Development Theories and Approaches:  Globalization, Development and Non-governmental Organizations

Kalamazoo College, Program in Sustainable Development Studies
International Sustainable Development Studies Institute

Instructor:  LeeRay Costa   
Semester:    Fall 2000
Time: Mondays and Wednesdays, 10:30 - 12:00
Office Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays 2:30 - 3:30 and by appointment

Course Overview

This course begins from the premise that “development” is a contested category, i.e. development has different meanings for different people and thus, is not necessarily mutually agreed upon.  The course examines theories of development and “underdevelopment” from a historical perspective.  It also addresses how non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have approached and attempted to solve the problems related to development.  Development and NGOs are situated within the wider processes of globalization, and particular attention is paid to people’s experiences of globalization in Thai and Southeast Asian contexts.  Theories and issues of development are also approached from a perspective which recognizes difference, i.e. the social and cultural differences of gender, class, race/ethnicity and power.   Integral to the course is a series of extended field visits to NGOs and local communities currently dealing with processes of development and globalization.  These field visits will enable students to think about how theory does/not apply in practice in the real world.

The following questions will help guide our readings and discussions:  1) How is development defined and by whom?  2) How have global and local relations of power, both historically and in the present, shaped the meanings of development?   3) What are some of the ways that the dominant development paradigm is being challenged and transformed?  4)  What role(s) do NGOs and their members play in this redefinition of development?  5) How are development and globalization experienced differently by people in specific local contexts?  6) Is there a future for development and if so, what might it look like?  7) What role(s) can/should we play (as relatively privileged and educated people from one of the world’s most powerful nation-states) in challenging and redefining development?  8) How might we incorporate the theoretical insights gained from our readings and discussions into our own daily practices?

Course Objective

At the completion of the course, students will have a broad and complex understanding of the major theories of development, globalization, strategies and types of aid organizations (including NGOs).  Students will also be able to articulate how these issues can be seen in the work of local NGOs in Thailand.

Course Requirements

For this course to be successful and mutually beneficial to all, it requires the full participation of all members of the class.  It is essential that students come to class prepared, having completed ALL the required readings and any written assignments due.  Students should arrive ready to thoughtfully discuss, analyze and share their insights into/confusions about the material.

·       Class participation is required.  However, please do not waste the other students’ time if you have not read the material. 

·       Class attendance is required.  Cutting class will result in a grade reduction.  Students are expected to arrive on-time.  Lateness will not be tolerated.

·       Reading assignments are required.  Readings should be read BEFORE the class period in which they will be discussed.  Make sure to read the endnotes/footnotes as well. 

·      Written assignments:

          1)  Journals:  Throughout the course, each student should keep a journal.  Journal entries can be made as often as you like, however, there should be no less than two entries per week.  In your journal, you should reflect on the course readings and discussions, as well as program fieldtrips and the cross-cultural experience of living/studying in Thailand.  You may also incorporate ideas, comments and materials from your other courses, and how they relate to the issues being discussed in this course.  Think of your journal as an on-going intellectual, personal and emotional process; make it your own.  You might want to include drawings, newspaper or magazine clippings, photographs, poetry, song lyrics, or any other communicative medium that helps express how you are thinking about the course material.

          The journal will be periodically reviewed by the instructor.  Thus, journals should be brought to every class meeting.  Journals will be evaluated on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis and will count toward the final grade.

          The journal will provide you with a strong foundation for writing your thought papers (the next assignment).

          2) Thought Papers:  Each week students will be required to write a one page “thought paper.”  You may use your journal entries as a source for these. The thought paper must include a) a discussion of the reading for that week, and evidence that you have understood (or grappled with how to understand) the reading, b) reflection on how the reading from that week fits with at least some of the previous readings, c) reflection on how the reading fits with field visits or other program experiences in Thailand and d) at least one question related to that week’s reading.

Thought papers are required and will be evaluated on a satisfactory/ unsatisfactory basis.  They will be incoporated in your final grade. 

Thought papers are due at the end of class on Wednesdays and should cover both Monday’s and Wednesday’s readings.  NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

3)  Term Paper: The course requires a term paper.  Students should choose a topic from among the issues covered in the course such as globalization, gender and development, AIDs, the future of development, NGOs in Thailand, etc...  The term paper must demonstrate an understanding of course readings, as well as independent research on a topic of the student’s choice.   In addition, the paper should examine the chosen topic within the Thai context, drawing on examples from readings, newspapers and other sources.  Students are encouraged to use the Program’s Resource Center, as well as other campus libraries.  Students must hand in a paper proposal in advance of the final paper and have the proposed topic approved by the instructor.

Length:  20 pages
Proposal Due:   October 18
Term Paper Due:  December 18

4)  Final Exam:  The final exam will be on December 21.  It will cover class lectures, discussions and readings.

Course Grading

Participation            10%
Journals                  15%
Thought Papers       15%
Term Paper             30%
Final Exam              30%  

Extra Credit

Students have the option to seek extra credit to improve their final grades.   The assignment is to read one of two books, A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid, or Tale of the Tikongs by Epeli Hau’ofa, and write a five-page book review.  The review should attempt to use events, characters and/or descriptions in the stories to highlight some of the theories and ideas discussed in the course.  The extra credit book review is due December 21 at the time of the final exam.

Required Readings:

Text:  Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective (2000), Philip McMichael,  Sage.

Course Reader: Composed of selected articles listed below.

Course Videos:

The Ugly American (1963)

Behind the Smile (1993)

Golf War (1999)

Sacrifice (19??)

Seattle (1999) excerpts from Wednesday: Women’s Day and Tuesday: The Big March.

Schedule of Classes, Topics and Readings:

Weeks 1-2:  No class meetings.  Program Orientation.

I.  Development

Week 3.

Sept 18:  Introduction and Overview:  “Grand Theories” of Development

·       Gardner, Katy and David Lewis, excerpt from Anthropology, Development and the Post-Modern Challenge (1996) pp. 12-20.

·       Wallerstein, Immanuel, “The Modern World System” in Social Theory: the multicultural and classic readings, C. Lemert, Ed. (1985) pp. 425-432.

·       Gandhi, Mahatma, “The Quest for Simplicity: ‘My Idea of Swaraj’” in The Post-Development Reader, Rahnema & Bawtree, Eds., (1997) pp. 306-7.

·       Puey Ungphakorn, “The Quality of Life of a Southeast Asian” in Modern Thai Literature, Herbert P. Phillips, Ed., (1987) pp. 368-9.

Sept 20: What is “development?”

·       McMichael, Philip,  “Development and the Global Marketplace,” pp. xxvii-xlii

·       Esteva, Gustavo, “Development” in The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power, Wolfgang Sachs, Ed. (1992) pp. 6-25.

·       Charlton, Sue Ellen, “Development as History and Process” in The Women, Gender and Development Reader, Visvanathan et al, Eds., (1997) pp. 7-13.

Week 4.

Sept 25:  Development and Global Relations of Power

·       McMichael, Philip, Chap. 1:”Instituting the Development Project,” pp. 3-41.

·       Parpart, Jane L., “Post-Modernism, Gender and Development” in The Power of Development (1995), Jonathan Crush, Ed., pp. 253-265.

·       Escobar, Arturo, “The Making and Unmaking of the Third World through Development” in The Post-Development Reader, Rahnema & Bawtree, Eds., (1997) pp. 85-93.

·       Khamsing Srinawk, “Breeding Stock” in The Politician and Other Stories, Domnern Garden, Trans., (1991) pp. 26-32.

RECOMMENDED:

·       Goldsmith, Edward, “Development as Colonialism,” from The Case Against the Global Economy: And for a Turn Toward the Local, Mander & Goldsmith, Eds., (1996) pp. 253-266.

Sept 27:  Development and International Aid

·       Hoy, Paula, “Introduction” in Players and Issues in International Aid (1998) pp. 1-15.

·       Hoy, Paula, “US Government Assistance ” in Players and Issues in International Aid (1998) pp. 16-43.

·       Hoy, Paula, “United Nations” in Players and Issues in International Aid (1998) pp. 81-95.

RECOMMENDED:

·       Gronemeyer, Marianne, “Helping” in The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power, Wolfgang Sachs, Ed. (1992) pp. 53-69.

Week 5.

Oct 2:  Critiques of Development

·       McMichael, Philip, Chap 2:“The Development Project in Global Context,” pp. 43-76.

·       Hancock, Graham, “Development Incorporated,” in Lords of Poverty: The Power, Prestige and Corruption of the International Aid Business, (1989) pp. 35-75.

·       Hancock, Graham, “Aid is Not Help,” in Lords of Poverty: The Power, Prestige and Corruption of the International Aid Business, (1989) pp. 185-193.

II.  Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs)

Oct. 4:  NGO Responses

·       Korten, David, Part III (Chaps. 9 & 10) “Voluntary Organizations: Development Roles and Strategies,” in Getting to the 21st Century: Voluntary Action and the Global Agenda (1999), pp. 91-132.

·       Hoy, Paula, “Northern NGOs” in Players and Issues in International Aid (1998), pp. 96-118.

·       Hoy, Paula, “Southern NGOs” in Players and Issues in International Aid (1998), pp. 119-135.

Week 6.

Oct 9-14:  No Class.  Extended field visit (Ethnic Thai, lowlands)

Week 7.

Oct 16:  NGOs, the State, and Aid

·       Hulme, David and Michael Edwards, “NGOs, States and Donors: An Overview” in NGOs, States and Donors: Too Close for Comfort?, D. Hulme & M. Edwards, Eds., (1997) pp. 3-22.

·       Pearce, Jenny, “Between Co-option and Irrelevance? Latin American NGOs in the 1990s,” in NGOs, States and Donors: Too Close for Comfort?, D. Hulme & M. Edwards, Eds., (1997) pp. 257-276.

·       Gohlert, Ernst, Chap. 5: “The Role of Local Non-Governmental Organizations” in Power and Culture (1990), pp. 97-116.

Oct 18:  NGOs in Thai Contexts

·       In-Class Guest Speaker:  Chatchawan Tongdeelert

·       Pongsapich, Amara, “Non-Governmental Organizations in Thailand,” in Emerging Civil Society in the Asia Pacific Community, Tadashi Yamamoto, Ed., (1995) pp. 245-270.

·       Prudhisan Jumbala & Maneerat Mitprasat, “Non-governmental Development Organizations: Empowerment and Environment” in Political Change in Thailand: Democracy and Participation, Kevin Hewison, Ed., (1997) pp. 195-216.

RECOMMENDED:

·       Gohlert, Ernst, Chap. 6: “Networks: The Next Phase in Thai NGO Development” in Power and Culture, (1990) pp. 117-146.

Week 8.

Oct 23:  No Class.  Chulalongkorn Day.

Oct 25:  Issues in Thai NGOs:  Culture, Identity and History

·       Chatthip Nartsupha, “The Community Culture School of Thought” in Thai Constructions of Knowledge, Manas Chitakasem and Andrew Turton, Eds., (1991) pp. 118-141.

·       Seri Phongphit, “Introduction” in Back to the Roots: Village and Self-Reliance in a Thai Context (1986), pp. 13-21.

·       Costa, LeeRay, “Culture and the Development of Identity in a Northern Thai NGO” (2000), pp. 1-21.

III.  Globalization

Oct 30:  Development & Global Production

·       McMichael, Philip, Chap 3:”The Global Economy Reborn,” pp. 77-112.

·       McMichael, Philip, Chap 4:”International Finance and the Rise of Global Managerialism,” pp. 113-146.

Week 9.

Nov 1:  Instruments of Globalization & Corporate Domination

·       Korten, David, “The Failures of Bretton Woods,” from The Case Against the Global Economy: And for a Turn Toward the Local, Jerry Mander & Edward Goldsmith, Eds., (1996), pp. 20-30.

·       Nader, Ralph and Lori Wallach, “GATT, NAFTA and the Subversion of the Democratic Process,” from The Case Against the the Global Economy: And for a Turn Toward the Local, Jerry Mander & Edward Goldsmith, Eds., (1996) pp. 92-107.

·       Korten, David, “The Mythic Victory of Market Capitalism,” from The Case Against the Global Economy: And for a Turn Toward the Local, Jerry Mander & Edward Goldsmith, Eds., (1996) pp. 183-191.

·       Clarke, Tony, “Mechanisms of Corporate Rule,” from The Case Against the Global Economy: And for a Turn Toward the Local, Jerry Mander & Edward Goldsmith, Eds., (1996) pp. 297-308.

Nov 2:  What is “Globalization?”  (NOTE: THIS IS NOT AT THE SCHEDULED TIME)

·       McMichael, Philip, Chap 5:”Instituting the Globalization Project,” pp. 147-188.

·       Mander, Kai and Alex Boston, “Wal-Mart: Global Retailer” in The Case Against the Global Economy: And for a Turn Toward the Local, Jerry Mander & Edward Goldsmith, Eds., (1996) pp. 335-343.

Week 10.

Nov 4-11:  No Class.  Extended Field visit (Urban locale, Bangkok)

Week 11.

Nov 13:  Local Manifestations: Industrialization, Migration & the Gendered Division of Labor

·       McMichael, Philip, Chap 6:”The Globalization Project: Structural Instabilities,” pp. 189-238.

·       Enloe, Cynthia, Chap. 7 “Blue Jeans and Bankers” in Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics (1989) pp. 151-176.

·       Mills, Mary Beth, “Modernity and Gender Vulnerability: Rural Women Working in Bangkok” in Gender and Development in Southeast Asia, Penny Van Esterik, Ed., (1991) pp. 83-91.

RECOMMENDED:

·       Theobald, Sally, “Walking on a Tightrope: Women Workers’ Perceptions and Reactions to Industrial Environmental Hazard in Northern Thailand” in Women, Gender Relations and Development in Thai Society, Virada Somsawasdi and Sally Theobald, Eds., (1997) pp. 187-212.

Nov. 15:  No Class.  Ajaan LeeRay out of town.

Week 12:

Nov. 20: A Local/Global issue:  Tourism

·       Enloe, Cynthia, Chap. 2 “On the Beach: Sexism and Tourism” in Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics (1989) pp. 19-41.

·       Prasith Leepreecha, “Jungle Tours: A Government Policy in Need of Review” in Development or Domestication?: Indigenous Peoples of Southeast Asia (1997) pp. 268-288.

·       Petry, Jeffrey L., “The Tourism Industry and Northern Thailand’s Peoples” and “Guidelines for Visitors to Northern Thailand’s Mountain Peoples” in Cultural Survival Quarterly, Summer (1999) pp. 31-32.

·       Kincaid, Jamaica, A Small Place (1988) pp. 3-19.

RECOMMENDED:

·       Trask, Haunani-Kay, “‘Lovely Hula Hands’: Corporate Tourism and the Prostitution of Hawaiian Culture” in From a Native Daughter (1999) pp. 136-147.

IV:  Local Perspectives

Nov. 22: A Local/Global issue:  AIDS

·       Moreno, Claudia Garcia, “AIDS: Women Are Not Just Transmitters” in The Women, Gender & Development Reader, Visvanathan et al, Eds., (1997) pp. 302-308.

·       Beyer, Chris, Chap. 1 “Introduction,” Chap. 2 “Thailand: the descending Buddha” and Chap. 10 “The Flesh Trade: prostitution and trafficking in ASEAN,” in War in the Blood: Sex, Politics and AIDs in Southeast Asia (1998), pp. 1-35, 128-139.

Week 13:

Nov. 27: The Politics of “Participation”

·       Rahnema, Majid, “Participation” in The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power, Wolfgang Sachs, Ed., (1992) pp. 116-131.

·       Shrestha, Nanda, “Becoming a Development Category” in Power of Development (1995) Jonathan Crush, Ed., pp. 266-277.

·       Peters, Pauline, “‘Who’s Local Here?’: The politics of participation in development,” Cultural Survival Quarterly, Fall (1996) pp. 22-25.

·       Mehta, Ajay S., “Micro Politics of Voluntary Action,” Cultural Survival Quarterly, Fall (1996) pp. 26-30.

·       Forbes, Ann Armbrecht, “Defining the ‘Local’ in the Arun Controversy,” Cultural Survival Quarterly, Fall (1996) pp. 31-34.

·       Phutthapon Angkinan, “Headman Thuj,” in Modern Thai Literature, Herbert P. Phillips, Ed., (1987) pp. 234-239.

Nov. 29:  Collective Responses to Development & Globalization: the Battle in Seattle

·       McMichael, Philip, Chap. 7: ”The Globalization Movement and Its Counter-movements,” pp.239-276.

·       Hawken, Paul, “On the Streets of Seattle,” in The Amicus Journal (2000) pp. 29-33, 48-51.

·       Prokosch, Mike, “Confronting Globalization Post-Seattle,” in Resist (2000) pp. 1, 4-5, 10-11.

·       SAGA, “Rap-tivists Storm Seattle” in Resist (2000) pp. 8-9.

·       Costa, LeeRay, Two articles on Seattle in APWLD Forum News (2000).

RECOMMENDED:

Excerpts from Yes, Spring 2000 Issue, on the WTO protests in Seattle, pp. 54-57.

Nov 30: Post-Development?:  Rethinking Development, Globalization and Alternatives  (NOTE: THIS IS NOT AT THE SCHEDULED TIME)

·       McMichael, Philip, Chap. 8:”Whither Development?,” pp. 277-303.

·       Norberg-Hodge, Helena, “Shifting Direction: From Global Dependence to Local Interdependence” in The Case Against the Global Economy: And for a Turn toward the Local, J. Mander & E. Goldsmith, Eds., (1996) pp. 393-406.

·       Rahnema, Majid, “Towards Post-Development: Searching for Signposts, a New Language and New Paradigms” in The Post-Development Reader, Rahnema & Bawtree, Eds., (1997) pp. 377-403.

RECOMMENDED:

·       Judd, Ellen, “Afterword: Opening Spaces for Transformative Practice” in Feminists Doing Development: A Practical Critique, Marilyn Porter & Ellen Judd, Eds., (1999) pp. 218-226.

Week 14:

Dec 4-9: No Class.  Extended Field Visit (Ethnic tribal, highlands)

Week 15:

Dec 11:   No Class.  Constitution Day.

Dec. 13:  Integrating Theory and Praxis: Self-Reflections and Strategies for the Future

·       Armstrong, Jeannette, “‘Sharing One Skin’:Okanagan Community” in The Case Against the Global Economy: And for a Turn toward the Local, J. Mander & E. Goldsmith, Eds., (1996) pp. 460-470.

·       Berry, Wendall, “Conserving Communities” in The Case Against the Global Economy: And for a Turn toward the Local, J. Mander & E. Goldsmith, Eds., (1996) pp. 407-417.

·       Ritchie, Mark, “Cross-Border Organizing” in The Case Against the Global Economy: And for a Turn toward the Local, J. Mander & E. Goldsmith, Eds., (1996) pp. 494-500.

·       Korten, David, Ch. 14: “Citizen Volunteers” in Getting to the 21st Century: Voluntary Action and the Global Agenda (1999), pp. 185-212.

·       Excerpts from Less is More: The Art of Voluntary Poverty, Goldian VandenBroeck, Ed., (1991) pp. 102-103, 146-149, 172-173, 290-291.

·       Longacre, Doris Janzen, “Learn from the World Community” in Living More with Less (1980) pp. 30-36.

RECOMMENDED:

·       Scott Savage, Ed., The Plain Reader.

·       Longacre, Doris Janzen, Living More with Less.

Dec 15:   Final Exam Review and Party.  (NOTE: THIS IS NOT THE SCHEDULED TIME)

Dec 18:  Term Papers DUE.

Dec 21:  Final Exam.  Extra Credit Papers DUE.