Senior Seminar: Sustainable Development
in the Modern World System
Lecture: T/TH:
2:15-4:05 Instructor: Monty
Roper
Fine Arts Rm 263 204
Goodnow Hall
Office phone: 269-3017
e-mail: roperjm@grinnell.edu
Office Hours: M/W 2-4 and T/Thu 10-12 (excluding convo
days). During office hours, anyone is
welcome to stop by without an appointment.
I will also be happy to schedule appointments during non-office hours. If you are having problems with course
materials for any reason, I strongly encourage you to come see me. If you need to get in touch with me and are
unable to do so by phone (or prefer not to), you can e-mail me. I check my e-mail regularly, though you
should not assume that I have received your message until you receive a
confirmation from me.
Note on the Syllabus: While I have mapped out a tentative schedule below, I
am leaving the plan for this course somewhat flexible. While we will certainly address most of the
topics listed below, much of this syllabus is tentative. I am likely to either add or subtract
readings over the course of the semester.
We may even add or eliminate entire topics. Some of this will depend on how the dynamics
of the class fall into place, as well as what Rosenfield
events are scheduled. We will discuss
any possible changes in class.
Course Description and Goals: The Concept of “Sustainable Development” is a very
broad and fairly vague. It has been used
by economists, ecologists, grassroots organizations and major institutions of
development, yet the meanings that each group applies to the term vary. Generally, sustainable development has been
accepted to refer to issues of both social equity and environmental
considerations in the process of “development”.
We will focus primarily on the environmental considerations and issues
that fall at the intersection of environment and social equity. We will consider what development is or
should be, how and why the concept of sustainability became prevalent in the
dominant discourse on development, some of the varying meanings applied to this
concept, as well as some of the contradictions or inconsistencies in the
concept. We will then explore a number
of key issues and debates at the boundary of economic/social development,
natural resource management, and environmental degradation. We are focusing on only a handful of issues
and topics in this class out of a broad range of possibilities. We will primarily focus on these concerns
within the so-called “third world” (developing, lesser developed, low income,
etc.) countries. Finally, we will make
an effort to address these issues at various levels, examining both the global
and theoretical nature of certain debates as well as how the associated issues
are experienced by communities and individuals in the developing world. As such, the course uses readings from a
number of disciplines including political economy, international relations,
ecological economics, and anthropology.
This
class is a senior seminar. It is YOUR
senior seminar. I am here to help
provide you with a set of readings to stimulate discussion and to serve as a
kind of in-class moderator and resident devil’s advocate. I may briefly lecture on particular topics or
talk about my own experiences, but you should think of this class foremost as a
kind of structured reading group. Your
responsibility is to come to class prepared to discuss the readings, raise
questions, argue for or against certain positions, and stimulate one-another to
come up with fresh ideas. You should be
able to build on past readings in your consideration of topics as well as bring
in your own experiences. Many of you
have done internships, taken other relevant classes, and traveled to “third
world” countries, and you should bring these experiences to the
discussion. It is your responsibility
just as much as it is mine to make this class work. Everyone should feel free to participate
openly in class. There are no taboo
ideas or subjects, even if they may be labeled un-PC outside of the class. The classroom is a forum for open discussion
and debate. Everyone should help to
support an atmosphere where diverging and conflicting ideas from within the
class can be heard and considered. There
are few “right” answers or theories concerning the material that we are
discussing. As we will see, educated
academics disagree on many of the underlying assumptions of development and
environmental issues, not to mention more specific hot topics.
Required Texts:
None so far…
Reserved
Readings
Reserved readings will be
available in the student projects room on the 3rd floor of Goodnow Hall and (to the extent that is possible) in the
library.
1.
Reading
Journal: (20% of grade) Each of you
will keep an electronic written journal of comments and questions on, and
responses to the readings that must include the following: Prior to each
class period, students must prepare at least 3 questions concerning the
readings (these may relate to disagreements that you have, arguments that you
feel are unclear or poorly made, contradictions in the materials, or any other
kind of question that occurs to you). In
addition, once per week you must
turn in a 1-2 page response to the readings for that day. This might include a summary of the readings,
a response to the argument of the various authors, and/or how the articles
relate or might be useful to your own experiences or primary interests. These must be turned into me by e-mail before
class, or presented to me in class with an e-mail to follow. Journal entries should be well constructed,
but will be assessed primarily on the basis of content.
2.
Final Paper :
(25% of grade) Each of you will write
a research paper that examines an issue in sustainable development. The paper should include theory and a detailed
case study (or multiple case studies), and build off of and/or incorporate
materials from the course.
3.
Debate: (15%
of grade) We will have three debates
in this class. Each will serve as a
structured discussion of a contentious issue, with a focus on a particular case
study. Each student will participate in
one of these.
4.
Leading
Discussion: (10% of grade) There will be four days on which the
discussion will be led by a prearranged panel.
Each student will serve on one panel.
5.
Participation: (25% of grade)
(See discussion of participation in course description and goals above.)
6.
Self-assessment: (5% of grade) Each student will write a final self
assessment/journal entry that considers what has been learned over the course
of the semester, and assesses participation and personal development through
the course.
Course
Outline
(Subject to Modification)
PART I:
DEVELOPMENT PARADIGMS AND PRACTICE
Jan 22 A Need for
Development? And Common Measures.
·
Simon Kuznets 1993[1955] “Economic Growth and Income
Inequality.” In M. Seligson
and J. Passé-Smith (eds.), Development
& Underdevelopment: The Political Economy of Inequality
·
J. Passé-Smith
1993 “The Persistence of the Gap: Taking
Stock of Economic Growth in the Post-World War II Era.” In M. Seligson and
J. Passé-Smith (eds.), Development &
Underdevelopment: The Political Economy of Inequality
·
John Isbister 1998 “Promises Not Kept: The Betrayal of Social
Change in the Third World”, Ch 1: “Introduction” & Ch 2: “A World of
Poverty”
·
Andy Storey 2003
“Measuring Development”. In G.
McCann and S. McCloskey (eds.), From the
Local to the Global Key Issues in Development Studies.
Jan 27 Understanding
and Addressing Poverty. The Orthodox
View: From Modernization to Neoliberalism.
·
Talcott Parsons 2000[1964] “Evolutionary Universals in
Society. In J. Timmons Roberts and Amy
Hite, From Modernization to Globalization: Perspectives on Development and
Social Change. Malden, MA: Blackwell
Publishers.
·
W.W. Rostow 2000 [1960] “The Stages of Economic Growth: A
Non-Communist Manifesto. In J. Timmons
Roberts and Amy Hite, 2000 From Modernization to Globalization:
Perspectives on Development and Social Change. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.
·
Oscar Lewis 2000
[1968] “A Study of Slum Culture:
Backgrounds for La Vida.” In J. Timmons
Roberts and Amy Hite, From Modernization to Globalization: Perspectives on
Development and Social Change.
Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.
·
Robert H.
Bates 1993[1988] “Governments and Agricultural Markets in
Africa.” In M. Seligson and J. Passé-Smith (eds.), Development & Underdevelopment: The Political Economy of Inequality. Pp:333-346.
Jan 29 Dependency and World Systems Theory
Respond
·
David Korten,
When Corporations Rule the World. Ch. 3:
The Growth Illusion.
·
A.G. Frank,
"The Development of Underdevelopment." In J. Timmons Roberts and Amy Hite, 2000 From
Modernization to Globalization: Perspectives on Development and Social Change. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers. Pp: 159-168.
·
T. dos Santos,
“The Structure of Dependence” In M. Seligson and J. Passé-Smith (eds.),
Development & Underdevelopment: The Political Economy of Inequality. Pp: 193-202.
·
Bruce Rich 1996
“World Bank/IMF: 50 Years is Enough.” In C.R. Goddard, J.T. Passé-Smith,
and J.G. Conklin (eds.), International Political Economy: State-Market
Relations in the Changing Global Order.
Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Pp:305-313.
Feb 3 Linking Development and the Environment: The Rise of
Sustainable Development
·
World Commission
on Environment and Development, Our
Common Future. Ch 1 (A Threatened
Future) & Ch 2 (Towards Sustainable Development)
·
H. Roseland,
(Ch1) “The Context for Sustainable Communities” (From: Toward Sustainable
Communities: Resources for Citizens and their Governments)
·
UN Human
Development Report Ch. 1, “The Concept and Measurement of Human Development”.
Feb 5 The
Local Context of Unsustainable Development
·
John Bodley 1988 Tribal Peoples and Contemporary Development
Policy. In, Tribal Peoples & Development Issues: A Global Overview.
·
Colin De’Ath and Gregory Mchalenko. 1988[1981]
High Technology and Original Peoples: The Case of Deforestation in Papua
New Guinea and Canada. In John Bodley (ed.) Tribal Peoples & Development Issues: A
Global Overview.
·
David Stea, Silvia Elguea, and Camilo Perez Bustillo 1997
“Environment, Development, and Indigenous Revolution in Chiapas” In, B.R. Johnston (ed.), Life
and Death Matters: Human Rights and the Environment at the End of the
Millennium.
·
Barbara Rose
Johnston and Daniel Jorgensen 1994 “Chapter 9.
Mineral Development, Environmental Degradation, and Human Rights: The OK
Tedi Mine, Papua New Guinea” In, B.R. Johnston
(ed.), Who Pays the Price: The Sociocultural Context
of Environmental Crisis.
·
M. Douglas
1975 “Environments at Risk” In, M.
Douglas Implicit Meanings: Essays in
Anthropology
·
Robert Solow 1993[1991] "Sustainability: An Economist's
Perspective" In, R. Dorfman and N. Dorfman (eds.), Economics of the Environment.
·
Stephen R. Dovers
1993 “Contradictions in
Sustainability.” Environmental
Conservation 20(3):217-222.
·
Vernon W.
Ruttan “Sustainability is Not
Enough.” In C. Eicher and J. Staatz
(eds.) Agricultural Development in the Third World. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University
Press. Pp: 400-404.
·
Arturo
Escobar 1995 Encountering
Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World. Ch. 5 (Power and Visibility: Tales of
Peasants, Women and the Environment) Pp: 192-211.
·
Bob
Sutcliffe 1995 “Development After Ecology.” In J. Timmons Roberts and Amy Hite, 2000 From
Modernization to Globalization: Perspectives on Development and Social Change. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers. Pp:328-339.
·
Bill DeVall 2001 The Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement. 1960-2000 A Review. Ethics & The Environment 6(1):18-41. ISSN: 1085-6633.
·
Richard Peet and Michael Watts 1996
Liberation Ecology: Development, sustainability, and environment in an
age of market triumphalism. In R. Peet and M.
Watts (eds.), Liberation Ecologies: Environment, Development, Social Movements.
·
United Nations Development Programme 2000
Human Development Report 2000.
Overview and Ch.1 (Human Rights and Human Development)
Feb 17-19: Power, Policy and the Environment –
Political Ecology (and its critics)
·
Blaikie, Piers, and Harold Brookfield 1987 Land Degradation and Society. New York: Methuen. (Introduction)
·
Stonich, Susan 1993 I am
Destroying the Land. The Political
Ecology of Poverty and Environmental Destruction in Honduras. Boulder: Westview
Press.
·
Bates, Robert 1990 The Political Framework for Agricultural
Policy Decisions. In C. Eicher and J.
Staatz (eds.), Agricultural Development
in the Third World. Baltimore, MD:
The Johns Hopkins University Press. Pp.
154-159.
·
Chapman, M.D. 1989 "The Political Ecology of Fisheries
Depletion in Amazonia." Environmental Conservation 16(4):331-337.
·
Arturo
Escobar. 1996 “Constructing Nature: Elements for a poststructural political ecology” In, R. Peet and M.
Watts (eds.) Liberation Ecologies:
environment, development, social movements.
·
Marinne Schmink and Charles
Wood. 1987 The Political Ecology of Amazonia. In P. Little, M. Horowitzt,
with A.E. Nyerges (eds.), Lands at Risk in the Third World:
Local-Level Perspectives.Property
Regimes
·
Hardin, G. 1968 The Tragedy of the Commons. Science V. 162, Dec. 13, 68. PP. 1243-1248.
·
Hillary French 2000 Vanishing
Borders: Protecting the Planet in the Age of Globalization
·
McCabe, J. Terrence 1990 Turkana Pastoralism: A Case Against the Tragedy of the
Commons. Human Ecology 18(1):81-103.
·
Bromley, Daniel W. 1989 Property Relations and Economic
Development: The Other Land Reform. World Development 17(6):867-877.
·
McCay, Bonnie J., and James Acheson
(eds.), 1987 The Question of the Commons: The Culture and Ecology of Communal
Resources. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.
·
Ostrom,
Elinor
1990 Governing the Commons: The
Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. New York:
Cambridge University Press.
·
McCay, B. 1992 Everyone's Concern, Whose Responsibility? The
Problem of the Commons. In S. Ortiz and
S. Lees (eds.) Understanding Economic
Process. Monographs in Economic
Anthropology, #10.
·
Bromley, Daniel W. 1992 Making
the Commons Work: Theory, Practice, and Policy. San Francisco: Institute for Contemporary
Studies.
March 3-5 Agrarian reform
·
Ghose, Ajit Kumar 1983
Agrarian Reform in Developing Countries: Issues of Theory and Problems
of Practice. In A. K. Ghose (ed.), Agrarian
Reform in Contemporary Developing Countries. Pp:3-28.
·
Thiesenhusen, William (ed)
1989 Searching for Agrarian Reform in Latin America. Boston: Unwin
Hyman. (Introduction)
·
Findley, S. 1988 Colonist Constraints, Strategies, and
Mobility: Recent Trends in Latin American Frontier Zones. In A.S. Oberai
(ed.), Land Settlement Policies and
population Redistribution in Developing Countries. New York, NY: Praeger.
Pp. 271-316.
·
Lipton, Michael 1993 Land Reform as Commenced Business: The
Evidence Against Stopping. World
Development 21(4):641-657.
·
Bromley, R.J. 1981 The Colonization of Humid Tropical Areas in
Ecuador. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography (2):15-26.
March 10 DEBATE 1 – Property Regimes/Agrarian
Reform
Globalization, Food Systems, and Sustainable
Development
(This Section of the course will be arranged around
the Rosenfield/Prairie Studies symposium: What we
Eat: Industrialization, Concentration,
Globalization, Food Safety, Biodiversity and Agrarianism)
March 12: Globalization Overview
March 31- April 2 Prairie
Studies/Rosenfield Symposium…
April 7 DEBATE
– Globalization and Sustainable Development
April 9 International Governance and Oversight
·
SOW Chapter
8. Hilary French “Reshaping Global
Governance”.
·
SOW Chapter
2. Seth Dunn and Christopher Flavin “Moving the Climate Change Agenda Forward”.
·
UN Conference on
Environment and Development 2000 “Rio Declaration on Environment and
Development” In, F. Lechner and J. Boli (eds.), The Globalization Reader. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers. Pp:381-384.
·
Paul Wapner 2000 “Greenpeace and
Political Globalism.” In, F. Lechner
and J. Boli (eds.), The Globalization Reader. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers. Pp:385-391.
·
Margaret Keck and
Kathryn Sikkink
2000 “Environmental Advocacy
Networks.” In, F. Lechner and J. Boli
(eds.), The Globalization Reader.
Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.
Pp:392-399.
·
Jackie Smith 2000
“Building Political Will after UNCED: EarthAction
International.” In, F. Lechner and J. Boli (eds.), The Globalization Reader. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers. Pp:400-405.
April 14-16 Population, Social
Change and Carrying Capacity
·
John Bennett “The Ecological
Transition: From Equilibrium to Disequalibrium.”
·
Meggers,
B.J. 1974 Environment and culture in Amazonia. In Charles
Wagley (ed.), Man
in the Amazon. Gainseville: University of Florida Press. Pp. 91-110.
·
Ester Boserup “Environment,
Population and Technology in Primitive Societies.”
·
Fred Hoyle “A Contradiction in the Argument of Malthus”
·
Norman Myers and Julian Simon 1994 Scarcity
or Abundance: A Debate on the Environment.
Ch.2. Simon: Population Growth is Not Bad for Humanity; and Ch3 Myers:
The Population Factor.
·
SOW Chapter 6. B. Enelman, B. Halweil and D. Nierenberg.
“Rethinking Population, Improving Lives”
·
G. Daily and P.
Ehrlich, “Population, Sustainability, and Earth’s Carrying Capacity”
·
R. Ridker, “Population Issue”
April 21 Debate
3 Population/Consumption
April 23 Local People and
Participation
·
C. Kottak, “When People Don’t Come First: Some Sociological
Lessons from Completed Projects”
·
A. Bebbington, “Modernization from Below”
·
K. Rao and C. Geisler, “The Social
Consequences of Protected Ares Development for Resident Populations”
·
F. Pichón, J. Uquillas, and J. Frechione (eds.)
1999 Traditional and Modern
Natural Resource Management in Latin America
·
Stan Stevens
(ed) 1997 Conservation Through Cultural Survival
·
Posey, D., John Frechione, John Eddins, Luiz Francelino da Silva, with Debbie
Myers, & Diane Case, and Peter MacBeath 1984
"Ethnoecology as Applied Anthropology in
Amazonian Development," Human
Organization 43(2):95-107.
·
·
Fisher, W. H.
1994 "Megadevelopment, Environmentalism, and
Resistance: The Institutional Context of Kayapó
Indigenous Politics in Central Brazil," Human Organization 53(3):220-232.
·
Burton, Michael, G. Mark Schoepfle, and Marc
L. Miller 1986 Natural Resource Anthropology. Human Organization 45(3):261‑269.
·
Barlett, Peggy (ed.)
1980 Agricultural decision making: Anthropological contributions to rural
development. New York: Academic
Press.
·
Bennett, John W. 1996 Human
Ecology as Human Behavior: Essays in environmental and development
anthropology. New Brunswick, NJ:
Transaction Publishers. (This is a very
good "life's work" collection).