SOCIAL SCIENCE 1430 9.0/ESL1439 9.0
INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

COURSE OUTLINE
F/W 2011-2012

Course website: http://www.yorku.ca/ecanel/courses/1430/index_1430.html    

COURSE DIRECTOR:
Eduardo Canel, 827 York Research Tower (ecanel@yorku.ca)

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This foundation course introduces students to the field of International Development Studies. The course systematically examines the relationships between developed and underdeveloped societies (past and present) and adopts an interdisciplinary approach to study the theory and practice of development. It draws from the works of social scientists (historians, sociologists, political scientists, anthropologists, economists, etc.) to examine various approaches to define development and to explain the persistence of underdevelopment throughout the world. These approaches are assessed in light of recent developments in the social sciences and changes in the global order, such as the feminist and the environmentalist critique of development models, the end of the cold war, the emergence of newly industrialized countries, and globalization. The course highlights the active participation of Third World peoples and social movements, past and present, in struggles to redefine their relationships with Western societies and global processes.

The first term offers a critical evaluation of Western notions of modernization and development, including their cultural assumptions based on notions of progress and social evolution, and their proposed solutions to underdevelopment in the Third World. The course moves on to introduce perspectives that link development to issues of economic dependency, social class, gender, ethnicity and the environment. The first term concludes with a historical overview of the forces that shaped present-day Third World societies and that produced underdevelopment as a problem requiring Western-style “solutions”. The second term explores the impact of recent processes of globalization in the so-called underdeveloped world as well as the various responses to these processes from non-governmental organizations and grass-root movements. The course concludes with an examination of various approaches to address issues of hunger, food production, urbanization, employment, social justice, and democracy.

COURSE STRUCTURE:
There is a two-hour lecture each week that explores the major themes of the course and sets them in context. Students also meet once a week for a two-hour tutorial to discuss course themes, analyze assigned readings in greater detail and develop writing, reading, and other academic skills. Regular attendance at both lectures and tutorials is required. Students are expected to have read all materials outlined for the appropriate week and to be prepared to actively participate in tutorial discussions. Your success in this course will depend very substantially on the degree of commitment you make to your tutorial.

Please note that this foundations course has been especially designed to help students develop academic skills in the areas of critical thinking, reading and writing, and to challenge them to apply these skills to the field of international development studies. This is a nine-credit course, that is, a full course and a half course combined. The workload is commensurate. In addition to the four hours of class time, expect to do at least an additional eight hours of reading and writing outside of class each week. The subject matter of this course will be challenging, and the workload will be relatively heavy. As instructors, we will take as our main task to make the course interesting and informative; in turn, what we will ask of students is a serious commitment to it.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS, GRADES AND DUE DATES

TEACHING TEAM & TUTORIAL SCHEDULE

REQUIRED READINGS

• T. Allen and A. Thomas (eds.) Polverty and Development Into the 21st Century, London: The Open University Press, 2000.

• Black, Maggie, The No-Nonsense Guide to International Development, Toronto: Between the Lines, 2002.

• Barlow, Maude, The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water, Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2007.

• Shiva, Vandana, Stolen Harvest. The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply, Cambridge: South End Press, 2000
• Reading Kit (available at York University Bookstore)
• Additional readings at Scott Reserve