Manifesto. Bristol UK: Polity Press, Chapter 1.

3. There has been substantial criticism about the impact of market liberalizing (neoliberal) reforms on the Global South. The IFI’s (the World Bank and the IMF) have responded to these criticisms by adding additional policies andprograms and reinforcing old ones. Write an essay assessing the extent to which the changes supported by these institutions indicate a departure from market liberalization (neoliberalism).

4. The World Bank’s governance agenda calls for strong measures to curtail corruption—measures it believes to be essential for poverty reduction. Write an essay assessing this aspect of the Bank’s governance agenda, highlighting what the Bank does and/or does not understand about the origins and nature of the state in the Global South.

5. To what extent do “hybrid elites” among the leadership of Global South countries and the alliances of these elites form with powerful global north interests (the World Bank, the IMF, MNCs) help explain the continuing development challenges, such as poverty and inequality, in the Global South?Sources for questions 3-5:Joseph Hanlon. 2012. Governance as Kicking Away the Ladder. New PoliticalEconomy 17 (5): 691-697.

Morris Szeftel. 1998. Misunderstanding African Politics: Corruption and theGovernance Agenda. Review of African Political Economy 76: 221-240.Arne Ruckert. 2009. Latin America: Empowering or Disciplining the Poor?Labour, Capital, and Society 42/1 and 2: 57-81Migdal, Joel. 1988. Strong Societies and Weak States. State-society Relations andState Capabilities in the Third World. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press,Chapter 6, The Politics of Survival.Anna Leander. 2004. Wars and the Un-Making of States: Taking Tilly Seriouslyin the Contemporary World In Stefano Guzzini, and Dietrich Jung (Eds.),Contemporary security analysis and Copenhagen Peace Research (pp. 69-80).London and New York: Routledge.(suggested for question 5)Frantz Fanon. 1963. The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Weidenfeld“On Violence” pgs. 1-14.Wonck, Kim. 2009. Rethinking Colonialism and the Origins of the DevelopmentState in East Asia. Journal of Contemporary Asia 39 (3): 382-399.

6. “Multinational corporations (MNCs) engaged in resource extraction and agribusiness have overwhelmingly negative impacts in the Global South. MNCs involved in (and linked to) production in Export Processing Zones (EPZs), on the other hand, have much more positive impacts.” Discuss. You can agree, disagree or partially agree with the statement.Sources:Liz Ross. 2014. Defying the Stereotypes: Women Textile Workers inBangladesh. Marxist Left Review 8: 1-23.Jeffery R. Webber and Todd Gordon. Blood of Extraction. Canadian Imperialismin Latin America. Halifax and Winnipeg: Fernwood Publishing. Chapter 4(Dispossession and Security in Central America).