Class, Globalizatn & Human Dev

Catalog description

In the age of globalization, social class and human development need to be understood in a new light. What is social class when the distribution of labor, productivity, markets and wealth has been spread out to emerging markets in Asia, Africa and Latin America? What is human development when the access to technology, goods and services is available to people all around the world? We will examine the traditional ideas of social class in light of new evidence of the “plutocrats” or “the global elites.” What accounts for the growing gap between the global elites and the working classes or the working poor? What has become of “the American dream” of upward mobility? Does it still hold true that successive generations of Americans can do better than the previous generations? What accounts for the revolt against the elites in the nationalistic rhetoric that we see in many of the recent elections from UK, US, EU to the emerging Asian economies? We will examine the classic literature on economic development and the critique of neo-liberal development theories as applied to developing and underdeveloped societies. We will examine the intersectional issues of class vs. race, gender, sexuality, culture, religion, and ethnicity as a way to differentiate the impact of economic globalization on citizens. In the context of globalization, we will propose and examine the new ideas about sustainable human development as the guiding ideas for policy, research and advocacy. Offered fall or spring.