Intl Dv 1 University of California, Los Angeles 2020 Summer Institute

DRAFT
INTL DV 1: INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
HISTORICAL CONTEXT & CONTEMPORARY LANDSCAPE, THEORY & PRACTICE

“Living with inequality” –The Economist

Centers of wealth, power and influence have shifted numerous times throughout history, yet inequality
between and within borders has endured as a defining characteristic of human civilization. Today, wealth
and power are concentrated in the more industrialized nations of the so-called Global North which consists
primarily of European and North American countries. On the other hand, governments of “developing”
countries in Africa and the Middle East, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America struggle to meet challenges
posed by severe and endemic poverty, growing inequality, conflict, environmental degradation exacerbated
by climate change, and numerous other constraints on their capacity to provide for the growing needs of
growing populations. But what factors have led to the making of the Global South? Why are poor countries
poor and rich countries rich? How have historical relationships between the now rich and poor countries
affected the latter’s growth, and how do their interactions shape poverty and inequality in developing
countries today? How do these disparities manifest within the countries of the Global North?

Development studies emerged as a field of inquiry and practice in the early years of decolonization and early
theories and interventions often focused on addressing the economic inequalities between previously
colonizing and colonized countries. Today, we recognize that inequality transcends the borders imagined to
divide North and South. Marginalized and disempowered groups, communities, and entire nations even, exist
within the wealthiest and most developed of countries. This course offers students the opportunity to study,
analyze, and critically assess the social, political and economic forces that, throughout history, have shaped
inequality in the modern world through an interdisciplinary lens. The central objective is to engage students
with debates around the widening patterns of disparities of wealth, power, privilege, and access to social
justice—as well as the policies, interventions, and forms of citizen engagement intended to address them—
both between and within the countries of the Global South and North.
Intl Dv 1 University of California, Los Angeles 2020 Summer Institute

COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course is designed to help students draw linkages between the major’s interdisciplinary prep courses
and prepare them for topics explored in greater detail in the core upper division courses: Intl Dv 110 (Culture,
Power and Development), m120 (Political Economy of Development), and 130 (Economics of Developing
Countries). By the end of the course, students will be familiar with key terms, theories, events, institutions
and actors in international development, and be able to:
• Identify factors that contributed to the “making” of the Global South drawing on theories from a
wide range of disciplines, including: geography, history, political science, economics, sociology,
public health, and international law—to list a few.
• Identify the roles and functions of key global, national, and local institutions and actors in
development processes.
• Utilize a variety of indicators and metrics to assess the success of development policies, programs,
interventions, and forms of citizen engagement drawing on detailed case studies from Africa and the
Middle East, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.
• Assess how current trends and forces, such as globalization, urbanization, migration, and climate
change are shaping contemporary development issues (e.g. poverty, conflict, human security)
• Draw parallels and distinctions on how development issues affect communities in the Global North.
• Derive their own definition of what the means and ends of “development” should be.

COURSE FORMAT
• Mandatory Daily Lectures (Lectures are not Bruin-casted and recording is not permitted.)
• Mandatory Daily Sections/labs

ASSESSMENT
Assignment % of Grade
Attendance & participation 15
Midterm 15
Group Presentation 20
Report 20
Final 30

TEXTS & READING MATERIALS

All required texts and materials will be available on the class website under the assigned week.

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Intl Dv 1 University of California, Los Angeles 2020 Summer Institute

LECTURE/READING SCHEDULE

WK 1 MONDAY: INTRODUCTION
What is international development as a field of study and practice? How do we define, measure and
study development?

1. Review Syllabus and Lab Policy Sheets

WK 1 TUESDAY: BUILDING A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK & CONCEPTUALIZING DEVELOPMENT AS FREEDOM

Development of…what and whom? From modernization theory toward a human development approach.

1. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Preamble and Articles 1-30.

2. Sen, Amartya. Development as Freedom. (2000). Preface and Introduction.
3. The UN Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals

WK 1, WEDNESDAY: THE GEOGRAPHY OF INEQUALITY

Is geography destiny?

REQUIRED:

1. Collier, Paul. The Bottom Billion. 2005. Part 2, Chapters 3 &4 (pages 38-63).

RECOMMENDED:

1. Guns, Germs, and Steel (three-part NatGeo Docuseries based on the book by Jared Diamond)

WK 1, THURSDAY: THE MAKING OF THE GLOBAL SOUTH

Was colonialism bad? Surveying the colonial legacy in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

1. Lange, Mahoney, & Von Hau. "Colonialism and Development: A Comparative Analysis of Spanish
and British Colonies." American Journal of Sociology. 2006.

WK 1, FRIDAY: “PRESERVING” THE GLOBAL SOUTH

The Bretton Woods Institutions & the Aid Regime

1. Watch Podcast on Dambisa Moyo’s Dead Aid

2. “Opposition to Breast-Feeding Resolution by U.S. Stuns World Health Officials” (NYT July 2018)

WK 2, MONDAY: CAPITALISM & DEMOCRACY—PRESCRIPTIONS FOR THE SOUTH

Part 1: What is capital? Is capitalism the best way forward? Focus: The US as a developing country

Part 2: State Power, The Silver Bullet of NGOs, Citizen Needs and Citizen Responses

1. De Soto, Hernando. (2000). The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails
Everywhere Else. Chapter 5.

WK 2, TUESDAY: SUCCESSES, SIDE-EFFECTS, AND SETBACKS OF ECONOMIC REFORMS

Traps, Tigers, and the Microfinance Miracle
1. The East Asian Miracle: Economic Growth and Public Policy. (World Bank, 1993)

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Intl Dv 1 University of California, Los Angeles 2020 Summer Institute

WK 2, WEDNESDAY: REVISITING THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS & PARTNERSHIPS FOR 2030
Assessing development policies and interventions through a “basic needs” framework and beyond

1. Sen, Amartya. “Equality of What?” Murrin S. Tanner Lectures on Human Values, Volume 1.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1980.

WK 2, THURSDAY: SDG 3 DEEP DIVE—HEALTH & DEVELOPMENT

Guest Lecturer: Dr. Paula Tavrow, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health

1. Watch “Why did Mrs. X die?”

2. Anastasi et al. “Losing women along the path to safe motherhood: why is there such a gap between
women’s use of antenatal care and skilled birth attendance? A mixed methods study in Uganda.”
Pregnancy and Childbirth. 15:287. 2015.
3. Molla et al. “Impact of maternal mortality on living children and families: A qualitative study from
Butajira, Ethiopia. Reproductive Health. 12:56. 2015.

WK 2, FRIDAY: SDG 5 DEEP DIVE—GENDER & DEVELOPMENT

Driving Change with Gender Data: Building Bridges between Theory & Practice
Guest Lecturer: Dr. Lorena Fuentes, Co-Founder of Ladysmith
1. Buss, Doris. “Measurement Imperatives and Gender Politics: An Introduction.” Social Politics:
International Studies in Gender, State and Society, Volume 22, Number 3, Fall 2015.

WK 3, MONDAY: SDG 15 DEEP DIVE—MULTI-INSTITUTIONAL INITIATIVES FOR SUSTAINABILITY

Guest Lecturer: Dr. Kevin Njabo, UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
1. Field Notes from the Congo Basin Institute

WK 3, TUESDAY: APPLYING REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGIES FOR INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS

Guest Lecturer: Dr. James Walker, UCLA Department of Geography
1. Walker, James. “Remote Sensing for International Human Rights Advocacy: Critiques and
Responses.” (2019)

WK 3, WEDNESDAY: THE DARK UNDERBELLY OF GLOBALIZATION: MODERN DAY SLAVER—MIGRANT AND REFUGEE RIGHTS
Rights beyond borders: movement and the rights of those who move
1. Achiume, Tendayi E. “Migration as Decolonization.” Stanford Law Review. 2019.

WK 3, THURSDAY: IDENTITY, VULNERABILITY & PRECARITY—THE GLOBAL NORTH IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH

Urbanization, Gentrification, and Displacement: Los Angeles in Focus

1. There Goes the Neighborhood: Season 2

WK 3, FRIDAY: LOOKING BACK & MOVING FORWARD

The Philosophy of Development: Rupturing and Reconstructing Definitions, Paradigms, & Infrastructures

1. Selection from Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzche.

2. Selection from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig.