HSEM3074H: Development!: The Power of an Idea

This seminar will take stock of the astonishingly versatile concept of "development." We will critically probe its workings—and of its constellation of affine terms: "progress," 'improvement," and "growth"—across a range of geographic and historical settings. We will ask: What is development and why has it come to saturate common sense as an indispensable given of our modern existence? How should we account for the power of development in the lives of rich and poor nations, and rich and poor people? What role did the idea of development play in how the West has thought about itself in relation to the non-West? Finally, how do emerging economic powers such as China and India, who are now large donors of development aid in Africa and Latin America, imagine development in contrast to their counterparts in the West? In terms of content, the course will introduce students to, both, the classic literature on development as well latest writings on it.

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