GEOG 240: Day 7

GEOG 240: Day 7Chapter 8

Source: New InternationalistHousekeeping ItemsNo presentations til next Monday.If you want to help put up posters for the Film Fest, talk to Doug or Jim.I have copies of the schedule.Today well cover Chapter 8 on the Geographies of Development, a topic that Jim covered last week in part.Chapter 8Figure 8.1 shows the division between the global north and south (the so-called Brandt Line).For some sixty-plus years, developed countries have claimed that it is their mission to lift underdeveloped countries towards greater development and prosperity. Until 1991, there was enormous competition to see who would influence the nations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America from both sides of the Cold War divide.

Map of the Cold War

Source: BingChapter 8The World Bank and International Monetary Fund were set up ostensibly to in part also aid underdeveloped countries to pull themselves up through loans and technical expertise. However, much of their work seemed to render such countries more vulnerable to Western manipulation.Globalists and counter-globalists, at least as defined by the authors, differ as to whether they feel that a rising tide of economic growth will raise all boats.While some countries practice tied aid, other countries give generously without thought of return.Leading Aid Donors

Chapter 8The term Third World was invented as an alternative to underdeveloped countries, with its pejorative connotations, and was intended to delineate it from the First World of developed countries largely allied with the U.S., and the Second World countries operating within the orbit of the Soviet Union.The authors make the point that the Third World is not a monolithic bloc of poverty, misery, and stagnation. One cannot lump Brazil in with Benin, or Libya in with Laos.In addition to the World Bank, IMF, and UN, a host of non-government organizations (NGOs) has emerged to lend a hand in development efforts (see Box 8.1 on Oxfam).Initially, progress was measured in terms of GNP and GDP or GDP per capita. However, these measures have some limitations; can you think of what some of them might be?Chapter 8Over time, a number of qualitative measures have emerged. Influenced by Indian economist, Amartya Sen, the goal has increasingly become freedom from unfreedoms ,such as starvation, undernourishment, oppression, disease and illiteracy.One such measure, used by the UN, is the Human Development Index, which is comprised of life expectancy, adult literacy rates, and GDP per capita (adjusted for purchasing power parity [PPP]).

Chapter 8The UN has also measured the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), defined as the extent to which "women and men are able to actively participate in economic and political life and take part in decision-making. This also includes the extent to which women have access to education.

Chapter 8Interestingly enough, the top five ranked countries in GEM are all Scandinavian: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland.As Jim mentioned, in tandem with the traditional economic paradigm of development, the modernist school posited various (inevitable) stages of economic development, following Rostow:traditional societypreconditions for take-offtake-offdrive to maturityage of high mass consumption (Coneheads?)

This assumes a linear process, similar to Marxism, and takesas its model the path of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain,for instance.

Chapter 8Other models include structuralism and dependency theory whereby metropolitan areas exploit the resources and labour of the neo-colonial periphery, exporting the surplus back home for their own benefit. This model has a lot of truth to it.The imperialists were invariably seen as allying themselves with a homegrown class of capitalists and rulers known as compradors, who were seen as traitors to their own people. Some have argued that Harper and his pals fulfill this function in relation to Canada i.e., selling out our resources to the highest bidder.The solution was, as Jim suggested, to engage in import substitution to reduce dependency and to withdraw, in varying degrees, from the world economy. Many economists would say this is very inefficient, and they also point to the success of the newly industrialized countries (NICs) of South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore that have competed successfully with the West. Instead of catering only or primarily to the domestic market, these countries have engaged in export oriented industrialization on a large scale.

Chapter 8Supplanting dependency theory, to some degree, neo-liberalism advocated minimal government interference in the economy and has been a dominant influence on government policy since the 1980s.Supporters of Friedman advised the Chilean dictator, Augustus Pinochet, and were behind the policies that led to the collapse of the Argentinian economy in the 1990s.The emphasis on low inflation, reduction of trade barriers, openness to FDI, financial liberalization, and privatization of state resources are all part of the Washington Consensus.

Source:WikipediaFriederich Hayek;Milton FriedmanChapter 8In an attempt to modernize rapidly, a number of countries borrowed extensive sums of money, but much of it was spent on vanity projects or infrastructure of questionable utility, which didnt lead to demonstrable benefits for ordinary citizens.Forced to seek a restructuring of their debts, governments found themselves in a vulnerable position. They were forced to accept neo-liberal policies of austerity, privatization, and trade and investment liberalization. These programs are called structural adjustment programs (SAPs).Another contributing factor to the debt crisis was plummeting commodity prices, which reduced sources of foreign revenue while the cost of imported machinery and goods remained high.Debt repayments often exceed aid received and expenditures on health and education.

Chapter 8The authors note that the first SAP was in Turkey in 1980 and that 187 have been developed for 64 developing nations. For a detailed discussion of the goals of SAPs and the policy measures that are used to implement them, see Box 8.4.As is noted, both the stages approach and the neo-liberal approach assume that the right ideology and solutions would come to nations from outside as opposed to finding a path that was right for themselves. The same could be said for the communist countries when they sought to influence countries in the Third World.In response to internal and external criticism, the World Bank and IMF are paying more lip service, and possibly real attention, to poverty reduction strategies.

Chapter 8Since the 1960s, there has been a growing movement in favour of grassroots, bottom-up development focused on the provision of basic needs, as typified by the writings of Jeffrey Sachs and others.There are lots of examples:the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and other micro-lendingOxfams cow loan program (see Figure 8.7)small-scale programs to support improvements in housing and sanitationuse of solar cookers, and even the work of a VIU prof who travels to Malawi every summer to install PV cells for lamps in schools.

Chapter 8As they note on p. 189, there have been real achievements over the past forty years in improved status for the worlds poor. In some instance, progress is being negatively impacted by rising food and energy prices.However, there is also enormous inequality which has intensified both between different developing countries, and between developed and developing nations. For income trends, see Figure 8.8.They also discuss the divergent paths undertaken by two former British colonies Malaysia and Ghana. They suggest that, contra the accepted wisdom of neo-liberalism, the answer lies in a strong interventionist role by the state and a strategy of economic diversification. Of course, Ghana has also suffered from extraordinary corruption, instability, and economic mismanagement.

Chapter 8They also chart the significant rise in social movements in developing countries, such as the Zapatistas in Mexico, the Movimento Sem Terra (MST) in Brazil, and the worldwide farmers movement, the Via Campesina.

Chapter 8In addition, there are more local movements in many parts of the world particularly Latin America against incursion by mining or petroleum companies. This embodies a clash between what John Friedmann has called territory vs. function.For the often indigenous people living in these areas, the locations are part of their territories, they are real places with meaning and history. For mining companies, they are just functional sources of resources, to be extracted, with the externalities or pollution left behind, regardless of the impact on the places or peoples.The popular movie, Avatar, is a thinly veiled parable about this kind of conflict.In addition to globalization from above, there is also globalization from below as typified by the World Social Forum.

Chapter 8

In 2000, the UN adopted its Millennium Development Goals, with specific targets to be achieved by 2015 (see p. 195), but with only limited progress achieved so far.Meanwhile the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been continuing to hold rounds of talks in hopes of advancing the movement towards global free trade.Unfortunately, the developed countries who say they are so desirous of free trade often dont walk the talk. The U.S. annually subsidizes its cotton farmers to the tune of $3 billion to the enormous detriment of African cotton farmers, who have to compete with cheaply produced cotton dumped on the world market.

Chapter 8See Figure 8.12 for a diagram of per capita emissions of greenhouse gases in selected groups of countries.The dilemma for developing nations is whether to reduce greenhouse gases, and thereby retard their own development, while foregoing the very prosperity that the developed nations already enjoy.It is this factor, and the stinginess of developed nations in not providing assistance to make the transition to a post-fossil fuels world, that is blocking further progress in climate change negotiations.If you or we have time, you might want to pick an individual country and examine how it has fared, post-colonialism, and what factors have contributed to its relative success or failure.