The Political Economy of Development

Catalog description

Why did Asian countries become economic tigers while African nations saw their economies shrink? This course provides an introduction to the political economy of international development in order to explore the historical origins of the uneven geographies of wealth we see today. The course draws primarily on scholarship from the fields of political economy, geography, anthropology, development studies, and history. In Part 1, we begin by contrasting the dominant metrics used today to measure the object of development. Part 2 examines some of the most important and influential theoretical ideas and intellectual traditions which seek to explain the historical origins of capitalist development. Part 3 then illuminates the key actors, institutions, and discourses of Development, through tracing the history of the Bretton Woods project, in relation to the history of capitalist development. Part 4 analyzes regional trajectories of socio-spatial change in theory and history through detailed case studies of Africa, Latin America, and East Asia. Finally, Part 5 will consider key themes framing contemporary development discourse and practice including gender and sustainable development. Possible readings include: Amartya Sen, Stuart Hall, and Samir Amin.