In a recent paper on the
inimitable relationship between Geography and Economic Development
(1999), John
Luke Gallup, Jeffrey Sachs and Andrew Mellinger top off their arguments
about
the “curse of the tropics” with a quote from the classical
philosopher and economist, Adam Smith:
“All
the inland parts of Africa…, seem in all ages of the world to have been
in the
same barbarous and uncivilized state in which we find them at present”
(Smith,
1976: 25, cited on page 185)
Africa, Gallup et al. maintain, is
haunted by a curse that has two “unmistakable” features -- first,
nearly all of
the countries in Earth’s tropical belt are poor; second, nearly all
landlocked
countries or populations are really poor. Tropical geography makes
countries
poor because it increases transport costs to the “outside” world, it
fosters
more disease, and it makes for lousy farming. Also, for some reason,
people in
these hot, sticky regions have lots of kids (one can only imagine why,
as the
authors never discuss the reasons for this correlation).
This class is
part of an Andrew
H. Mellon Sawyer Seminar on the Changing
Nature(s) of Land that will run through
2007-2008.
Class meetings will alternate between the traditional-style seminar and
working
group meetings open to the public. The theme for the seminar generally
is the
way in which contemporary development has been shaped by political and
cultural
economies of the land – or, the way in which people, communities and
societies
have negotiated access to, rights over, and use of the land. This
semester, we
will specifically focus on political ecologies of land (and livelihood)
degradation and agriculture (see below).
Mechanics:
The graduate
class will be divided into three different types of meetings: class
meetings,
during which we will read theoretical material pertaining to the topic
of
property and mobilization; working group meetings, during which we will
focus
on one or two papers presented by local faculty and students; and,
finally, two
mini-conferences, one on property and one on mobilization. Both
the
working group meetings and the conferences are open to the public.
For the working
group meetings, papers will be distributed electronically at least one
week
prior to the meeting. They will also be available in hard copy at UCIS,
the
University Center for International Studies. Papers for each meeting
will
usually include one work-in-progress written by a seminar participant.
The
meetings will be opened by a graduate student enrolled in the class who
will
present a prepared set of comments, after which general questions and
comments
will be addressed to the author. The author will have a chance to
respond after
at least one half hour has passed.
The intensive
two-day workshops will cap the working group meetings on each theme.
Speakers
will include outside invited guests as well as internal seminar
participants.
Speakers will give public presentations and address issues raised by
seminar participants
during the working group meetings.
Responsibilities:
Class
participants will be responsible for weekly readings and a one-page
write up
analyzing the readings in an attempt to contribute critical insight.
Write-ups
will be due in email form the day before class. No write up will be
necessary
for weeks when a working group meeting or conference is scheduled. The
reading
assigned for class meetings is quite substantial, but there is
considerably
less for working group meetings (generally only one paper). Class
participants
are also responsible for attending working group meetings and
conferences as
much as possible. A final term paper will be assigned and should be
discussed
with Wendy as to content and form.
Texts to Purchase (or
copy*):
Fitzgerald, Deborah (2003) Every
Farm a Factory: The Industrial Ideal in American Agriculture.
New Haven: Yale University Press.
Kosek, Jake (2006) Understories:
The Political Life of Forests in Northern New Mexico.
Durham: Duke
University Press.
Mintz, Sidney (1985) Sweetness and
Power: The
Place of Sugar in Modern History.
New York: Viking.
McDermott-Hughes,
David (2006) From
Enslavement to
Environmentalism: Politics on a South African Frontier.
Seattle: UW Press.
Pollan, Michael (2007) Omnivore’s
Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Penguin Press.
Warman, Arturo (2003) Corn and
Capitalism: How a Botanical Bastard grew to Global Dominance.
Chapel Hill: UNC University Press.
* All other texts
will be online. I have a copy
of these books, and you are welcome to copy. Most are cheap and
available on Amazon, but the McDermott Hughes is very expensive -
consider copying!
***
Durham, William (1976) “The
Adaptive
Significance of
Cultural Behavior,” in Human Ecology 4(2):
89-121.
Nietschmann, Bernard (1979) “Ecological
Change, Inflation and Migration
in the Far Western Caribbean,”
Geographical Review 69(1):
1-24.
Blaikie, Piers and Harold Brookfield (1985) Land
Degradation and Society. London: Methuen (introduction and
first
chapter).
Watts, Michael (1983) “On
the poverty of
theory:
natural hazards research in context,” in Kenneth Hewitt (ed.), Interpretations
of Calamity: from the Viewpoint of Human Ecology. Boston:
Allen and
Unwin: pp. 231-262.
Zimmerer, Karl (1994) “Human
geography and
the ‘new
ecology’: the prospect and promise of integration,” in the Annals
of the
Association of American Geographers, 84(1): 108-125.
Vayda, Andrew and Bradley B. Walters (1999)
“Against
Political Ecology,” in Human Ecology 27(1): 167-179.
Harvey, David (1996) Justice,
Nature and the Geography of Difference. Oxford: Blackwell
Publishers Inc. (Part II: The Nature of Environment, pp. 117-207)
Wallerstein, Immanuel
(1978) The Modern World System:
Capitalist Agriculture and the Origins of the European World Economy in
the
Sixteenth Century.
Foster, John Bellamy
(1999) “Marx’s Theory of Metabolic Rift:
Classical Foundations for
Environmental Sociology,” American
Journal of Sociology 105(2): pp. 366-405.
2.
January 28:
The
Social Production of Nature: Re-Making Nature
in Man’s Image (stories from around the world)
Reading:
McDermott-Hughes,
David (2006) “Whites and
water: how
Euro-Africans made nature at Kariba Dam,” Journal
of Southern African Studies 32(4).
McDermott-Hughes,
David (2006) From
Enslavement to
Environmentalism: Politics on a South African Frontier.
Seattle: UW Press. Part
One, Part Two, Part Three and Introduction.
And: Gallup JL, Sachs JD, Mellinger AD (1999)
“Geography
and Economic Development” International
Regional Science Review 22:2: 179-232.
Optional
Reading
New York
Times (1858) “The
Ability of India to Supply Europe with Cotton”
Neumann,
Roderick (1998) Imposing
Wilderness: Struggles over Livelihood and Nature Preservation in Africa.
Berkeley: UC Press.
Theory
presentation: Liz and Diana
Research
presentation: Lisa and Brenda
3.
February 4:
The Social Construction of
Nature and Knowledge
Readings:
Agarwal, Arun (2005) “Environmentality:
Community, intimate government and
environmental subjects in Kumaon, India,” Current
Anthropology 46(2).
Kosek, Jake (2006) Understories:
The Political Life of Forests in Northern New Mexico.
Durham: Duke
University Press.
Goldman,
Michael (2007) “How
‘Water for All’ Became Hegemonic: The Power of the World
Bank and its Transnational Policy Networks,” Geoforum 38: 786-800.
Castree, Noel (2007) "NeoLiberal
Environments: A Framework for Analysis," Working Paper 04/07
Manchester
Papers in Political Economy.
Optional
Reading:
Castree, Noel and Bruce
Braun (1998), introduction to Remaking
Reality: Nature at the Millennium. London: Routledge Press, pp.
1-43.
Demeritt, David (1998) “Science,
Social Constructivism and Nature,” in Remaking
Reality: Nature at the Millennium, pp. 173-194.
Sundberg, Juanita (1998)
“Strategies for Authenticity and Space in the Maya Biosphere, Peten,
Guatemala,” Geographical
Review 88(3): 388-412.
Theory
presentation:
Sara and Gina
4.
February 11
(Working Group Meeting): Gaby
Valdivia
Reading TBA
5.
February 18:
From
Hearth to Globe:
Commodity Chains and Food Regimes
Readings:
Friedmann, H. (1993). ”The Political Economy of Food: A Global Crisis,”
in New Left Review,
I/197: 28-57.
Warman, Arturo (2003) Corn and
Capitalism: How a Botanical Bastard grew to Global Dominance.
Chapel Hill: UNC University Press.
Optional
Reading:
Theory
presentation:
Alice Brooke and Lisa
February
25 (NO CLASS)
6.
*** February 29-March 1
(CONFERENCE) Environments
Undone:
The Political
Ecology of Globalization and Development Invited
participants: Rod Neumann, Gail
Hollander, Dianne Rocheleau, Henry Bernstein, Lisa Campbell, Amity
Doolittle and Jason
Moore. For a list of readings please see the conference
webpage.
***
7.
March 4:
Roses are red, Violets are Blue:
Consumption and Power
Readings:
Mintz, Sidney (1985) Sweetness and
Power: The
Place of Sugar in Modern History.
New York: Viking.
Carney, Judith (2005) “Rice
and Memory in the
Age of
Enslavement: Atlantic Passages to Suriname,” Slavery
and
Abolition 26(3): 325-347.
Farquahar, Judith (2002) Appetites:
Food and Sex in Post-Socialist China. Durham: Duke
University Press. (Introduction)
Theory
presentation: Noella and Liza
Research
presentation: Claire, Gina and Diana
9.
March 25 (Working Group Meeting)
Elizabeth Dunn
Reading TBA
10.
April 1: From Farm to Factory:
The creation of modern agriculture
Readings:
Fitzgerald, Deborah (2003) Every
Farm a Factory: The Industrial Ideal in American Agriculture.
New Haven: Yale University Press.
Theory
presentation: Holly, Laura and Claire
Research
presentation: Sara and Holly
11.
April 8: Stuffed and Starved:
Consumption in the Contemporary American Everyday
Readings:
Nestle, Marion (1999) “Hunger
in America: A
Matter of
Policy,” Social Research 66(1): 257 –
282.
Pollan, Michael (2007) Omnivore’s
Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Penguin Press.
(Introduction
and Chapter One).
DuPuis, Melanie and
Julie Guthman (2006) “Embodying neoliberalism: economy, culture and the
politics of fat,” Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 24(3).
Also skim: the World
Bank Development Report 2008:
Agriculture
for Development
And watch: Patel, Raj (forthcoming) Watch the
HarperCollins Canada trailer for the book Stuffed
and Starved, due out in the US in 2008
Theory
presentation: Anil and Brenda
Research
presentation: Alice Brooke and Noella
12.
April 15: (Working
Group Meeting): Raj Patel
Reading TBA
April
22 (NO CLASS)
13.
***April 25-26 (CONFERENCE) The
Fate of
Food: Agricultural Production in the Fourth World Food Regime Invited participants: Alain de Janvry, Phil
McMichael, Catherine Dolan, Dorothy Holland, Sara Safransky.