| 1 | History: Colonialism and Imperialism | What is the relationship between colonialism and development, in terms of institutional legacies, forms of representations and technologies of control? What is the correlation between colonial experience and economic development? |
| 2 | History: Ideas and Ideologies of Progress and Modernization | Is progress a western notion, which emerged during the Enlightenment or, can we trace the concept to earlier times, and to non-western political/social formations? Is it universal? What are the differences between the concepts of progress, modernization, development and planning? How did these concepts originate? How are they connected? Do different development planning traditions draw on different aspects of the notion of Modernity? What is the relationship between 'tradition' and 'modernity' in international development? |
| 3 | Concepts: Pro versus Anti-Development | What do we make of anti-development arguments? Are they utopian or nihilist or neither? Can one be anti-development and still plan? What are the justifications for planning? Or is the division between pro and anti too Manichean? Why certain types of anti-planning arguments emerged at certain times? What was the historical context in which these criticisms emerged? What explains the rise, fall and now the latest rise of anti-development arguments? |
| 4 | Concepts: The question of Ethics | Development Planners are often faced with having to compromise in reconciling demands from very different groups, and are exposed to (sometimes conflicting) sets of responsibility (e.g. personal, professional, authority). Within this context, what is an ethical compromise? What is the ethics of planners remaining "neutral"? What responsibility should influence their practice? What is the source of ethical values? What ethical framework governs a context of radical cultural pluralism, as in a Western planner working in non-Western countries? |
| 5 | Econ. development theories: Neoclassical and Dependency | What do the economists say about economic development? Is planning necessary in their models? Are dependency theorists hostile to planning? Are there echoes of dependency theorists in current day criticisms of global governance institutions such as the WTO and the arguments for 'policy space'? |
| 6 | Econ. Development Theories: State Intervention and the East Asian miracle | What is the neoliberal vision of the State? How does that differ from the role of the State in East Asia? What is the role of civil society or labor or democracy in the East Asian experience? What role, if any, does State intervention have in economic development theory? Consider this in the context of new institutionalist theories in the next class. |
| 7 | Econ. Development Theories: New Institutionalism and Law | What is the basis for the belief that law will lead to development? Is law a tool for development or is a development goal in itself? What is the meaning of institutions – can one unbundle them and if so, what is the role of law as an institution as opposed to other institutions, in development? |
| 8 | Alternative Dev. Theories: Human Rights and Development | What is the added value of thinking about development as freedom? Will it help or hinder development planning? What is the relationship between the definition of development as freedom, and the move towards rights-based development planning? Who gets to exercise the right to development? |
| 9 | Development theories today in the context of global crisis | Does development have any core of agreed upon meaning today or has it become all-inclusive and therefore meaningless? How can one think of success in development terms today and which countries or communities would be role models? Is today's global crisis one created by too much markets or government or too little and if so what scale? |
| 10 | Actors: State | What is the role of the State in development planning? Is the 'Third World State' expected to behave differently from the 'First World' State in its relation to industry, private sector, financial markets and social programs? What is the impact of globalization on the State? What distinguishes a State from other actors in planning? |
| 11 | Actors: Markets and Marketization | How are market institutions different from the state? What do you need to know about market institutions if you want to work with them? How can you work jointly within different types of organizations and what are the challenges you might face by doing that? How does marketization — the process of creating markets — happen and what mistakes should it avoid? |
| 12 | Actors: Civil Society: NGOs and Social Movements | There is no doubt about the mission of NGOs for promoting development. How good are NGOs as development agents? In what circumstances are they more effective as agents of development? What are their limitations? What is the role of other civil society actors in development such as social movements? What is the boundary of civil society as an actor in particular development contexts? |
| 13 | Actors: Informal Economy and Illegality | Most poor people in developing countries – which means the majority – live in informal settlements which are also often illegal in many ways. How does informalization happen? What is the relationship between the informal and formal economy? Who plans for outcomes in informal economies? Is formalization — of tenure arrangements etc. — the answer? |
| 14 | Actors: Global Actors and Institutions | What is the scale at which global institutions operate these days? What kinds of economic, legal, political and cultural resources do they deploy and from where, to effect development? What is a useful typology of global actors and institutions in development today? How does the 'development agenda' emerge from dominant global actors? |
| 15 | Multi-level planning and Scale | What is the role of power and legitimacy in multi-level planning? Is the State a site or an actor in multi-level planning? What is role of resources in multi-level planning? How do collaboration and resistance happen in multi-level planning efforts? |
| 16 | Key Issues: Governance of complexity in a globalized world | What has been the impact of globalization on Planning Capacity of governments? In particular, are city planners more or less vulnerable to fluctuations in the global economy? How should local planners reap the benefits of globalization and protect against its adverse effects? What is the governance agenda and who is driving it? What is good governance and the stakes of introducing it in development planning? Is failure of governance a cause or consequence of globalization? |
| 17 | Key Issues: Urban-Rural linkages and tradeoffs | No summary |
| 18 | Key Issues: Migration and Development | How is migration related to development? To what extent are remittances the "new development mantra"? What role can states play in promoting the migration-development nexus? How can a scalar approach help us in identifying the development impacts of transnational migration? How does a transnational optic help us understand and uncover the links between development and migration? |
| 19 | Key Issues: Participatory development | No summary |
| 20 | Key Issues: Corruption and reform of public institutions | No summary |
| 21 | Key Issues: Trade, Outsourcing, and labor standards | No summary |
| 22 | Key Issues: Aid and development | No summary |
| 23 | Key Issues: Global Poverty | No summary |
| 24 | Key Issues: Security and post-conflict development and Review | No summary |
