Bibliographic Infomation

hi ya'll. just wondering if anyone else is having trouble referencing our readings. For example, i had to use Amazon.com to find the publisher and city for 'Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development' (turns out to be London: Zed Books). i'm unsure how to find info for the 'case studies' from week 14, nor Braidotti's 'Responses to the Crisis'. maybe i'm not trying hard enough. i'll get back to you all and post whatever info i can find (if that's helpful).

my we survive this term paper experience,
~ emiko

IUCN General Report Poffenberger

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=OtQxLQEI2DEC&dq=IUCN+General+Report+Poffenberger&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=6IhM44Sh3v&sig=SZ8sAFp2Mk8V34VoFYBd_8t1c40&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPP1,M1

The Term Paper

Hi everyone, I was wondering how everyone is structuring their paper? Should there be some kind of format? Would it be like the mid term and using thematics? I'm curious, any suggestions or ideas?

Thanks

Pi'i

Cancelled meetings with Chatterji...

(Disclaimer: sorry this isn't term paper relevant)
So I was feeling relieved that I didn't have to meet with Chatterji yesterday but also disgruntled that my half hour meeting was now only going to be 15 minutes. And I realize it's totally selfish of me to be upset when I'm sure I can't even BEGIN to fathom how insanely busy her life must be. But I couldn't help feeling a bit jipped.
So I wrote and email to Pei and apologized for being demanding but asked if a half hour meeting was possible and here's what she replied with:
Ask the questions you need to for your education to be meaningful.Don't hold back because she's busy-- make sure her time is used meaningfully.Pei.
I thought it was beautifully put, don't ask questions to fill up the time or ask less to restrict the time. How counter culture that is and different then my meetings were back home at UNLV.
Point is: I love this school.
The end. haha.
- J

Local policies

Any luck finding local policy? I am finding articles about it but can not find the policy. How is everything going with everyones papers? Getting a day pass and spending the day at the UC library tommorrow, Sunday. Kind of late notice but if anyone wants to join me let me know

Leela Gandhi's 'Postcolonial Theory: A Critical Introduction'

were you all aware of this website: questia?
i just ran into it. hot to trot:

http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=22077905

Calling all Dam people!

I'm following suit with LilMilagro... and I thought this would be a good place for all the dam people to communicate our findings and whatnot through the duration of our research. AND this way maybe the groups can intermingle and share more resources that way. Yay for community!

Here some of my prelim research that I did the other day... it's not much but I'll do more soon...

http://www.dams.org/report/ - website where the world commissions report is, this is the full article that is required for us dam people to read, it may be helpful to other groups as well
http://www.emg.org.za/ - the environmental group that mediates between NGO's and the state
http://www.dams.org/commission/mandate.htm - world commission's website
http://www.narmada.org/sardar-sarovar/faq/whopays.html - interesting Q and A about who pays and benefits from dams in Narmada Valley
http://www.sardarsarovardam.org/ - one of the dams i think I'm going to focus on,
which dam(s) are other people focusing on?

OK that's it for now... what does everyone else have?

- J

Forestry

So, I was thinking of creating a google doc with all the information but then I thought it might better to use this resource that we have right now. So, as soon as I get info, I will post it online. 

Peace, 

Lil Milagro

5 sentance what?!?

so kids. got nothin' for tomorrow...
anyone in the same boat? anyone what to toss me a fish???

Wed night wine?

Hey all!

Some of us talked about doing the hang out, drink wine, and talk thing again Wednesday night. Because it's fun and because we'll (theoretically) be getting our papers back and possibly need a support group. Bring wine, hang out in 218, another classroom, the hallway?

People up for it?

Term Paper

Great frustration ensued while attempting to read chapters from 'The WTO as an International Organization.' i also listened to some of the WTO press conference reports. i'm not digging. i've found the required readings for the dams and forest projects through google. after perusing some of the writings, i'm thinking about exploring forestry in Sir Lanka. this, unfortunately, is as far as i've gotten. Why Sir Lanka? For silly reasons: I once knew a man who lived there; the stuff written about it catches my attention. i'm wondering how y'all are thinking.

cheers and good luck!
~ em

links: http://books.google.com/books?id=ztuCqoG-IlQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Communites+and+forest+management+in+south+asia#PPA81,M1
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&id=OtQxLQEI2DEC&dq=IUCN+INTERGOVERMENTAL+panel+on+forestry+report&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=6IhJ0dQhcm&sig=JfStfHwpFro-NF04HRh9_F8CjkU&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPP1,M1
http://www.dams.org/report/contents.htm

ERD readings

has anyone else noticed that the number of pages listed on the syllabus do not match with sections of the book/reader? is that in error, or, for example, does that mean we only read the first 20 pages of the next two Escobar chapters?

hope everyone is well.
~ em

I feel not relief in my chest, but a tremor of sadness.

I need to stay with my paper: to think it through in ways that I have thus far failed to think it through.

If anyone is willing, I would very much like to read the papers ya'll wrote. And, if you have tips on how to engage in paper writing, please pass them my way.

In solidarity,
~ emiko

Midterm

I started working on my paper about an hour ago. I started from the beginning like she said and worked on one sentence at a time. So far it is working rather well!! Yes, I only have a few senteces but i see what she meant about pulling your words tight, and then building your next sentence from the previous one. My ideas are developing as i'm writing instead of having all the ideas before I start to write. I am starting to think there is hope!!

help

"the hardest part of writing is the words."

i'm freakity freaking about my midterm paper. would any of ya'll want to get together sometime this weekend to give each other support, insight, advice, cigarettes, etc.? i would even love just to be working on my paper next to someone who is also working on their paper - just fucking make me sit there and do it, ya know?

The Problematics of Using Economics as a Way to Measure Development

my midterm so far is thus:

In thinking through development as a project created by the dominant values of the “Global North,” it is crucial to examine the role of economics as a tool and ideology for implementing the goals of such development.

Economics is far from a benign or objective discipline. It is infused with western colonialist history, power, and cultural values.

I would like to look at 3 features of economics that can help us understand the problematics of development discourse. These features are: how economics uses the notion of lack in assessing ‘lesser developed countries’ (illiteracy, poverty, and the World Bank); who and what are excluded from the discourse of development by the centrality of the market (use of the GDP, exclusion of women); and how do the ideals of modernity inform, normalize, and confirm economics (notions of truth, individualism, self-interest)?

*
when do ya'll want to get together to talk more?

~ emiko

Development as Freedom

what exactly is being defined as freedom in this article? health care and education seem to have something to do with it. development apparently is what will bring us to freedom, yes? here are some quotes:

"... this limitation can be substantially avoided by examining the demands of efficiency in terms of individual freedoms, rather than just utilities" (p. 118). what are these individual freedoms?

"... recurrent bearing and rearing of children can be very detrimental to the well-being and freedom of the young mother" (p.144). here, is freedom mobility? freedom from the demands of childcare?

"... the remedy has to lie in more freedom -- including that of public discussion and participatory political decisions. Once again, freedom of one kind (in this case, political freedom) can be seen as helping the realization of freedom of other kinds (particularly, that of economic openness)" (p.123). how will this happen and what will this look like?

Papers brainstorm and dinner?

I was thinking that maybe tuesday after class we could get dinner (and maybe a much needed drink) and each of us bring what we have written so far, (jumbled messes highly encouraged) so we can each talk about what we have written/thought before class on wednesday. That way we can each have more specific questions and ideas for class on Wednesday to bring to Angana and our class discussion. Who's in?

never mind my last post

[after posting this post, i realize this may not be the way i want to go. but perhaps it will make for good discussion? maybe spin into other paper topics? still thinking...]

o.k. maybe i've changed my mind completely. Now I’m thinking about using Truman’s 1949 speech in order to connect colonialism, globalization, and modernity, by using 3 quotes from his speech and exploring the ways in which these concepts carry through different eras of the development project.

Colonialism uses the story of other countries being lesser than “first world" countries and in need of U.S. and European support. He states his reason for intervention, “…in order to help them [LDCs] realize their aspirations for a better life…" Later, countries are farther deemed “lesser than,” with the help of concepts like poverty and illiteracy, requiring the help of U.S..

Globalization (the need for newer markets and a higher level of production) is necessary for the continuation of capitalism, though often not framed as such, instead framed as a means to a higher quality of life. Truman states, "Greater production is the key to prosperity and peace." “Greater production” is normalized through economic discourse, growth discourse, and the like.

Finally, modernity shows up in Truman’s endorsement of the "application of modern science and technology" for the realization of this goal toward a better life for these underdeveloped people. Economics as science legitimizes intervention within the discourse of modernity. Notions of modernity are so entrenched in the audience to which Truman is speaking, that the idea of bringing modernity to others can be read as an act of philanthropy for the betterment of these unfortunate people.

I realize that a lot of what I’m saying in each of these 3 segments bleeds into each other quite a bit. I suppose all of these statements by Truman and discourses that are tied to them point primarily to underdeveloped countries as the beneficiaries, while the ‘modern’ world is seen as enhanced only in so far as the world is enhancement.

I would also like to talk about the need for this discourse post-world war II (with the threat of communism). Perhaps this can be part of the section on Globalization, but I fear this is getting way too broad (once again).

Yeah wait. This is WAY too much, isn’t it? These thoughts are NOT taut. I suppose I could take one of these 3 topics and pull out 3 more subtopics for a paper. Arrggg. Thoughts?

playing with ideas

my mind feels so dead. this is what i've scribbled out. i feel funny posting it 'cause i really haven't thought it through, but i think posting it will push me to engage it farther. and this is an informal blog, right? well, here it is:

how development operates through the discourse of modernity:
the culture of economics and the use of bureaucracy
the making of docile bodies
the creation of poverty, illiteracy, and underdevelopement

rather broad, no?

~ emiko

Thanks all

aloha to all,
I finally made it on here. In regards to the mid term i have been struggling on figuring a theme. thanks to all that have shared their topics and themes over the blog so now I can have some kind of idea or direction to write the essay.

pi'i

Paper Topic on the Economic Man

I would love for feedback on this paper topic. Here is what I have so far: 

How has the ‘Economic man’ emerged and been exported to the third world, through the apparatus of development; what are the relationships of resistance and assimilation to the ‘economic man’ and how has this been gendered within the third world? 

I think that might be too many combinations of topics but I would be super excited to write about it. Let me know what y'all think. 

Peace, 

Lil Milagro

Regimes of Representation

So, after spending yesterday debating with myself over various topics and ideas for the paper I began to think about how regimes of representation have created the third world. We talked about this topic in class on September 3rd and of course I have an incomplete sentence in my notes and I was hoping if any of you have a minute (Ok, so I know you probably do not but I would appreciate some input) to look at your notes and fill me in. I wrote that "regimes of representation are a genre through which"........ BLANK!! My next sentence says, "What governs representations of self and others, what is intent, effect of representation." So any one that can finish that sentence, or any ideas about regimes of representation would be grateful. For my paper I was thinking of writing about three representations that created the idea of the third world, as underdeveloped. I am off to go play around with and struggle with this idea. Good luck, how is everyone else coming along?

Solipsism

Ok, so here is my homework assignment to post about solipsism. When I looked up the definition it stated that solipsism is a "philosophy. the theory that only the self exists, or can be proved to exist." The second definition stated an, "extreme preoccupation with and indulgence of one's feelings, desires, etc.; egoistic self-absorption." It sounds to me like... the result of thinking/believing that the world only exists through one's own mind and not learning to think about the world through the experience of others creates in one self a heightened sense of self importance. I believe this philosophy plagues the average white, middle-upper class American. So busy worrying about ourselves and our needs, that we do not need to worry about other's feelings and desires. When we do think about other's desires it is to satisfy our own desires. (OK, so I said we and our, but this is cause the white, middle-upper class Americans is where I come from, whether I like that or not I am part of their group, thus I feel comfortable talking about our experience.) So now I need input from all of you as to prevent me from thinking about this from my strictly my point of view. (And its not more in depth cause I am going to keep wrestling with my midterm themes.)

---

Midterm paper, dun dun dun...

So how is everyone doing so far on their midterm stuff? Questions? Comments? I know it's a bit soon to be thinking about it, and I should be reading for Tuesday or something, but I think I have just figured out what my three topics are going to be. I wanted to share them with everyone and get your opinions. Hopefully some of you will share your three topics? I'm still a bit unsure of how specific or general these three topics need to be, but the whole assignment is still a jumbled mess in my head as to how the heck I'm suppose to go about actually completing it!

OK, here they are:
General topic: Development Economics and It’s role in development discourse

1. Its fluidity and ability to shape and be shaped by past & present events, beliefs etc.. much like any other culture
- Like seen in chapter 3 as described as “not a neutral representation of the world and a truth about it” p. 58
2. Comodification and objectification of cultures
- How putting a culture into terms of a production system whose overarching purpose is production
3. How the development of civilization thus far has resulted in the current concept of how our economy is perceived and practiced
- Uh, this one might be a bit tricky

What do you guys think? Too general? I'm sure I'll figure out how to get more specific as I progress through my research and reading. Also, I found Escobar's Curriculum Vitae on the web though that was kinds cool and coincidental here the URL:
http://www.ces.uc.pt/emancipa/cv/gen/escobar.html

the fetish

i'm having a hard time pulling together the threads of Ioan Davies' article. after the poem by Amie Cesaire, the first line reads, "The debate around the origins and history of religion is at the heart of the reexamination of the idea of Aricica..." Is it in encountering the text as something to be "unraveled" that points us to a history of Christianity and Western colonialism? is the fetish as play, rather than a false mistake, a way to displace this dominance? How is the fetish connected to a rereading by "rediscover[ing] the black presence in the existing text." (p. 130). page 136 reads, "Ochieng's rationalist campaign is portrayed in a fierce missionary rhetoric," but how so? - in, "realizing the nature of the national and international power structure itself."? (earlier, same page). Is it in the elitism that exists by virtue of it being in a language available only to a small minority? what is happening on page 141, when we are told, "The gun is not a fetish... but a metaphor for someone who has noting else to do but blast someone else's head off. The American black.." and so on. i assumed this was a critique on the dominant ways in which the term 'fetish' is used, but at the end of the paragraph Davies writes, "In this, the common storytelling becomes part of the music and the music part of the personal image." totally confused. confused confused.

~ em

Globalization

Other than there being missing pages from the "Globalization" article...did anyone else find it frustrating/infuriating?

Over all, I supposed, I was annoyed by the implicit insistence that all countries want to be a part of the global economy.

Then, at least on the pages we currently have, most of the correctives suggested insisted that developing countries make their voices heard in negotiating terms of free trade. Maybe I'm being overly cynical but I'm not so sure developing countries either have these voices or are allowed to use them.

And, finally, the conclusion basically said there is no way for countries to be equal partners or people to be equal citizens. I believe the article said it was "naive" to try to imagine such a world. But, hey, we should still try for correctives that make things less asymmetrical.

I dunno, maybe I'm just tired and cranky, but this article really rubbed me the wrong way. Any thoughts?

Lil Milagro's notes on 'Intellectual Openings and Policy Closures'

Definitions:

Washington Consensus: an extension of neo-liberal economic policy that worked in conjunction with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to create ‘structural adjustment programs’

Walrasian equilibrium – “there exists a set of prices which jointly and simultaneously equates demand and supply for all commodities and factors of production”
• Emerged out of and reinforced Adam’s Smith’s work around the ‘invisible hand’ and the idea that the market when left to itself will automatically balance itself
• This is the idea that the market, left to itself, will naturally find an equilibrium where prices will set at a ‘perfect’ level that reflects supply and demand that is consistent with individual’s self interest at both the supply and demand level
• If there is any sort of imbalance, “employed workers who cannot supply all the labor they would like at the going rate”(123) will make an effort to change the prices/wages so that the market better reflects their self-interest and move the market towards equilibrium.

Keynesian macroeconomic and microeconomic theory
• Idea that the macroeconomics can be helped with governmental involvement at the micro level, the level of the individual and that oftentimes it is not enough to just have a laissez-faire economic model and that governmental intervention in creating structural support for certain programs can stimulate macrolevel growth and production which can stimulate microeconomics
• These processes can be used when Walrasian equilibrium is not reached and is not enough to stimulate economic growth
• There was a backlash against this idea by those who followed Smithian liberalism (125)

Asymmetrical transactions: (126 – 128)
• Happens “when one party to a transaction knows more about the characteristics of the transacted commodity than the other” (126)
o Idea that either the quality of the supply/demand is difficult to ascertain and thus it is not able to hold it’s Walrasian equilabrium
o This can lead to the idea that the price can influence the quality (see page 126 - 127)

Two trends that have characterized the evolution of development economics
1. “Ascendance of a policy orthodoxy of development liberalism” (119)
a. Creation of a de-regulation of national markets and the need to create a ‘laissez-faire’ – hands off governmental policy, Invisible Hand Theory – Adam Smith – founder of this idea, Foucault talks about the importance of this as instrumental towards the creation of political economy and the development of the Economic Man
b. Seen also with the creation of the Washington Consensus that gained popularity during the 1990’s – roughly
c. Represented a “decentralized, noninterventionist perspective of the ultramodernist critique represents a dramatic change from prior approaches to development which stressed more active state planning and policies.” (120)
2. “Disciplinary revisionism which questions the singular generality, if not the relevance of these same core economic theorems” (119)

Invisible Hand Theorem
• “the invisible hand will see to it that. . . . private interests and passions of men’ are led in the direction ‘which is most agreeable to the interests of the whole society.’” (122)
o This is the idea that if people follow their economic self interest that the everyone’s self interest will be rewarded through the market. It is the idea that laissez-faire competition will naturally led to the high growth rates for countries/individuals/interest groups.

Agrarian Growth and Transformation
• Idea of how hard it is to create a real value or to ascertain certain quality in regarding to agrarian growth/development (see page 130 for examples)
• “Within inegalitarian economies (those of Latin America and parts of southern Africa) . . . (there is a suggestion of) two fundamental breakdowns which distort the process of market-mediated growth and transformation”: (131)
o “Production behavior is likely to systematically vary across wealth-based classes of producers, with low-wealth producers behaving like prototypical peasants . . . and high wealth producers behaving like entrepreneurial capitalists”
• Idea that when people start off from a place of inequality, there will be a difference in the way they use their resources and the importance they place on land, resources and the ability to acquire new technologies. The low-wealth producers will relay more on labor-intensive production and the high-wealth producers will be able to acquire and use more technological means of achieving a higher harvest
o “The process of agrarian growth and transformation in actually existing market economies can be an unsteady one, and one in which initial levels of inequality are reproduced and deepened by a growth process.

Endogenous Growth theory and the Reproduction of the Core-Periphery Structure
• There is a theory amongst neo-Marxists called the Dependency theory which states the in much the same way that working class/the proleteriat is oppressed by the bourgeois, the same things happen at an international level; that the ‘periphery’ states are the ones with the natural resources that are exploited for the benefit of the ‘core’ rich states and the money and resources are diverted away from periphery states in order to enrich the ‘core’
• The opposition to this theory, which lead to the emergence of free-trade structures and NAFTA and CAFTA, states that we all emerge from interactions with the world market victorious and that interaction within a world-market will lead to “national growth and high living standards (will) eventually converge, extinguishing the distinction b/w developed and less developed countries” (132)
o We will all reach a place of balance and equilibrium within the world market
• Endogenous growth theory states that wealthy nations can continue their wealth and their gains through an interaction with the ‘periphery’ states and expentionally increase their growth and lead to a greater divide b/w core and periphery states

implications of phrases

what up with Majid Rahnema's line, "to flower in goodness,"? and this dichotomy of inner and outer freedom? does anyone else see this as problematic? i did like a lot of what this author had to say, it just all went strangely toward the end (p.127-9). i'm wondering also why this term, "fear-power"?

The Oxford American dictionary uses this sentence as an example for the definition of democracy: "capitalism and democracy are ascendant in the third world," and this sentence as an example for imperium: "it was the high noon of the imperium, an age when there was something empowering about being American."

first thoughts

hi y'all. it's me, emiko. (i guess i forgot to mention that.) i'm glad there's some interest. i find this more accessible than meetings just 'cause i have a hard time making them (for example, today i've got two people i need to connect with after class), and it's nice to write down thoughts as i read (though i haven't done that as of yet).

so. just a couple of things to get us started:

did anyone understand all that economic jargon in the first article we read (intellectual openings and policy closures)? i've never taken an econ class and know very little about this stuff. but i would love to learn more if anyone can explain it to me.

i loved the article, 'state.' i have very little background knowledge on nation-states. it put a lot into perspective.

in 'science,' i was surprised by this idea of entropy being ethno-centric. i like how it was related to the econ's idea of scarcity, though i don't yet have a good grasp on how either of these ideas function. it was also great to hear science being paralleled to scripture (p.228 3rd paragraph). also, the difference between knowledge and information... i like the distinction. i feel like knowledge has direction. what cha'll think?

shit. i've got to work on my paper, readings, and all that other stuff. but one last thing: anyone else notice how 'technology and expertise' ended mid-sentence? i really loved that article and was so bummed for it to just leave me hanging like that.

a way in

perhaps we can use this format to host discussions. write and let me know what you think.