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| 1. T, 9/6 | 5. T, 9/20 | 9. T, 10/4 | 13. T, 10/18 | 17. T, 11/1 | 21. T, 11/15 | 25. T, 11/29 |
| 2. Th, 9/8 | 6. Th, 9/22 | 10. Th, 10/6 | 14. Th, 10/20 | 18. Th, 11/3 | 22. Th, 11/17 | 26. Th, 12/1 |
| 3. T, 9/13 | 7. T, 9/27 | 11. T, 10/11 | 15. T, 10/25 | 19. T, 11/8 | 23. T, 11/22 | 27. T, 12/6 |
| 4. Th, 9/15 | 8. Th, 9/29 | 12. Th, 10/13 | 16. Th, 10/27 | 20. Th, 11/10 | 24. Th, 11/24 | 28. Th, 12/8 |
| 1. Lecture of T, 9/6 I. Trends in World Poverty* • The number of people living on less than $1 a day worldwide has decreased from 1.2 billion (1990) to 1.1 billion (2001). • However, excluding China, that number has increased from 841 million to 877 million. • The most significant reduction in poverty has been in East Asia and the Pacific, where both the total number and the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day has decreased by close to half. • The proportion of people living in absolute poverty has decreased from 27.9% to 21.1% worldwide. However, excluding China, it has only decreased to 22.5%. • South Asia has experienced a relatively small reduction in poverty. • In sub-Saharan Africa, the number of people living on less than $1 a day has increased from 227 million, to 313 million; and the proportion has increased from 44.6% to 46.4%. • The Middle East and North Africa have also experienced a slight increase in both incidence of poverty. • Europe (mostly in former socialist/transition countries) has experienced a major increase in poverty (from 2 million to 18 million people; 0.5 to 3.6%). • Estimates for the number of people living on less than $2 a day are dramatically higher: 864 million in East Asia, over 1 billion in South Asia, and 2.7 billion worldwide. *These estimates are based on widely used World Bank data. However, the accuracy of these data has been questioned on both conceptual and methodological grounds. Q: What are poverty estimates used for? II. Measures of Poverty • income poverty What are the limitations of this measure? • per capita GDP the total output of goods and services produced by an economy divided by the total population • per capita GNI is GDP plus the INCOME earned by residents from investments abroad divided by the total population. GNI is now commonly used to estimate per capita income. • purchasing power parity (PPP) is the exchange rate that equates the price of a basket of identical traded goods and services in two countries. Income estimates adjusted to PPP are usually higher in developing countries. Income reported in PPP adjusted dollars accounts for price differences between countries. • the Big Mac Index • UNDP’s Human Development Index is a composite measure of standard of living based on life expectancy and education as well as income • vulnerability III. Causes of Poverty Why do some countries and regions suffer a much greater poverty than others? - avoiding environmental determinism - physical/resource limitations - historical - political - social - economic structures (at all levels from local to international) - all of the above are interrelated in complex and context-specific ways |
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| 2. Lecture of Th, 9/8 Global Economic Inequality • The ratio of wealth owned by the richest 20% to the poorest 20%: In 1960 it was 30:1. In 1990 it was 60:1, Today it is about 75:1 • The richest 10% of the US population (25 million people) has total income equal to the combined income of the poorest 43% of the entire world population (2.5 billion people). • The combined assets of the richest 200 people is over $1 trillion – more than the combined income of 41% of the world’s people. • The combined assets of the richest 3 people exceeds the combined GDP of all the least developed countries. • According to a UNDP study, over the past two decades, inequality has been increasing in 48 countries (of 73 studied), constant in 16, and declining in 9. • The Gini coefficient is a measure of income inequality where: 0 represents perfect equality 1 represents absolute inequality • The Gini index is the coefficient times 100 (e.g. .54 ‡ 54). • There is debate as to if and why global inequality is increasing. Interpretations vary according to methods and units of measurement (i.e. GNI vs. PPP; country vs. individual level, and whether countries are weighted by their population size) Key readings for this week: Poverty and Development Ch. 1 Annual Editions “More or Less Equal” No-Nonsense Guide to World Poverty Chs. 2 Reader “The Rising Inequality of World Income Distribution.” For more on this see “The Global Divide” by Marc Lee. Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives, 2002. (www.policyalternatives.ca) |
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| 3. Lecture of T, 9/13 Making of the Third World I: Colonialism Key readings: Poverty and Development Ch. 11; Reader: Hall, ‘The West and the Rest.’ I. Political origins of the term “Third World” • the non-aligned movement • Bandung Conference (1955) • United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) • TW calls for a New International Economic Order (1970s) The political goals of the countries originally identifying themselves as part of the Third World were to avoid being drawn into the Cold War and to promote fair trade. II. European Expansion and the Capitalist World System • driven by competition among European powers • emergence of “core” and “periphery” • know major periods of colonial expansion and incorporation. • the timing of colonial incorporation is crucial. When and how different regions of the world were incorporated into the expanding world system continues to shape their particular development challenges and trajectories today. III. Forms of Colonial Rule • direct vs. indirect rule (e.g. India vs. Nigeria) • settler vs. peasant-based production (Latin America vs. West Africa) • spheres of influence (e.g. China’s treaty ports) IV. Impacts of Colonialism Major Periods of Colonial Expansion I. c.1500 - 1760 Mercantile phase - dominated by Spain and Portugal (the Iberian powers) - massive extraction of resources using forced labor and feudal-type structures - the encomienda system in Latin America - begining of West Indian plantation slavery - the “Columbian exchange” of genetic material, plants, diseases - accumulated wealth fuels industrial revolution Countries colonized in this phase: Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Hispaniola (Dominican Repubic and Haiti), Cuba, Indonesia, South Africa II. c.1760 - 1950 Colonial phase A. c.1770 - 1880 Age of Informal Empire (industrial capitalism) - shift of control to NW European powers (England, France, Holland) - expansion driven by demands and technology of the Industrial Revolution - N. Atlantic triangular trade - tea-opium trade established between India, China, and England - both direct and indirect colonial rule Countries colonized in this phase: Jamaica, India, China’s treaty ports B. c. 1880 - 1945 Classic Age of Imperialism (monopoly capitalism) - the Berlin Conference (1884) and the Scramble for Africa - imposition artificial borders, ‘artificial states” - expansion driven by private companies and competitive finance capital (following first world economic recession) in search of new, exclusive markets - need to “export” surplus populations displaced by industrial revolution Countries colonized during this phase: Most of sub-Saharan Africa and much of SW Asia III. c.1950 - 1980 Decolonization (“neo-colonialism”) - colonies become a political and financial burden - resource and market access assured through neo-colonial alliances and unequal trade IV. c.1980 – present Globalization and “neo/post-imperialism”(?) Impacts of Colonialism (key questions to ask) • Who was the colonial power? What was the style of rule? • How was revenue extracted? • Were there large numbers of settlers? • What was produced? How and by whom? (e.g. peasants, coffee) • How were local social organizations altered? • What traditional methods of production were displaced or destroyed? • What is the relationship between colonial political borders and pre-existing societies? • Who was left in control? • What are the colonial legacies (land distribution, trade dependencies, political organization, agricultural production, migration, etc.). Summary points on "The West and the Rest" The ways we talk about the Third World have long histories. Hall traces the historical emergence of “The West” as a discourse - a way of talking about or representing geography that has a particular history. He argues that, as a discourse, “the West” is inseparable from “the Rest” because the West constructs its self-image through comparisons with the Rest (1) The New World was a “space of projection” for European fantasies and pre-conceived notions of what the world was like. (2) Many of these projections involved splitting the world into binary dualisms: civilized-savage, healthy-unhealthy, advanced-backwards. (3) These ideas had real material consequences. For example, in the 15th century, whether the inhabitants of the New World were seen as noble savages or “less than human” determined whether they could be enslaved. 4) Contemporary development discourses still rely on representations of the Third World as “the Others,” and on comparative dualisms of developed-underdeveloped, democratic-undemocratic, advanced-industrializing, etc. Q: What are the consequences of this today? Q: Where else do you see binary dualisms of other places represented? |
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| 4. Lecture of Th, 9/15
Impacts of Colonialism A. Early incorporation under Mercantilism (1500 – 1760) • demographic: large numbers of European settlers in NW; decimation of indigenous populations; beginning of slave trade to the Americas • economic: extraction-based economies (mining); supported by hacienda system of agriculture; trade in primary commodities with Europe • land rights: huge tracts of land expropriated from local people and concentrated under single owners; latifundia/minifundia pattern of extremely unequal land ownership; mirrored feudal system • political: early wars for independence waged by European settlers against the Crown • social: indigenous people marginalized (socially, economically, spatially) B. Incorporation during rise of industrial capitalism (1760 –1880) • demographic: height of the slave trade, followed by indentured labor system; indigenous populations of smaller Caribbean islands destroyed; smaller settler populations • economic: plantation system dominant, agriculture centralized and industrialized; production oriented entirely for export to Europe; height of “king sugar”; everything is oriented around the plantations (roads, water, labor, power); dependence on a single commodity exports • land rights: huge areas cleared for plantations, massive deforestation, soil depletion, massive land concentration by plantation owners, subsistence producers on physical and ecological margins of the plantations • political: lingering dependency on Europe; late independence; fragmentation • social: social stratification linking race and class; colonial education C. Late incorporation under monopoly capitalism (1880 – WW I) • demographic: intense exploitation of local labor, influx of Europeans to some settler colonies, large scale displacement and relocation of indigenous populations • land rights: displacement and marginalization of Africans in settler colonies; small farmers were left on their lands in peasant-based colonies, but taxed and forced to produce new crops for export (peanuts, oil palms) • economic: traditional production reoriented towards new export crops, economies drained of surplus, local industry suppressed, environmental degradation, dependencies on new imports. • political: in settler colonies, conflicts between the settlers and the indigenous groups; in indirectly ruled colonies, conflicts between the ethnic groups given unequal power within artificial borders. • social: new social divisions created; local knowledge and social practices deligitimized; “colonial mentality”; rise of resistance movements Impacts of Colonialism A. Early incorporation under Mercantilism (1500 – 1760) • demographic: large numbers of European settlers in NW; decimation of indigenous populations; beginning of slave trade to the Americas • economic: extraction-based economies (mining); supported by hacienda system of agriculture; trade in primary commodities with Europe • land rights: huge tracts of land expropriated from local people and concentrated under single owners; latifundia/minifundia pattern of extremely unequal land ownership; mirrored feudal system • political: early wars for independence waged by European settlers against the Crown • social: indigenous people marginalized (socially, economically, spatially) B. Incorporation during rise of industrial capitalism (1760 –1880) • demographic: height of the slave trade, followed by indentured labor system; indigenous populations of smaller Caribbean islands destroyed; smaller settler populations • economic: plantation system dominant, agriculture centralized and industrialized; production oriented entirely for export to Europe; height of “king sugar”; everything is oriented around the plantations (roads, water, labor, power); dependence on a single commodity exports • land rights: huge areas cleared for plantations, massive deforestation, soil depletion, massive land concentration by plantation owners, subsistence producers on physical and ecological margins of the plantations • political: lingering dependency on Europe; late independence; fragmentation • social: social stratification linking race and class; colonial education C. Late incorporation under monopoly capitalism (1880 – WW I) • demographic: intense exploitation of local labor, influx of Europeans to some settler colonies, large scale displacement and relocation of indigenous populations • land rights: displacement and marginalization of Africans in settler colonies; small farmers were left on their lands in peasant-based colonies, but taxed and forced to produce new crops for export (peanuts, oil palms) • economic: traditional production reoriented towards new export crops, economies drained of surplus, local industry suppressed, environmental degradation, dependencies on new imports. • political: in settler colonies, conflicts between the settlers and the indigenous groups; in indirectly ruled colonies, conflicts between the ethnic groups given unequal power within artificial borders. • social: new social divisions created; local knowledge and social practices deligitimized; “colonial mentality”; rise of resistance movements |
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| 5. Lecture of T, 9/20 Forms of Colonial Rule: Three Examples from Africa
Interrogating Colonialism – key questions to ask: • Who was the colonial power? What was their style of rule (direct/indirect)? • How was revenue extracted? • Were there large numbers of settlers? • What was produced? How was it produced? By whom? • What was the primary export market? • How were local social organizations altered? • What traditional methods of production were displaced or destroyed? • How was population distribution affected? • Who was left in control? • What is the relationship between colonial political borders and pre-existing societies? • What are the legacies in terms of land distribution, trade dependencies, political organization, agricultural production, migration, etc. |
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| 6. Lecture of Th, 9/22 The Colonial International Division of Labor Historically, Third World countries have tended to specialize in primary commodity export production, in contrast to First World nations that specialize in manufactured goods. One measure of development is the degree of economic shift toward manufacturing. Primary commodities are unprocessed agricultural products and other raw materials such as timber, fisheries, minerals, and oil. Some Colonies and their Primary Exports: Brazil (Portugal) sugar Ceylon (Britain) tea Egypt (Britain) cotton Ghana (Britain) cocoa Haiti (France0 sugar India (Britain) cotton, opium Indonesia (Holland) rubber, tobacco Senegal (France) peanuts South Africa (Britain) gold, diamonds Impacts of the colonial international division of labor: 1) stimulated European industrialization; 2) forced non-Europeans to specialize in a limited number of primary products; 3) undermined traditional production systems, craft industries, and replaced mixed farming with export mono-culture. Key point: The colonial legacy of primary commodity export production was a major economic problem for many newly independent countries during the period of decolonization, and remains a major development obstacle for much of the Third World today. Key Questions on Decolonization: 1. When did it happen? Early during the age of informal empire or late, during the Cold War? With what political and economic consequences? 2. Was the transition to independence peaceful or violent? 3. Who emerged in control of the state? Whose interests did they represent? 4. What economic options and problems did the country face at independence? 5. What kinds of post-colonial politics emerged? Decolonization and Independence Decolonization is the achievement of national aspirations for political independence from a colonial power. Like colonialism, decolonization happened in different ways and at different times. First Wave of Decolonization (1790-1840) Focus: New World/Latin America Causes: American, French, and Haitian Revolutions; Napoleonic Wars in Europe weakened Spain and Portugal; growing creole nationalism and independence struggles in New World. Three major wars for indpendence: Mexico (led by Father Miguel Hidalgo) Northern S. America (led by Simon Bolivar) Souther S. America (led by Jose de San Martin) Latin American Independence Dates:
Challenges facing newly independent Latin American states: |
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| 7. Lecture of T, 9/27
Rise of the Development Project Post-War Restructuring (1945 to mid-1950s) • Bretton Woods Agreements and Institutions (1944) -The Gold Standard (ties US currency to price of gold) - The International Montetary Fund (IMF) for short-term loans - The World Bank for loans to promote development - General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) • United Nations Charter 1945 • The Marshall Plan (US grants to rebuild Europe) • Public Law 480 1954 (US food aid/cheap food exports) • Beginning of Cold War and the Non-Aligned Movement The “Golden Years” (late 1950s through 1960s) • Height of decolonization period • UN declares First Development Decade in 1962 • UNDP established in 1965 • Foreign Direct Investment significant but uneven • Economic growth “at all costs” is dominant ideology • import substitution industrialization (ISI) is dominant strategy • Dependency Theorists critique FW development paradigm Debt-Led Growth (1970s) • US goes off the gold standard in 1971 • OPEC triggers first oil crisis in 1973 • TW countries take out large private (“petro-dollar”) loans • primary exporters continue to suffer declining terms of trade • World Bank funds big infrastructure projects • TW countries call for a New International Economic Order • New focus on poverty and “basic needs” |
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| 8. Lecture of Th, 9/29
See above lecture notes |
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9. Lecture of T, 10/4
Debt crisis outline I. The Debt Crisis (1980s the “lost decade”) A. Causes • US goes off the gold standard in 1971 • OPEC triggers first oil crisis in 1973 • private banks invest excess “petro-dollars” in TW projects • terms of trade continue to decline • TW foreign debts increase dramatically, b/c of: - commercial borrowing for big development projects during 1970s (“debt-led development”) - rising price of oil and imports - interest rates raised in late 1970s (to control US inflation) • FW decreases spending on foreign aid B. Consequences • IMF and World Bank take over lending, impose conditionalities (austerity measures and structural adjustment policies) • free-market neoliberalism becomes dominant ideology • growth in indirect foreign investment in TW (“shallow,” less stable) • social impacts C. Debt Relief • On Septembr 25, the IMF and the World Bank formally agreed to to cancel up to $55 billion of the debts owed to them by 38 of the poorest countries. • The first 18 countries to benefit will be: Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia. • There are conditions: 1. The debts will be cancelled, but so will loan $$ that was being leant to pay the interest on the debts. 2. The World Bank is to be compensated for writing off the debts with additional contributions by member countries. 3. In order to qualify for debt forgiveness, countries must meet certain conditions, including neoliberal deregulation. II. The 1990s: Market Triumphalism • post-Cold War political and economic restructuring • emergence of new group of poor “transition” nations • East Asian financial crisis • China increasingly open to trade and foreign investment • new discourse on “sustainable development” gains currency • anti-globalization movements • free-market neoliberalism remains dominant ideology III. Elements of Neoliberal Economic Policy (“The Washington Consensus”) 1. reduce trade barriers (quotas, tariffs) 2. promote export production (over production for domestic economy) 3. reduce government spending (cutback social services, education, health care) 4. encourage or require privatization (sale of state-owned enterprises) 5. facilitate free flow of capital, encourage foreign investment IV. What is the international context for development today? Total External Debt
(in US $ millions)
Source: World Bank
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