Political Economies of Development and Under-Development
Political Science 202 A
Field Seminar, Kiren Aziz Chaudhry
Fridays, 2-4, 791 Barrows
Ideas about the processes, indicia and prerequisites of economic development have undergone radical change since the end of World War II. Indeed, scholars no longer agree what “development†is, how to explain different patterns of state-building, institutional change and industrialization.
The aim of this seminar is to present students with a historically grounded genealogy of theories of development and expose them to some of the central debates in the field. The focus will be on how thinking about the relationship between political and economic processes has changed in response to the interaction of the domestic and international arenas. In addition, we will attend to the question of how the international economy itself has “evolved†over time, tracing change in the international economy as a dynamic that has a momentum of its own.
This is a survey course open to graduate students only. Graduate students in departments other than Political Science may join the seminar. This is a reading course. The most important requirements include critical thinking, reading and seminar participation. Seminar participation includes writing a single spaced response paper each week and helping to lead discussion at least once in the term. The writing component of the course is a seminar paper on a topic chosen in consultation with the instructor. It may be the basis for the MA essay in the Political Science Department or a draft for an essay for future publication.
In the past, graduate students with little or no background in the political economy of the global south have found it helpful to attend the lectures for PS 139B, the upper-division undergraduate version of this class. It’s painless. Consider yourself invited.