Seminar
in Economic Development
"The challenges to the adoption of industrial policies are primarily political, not technical. One of the reasons why governments have not focused on policies to enhance indigenous manufacturing capabilities in specific areas has been the prevalence of the Washington Consensus policies during the last twenty years. Industrial policies under ISI were often not successful, when they only provided incentives -- like subsidies or protection without a clear date of termination -- but no enforceable accountability. But they were very successful when they included both, as evidenced by the experience of the Asian Tigers."
| Economics 314 | Spring 2002 | Tuesdays 1:15-3:45 PM in Skinner 210 |
| Course Description |
|
Dr.
Satya J. Gabriel
Professor of Economics |
| Course Calendar | e-mail: sgabriel@mtholyoke.edu | |
| Course Objectives |
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FAX: 413-538-2323 |
| Course Forum |
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Office Hours: TBA |
| Term Paper |
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Course Description:
This is a seminar course in economic development. All seminars
are speaking intensive. However, this course is officially classified
as "speaking intensive" and will therefore require an extraordinary degree
of student participation. As a student in the course, you must be
prepared to lead critical discussions of theories in economic development,
participate in debates, and present your research. Consider yourself
one of the co-teachers of this course. You are, therefore, as responsible
for making the teaching and learning experience rich and exciting as any
other member of our semester-long collective. Thus, it will be in
the spirit of partnership that we will explore a range of possible ways
to enrich our discussion of the underlying theoretical assumptions and
limitations of the orthodox and heterodox development theories that make
up the raw material of our seminar.
Economic development is usually thought of as a course in poor countries.
We reject this perception of development. Economic development is
defined as a transformation in economic processes and the underlying economic
structure (of institutions and physical infrastructure) of a social formation
such that the economic potential of that social formation is increased.
All social formations face the problem of development. The USA, despite
having achieved preeminent political and economic power on the planet,
must be continually transformed in order to sustain economic growth and
improved quality of life. The same is true of the European Community,
Japan, and so on. In other words, academic theories of economic development
must be able to make sense of the process of transformation, no matter
where that process occurs. (Nevertheless, because those areas of
the planet considered on the periphery of the "Empire" tend to be neglected
in other courses, we will focus our empirical analysis on such social formations.)
Thus, the study of economic development presents us with a complex problem
set: everything matters to the process of transformation in social
relationships and institutions. What are the impediments to economic
development? What is the role of political and cultural processes
in economic development? What financial market arrangements foster
economic development? Is capitalism necessary for economic development?
If so, what type of capitalism? Is import substitution incompatible
with export promotion policies? How has the environment for development
been altered by the continued advance of globalization?
Are the answers to these questions contingent on context? If so,
how? What can we learn from concrete case studies? For example,
what can we learn about economic development by examining the Asian economic
crisis of 1996-1998 or Japan's decade long stagnation or the implosion
of Argentina's process of pro-capitalist liberalization? We will
critically
read and discuss a range of theoretical works on economic development to
see how they answer these and other questions.
Texts: Hardt and Negri's Empire and Burkett and Hart-Landsberg's
Development,
Crisis, & Class Struggle are available through the Odyssey Book
Shop. A packet of readings is now available
from the main economics department office. See Dawn Larder.
Requirements: This course builds on the knowledge acquired in EC
213, Economic Development. A student who is concerned that
she may have inadequate preparation for this course should feel free to
contact me at extension 2043 or by e-mail (sgabriel).
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| Jan. 29 | Course
introduction, assignments, & clarifications Amartya Sen, "The Concept of Development," Chapter 1 in Handbook of Development Economics, Volume 1, pp. 9-26. |
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| Feb. 5-12 | Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, Empire, Harvard University Press, 2000 |
| Gabriel, Globalization (online) | |
| Development & the Asian Economic Crisis | |
| Feb. 19-March 5 | Burkett
and Hart-Landsberg,
Development,
Crisis, and Class Struggle, St. Martin's Press, 2000
Additional Readings TBA |
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| March 12 | Gabriel, China Essay Series (online). |
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| March
26
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Susan
George and Fabrizio Sabelli, excerpts from Faith and Credit: The
World Bank's Secular Empire
Michel Chossudovsky, The Globalization of Poverty Arthur McEwan, Neo-liberalism or Democracy? Economic Strategy, Markets, and Alternatives for the 21st Century James Crotty, excerpt from "Structural Contradictions of the Global Neoliberal Regime" Mieke Meurs, excerpt from "Are Markets Like Mushrooms? And Other Neoliberal Quandries" |
| Is the Concept of Neocolonialism Still Relevant? | |
| April 2 | J.
M. Blaut, The Colonizer's Model of the World --- Geographical Diffusionism
and Eurocentric History
Hernando de Soto, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else |
| Typologies versus World Systems | |
| April 9 | Fei
and Ranis, Growth and Underdevelopment from an Evolutionary Perspective.
Dick Bryan, "Global Accumulation and Accounting for National Economic Identity" Immanuel Wallerstein, The Capitalist World Economy |
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| April 16 | Rene
Veron, "The "New" Kerala Model: Lessons for Sustainable Development"
Gill Seyfang and Ruth Pearson, "Time for Change: International experience in community currencies". Case Study: Belize Rural Women's Association: Gabriel, Belize Rural Women's Association, Revolving Loan Fund, & Women's Cooperatives |
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| April 23-May 12 | Readings will be selected by the presenters. |
Click Here to Submit Evaluation of Student Presentation
Learning Objectives:
This is a seminar course in which each student is expected to actively
participate. The primary objective is to enhance the student's ability
to understand and critique theories of economic development.
As a speaking intensive course, students are expected to present their semester research to other students in the form of a presentation. The research presentation requires a carefully thought out thesis within economic development (which we will have discussed in some detail prior to your beginning research and presentation preparation), to deploy appropriate theoretical tools necessary in advancing that thesis, to show that you have made a significant effort to understand the existing literature relevant to your thesis, and to demonstrate where your thesis and arguments fit into the relevant debate(s) in economic development. You should indicate where you find problems with the existing literature and where arguments within that literature have provided the raw material for your own theoretical construction. To summarize, the best way to organize your research presentation would be to take a clearly stated position in an existing debate and defend your thesis with evidence and logical argument.This includes those presentations which will be centered around a case study of a particular country.
It is your responsibility to make sure your presentation is scheduled at a time when you are certain to be present. Inability to do this could seriously jeopardize your chance to make a presentation and risk a low course grade.
Each student is responsible for providing other students with supporting
materials necessary to enhance the value of the presentation, such as bibliographies,
readings, etc.
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of Congress Country Studies
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© 2002, Satya Gabriel, Economics Department, Mount Holyoke College.