Cornell University
College of Architecture, Art and Planning
Department of City and Regional Planning
CRP 6720, International Institutions
Fall Semester, 2014
Instructor:
Office:
E-mail:
Victoria A. Beard
200 W. Sibley Hall
vab57@cornell.edu
Day and Time:
Location:
Office hours:
Tu/Th 10:10 to 11:25
SBL 211
Thursdays at 12:30-2:00
Images: (1) United Nations Buildings (1949), (2) President Sukarno addressing the Asian-African
Conference in Bandung (1955), (3) a World Bank community driven development project (2008).
Course Description
The purpose of the course is to introduce students to the theory and practice of
international development planning from an institutional perspective. The course is
divided into four sections. It begins with an introduction to the field and provides a
historical, institutional and theoretical overview. Next, the course examines the main
actors involved in the practice of international development planning: the public sector,
civil society and NGOs, community-based organizations and the private sector. The third
section of the course critically analyzes some of the large international institutions
engaged in planning, policy and global governance. These institutions are analyzed in the
context of an issue that is central to their core mission. The last section of the course
critically examines new configurations, forces for change and challenges to how we
conceptualize as well as practice international development planning, including
migration, transnationalism, social movements, post-democracy and anarchism.
Course Format and Expectations
The course is designed for graduate students and it uses a lecture-seminar format.
Throughout the semester students are expected to stay current on the required reading,
play an active role during class meetings, including making presentations and leading
discussions. Students work in teams to prepare for a policy debate. Details about the
format of the debate will be provided in class. The final assignment will be a cumulative
take-home essay. The exam questions will be handed out in class on November 20, and a
hard copy of your essay response is due at the beginning of class on December 4.
Emailed essays will not be accepted. After the beginning of class, late assignments will
be marked down by half a grade for each day the assignment is late. Office hours are
Thursday afternoons between 12:30 and 2:00; there is a sign-up sheet posted on my office
door with slots for 20-minute appointments. If you are unable to make my regular office
hours, please send me an email for an appointment. In your email, please include 3 times
that you are available.
Learning Objectives
The course meets the following learning objectives:
1) Appreciation for a global dimension of planning with specific emphasis on the
global south.
2) The ability to deliver clear, accurate and compelling written, oral and graphic
communication.
3) Appreciation of the normative principles of social justice and equity that guide
planning practice.
Evaluation and Grades
Your grade is based on three areas of evaluation: (1) participation in class activities,
discussions, and presentations; (2) performance on the group debate; and (3) performance
on a take-home essay.
Course Grade
Area of evaluation
Participation
Policy debate
Take-home essay
Percentage of course grade
30%
30%
40%
Because part of your grade is based on participation, you cannot receive full credit for
classes you miss.
Course Materials
There are two required readings each week. The required readings should be completed
before the first class meeting of each week to facilitate informed discussion. The required
readings are on Blackboard (http://blackboard.cornell.edu/) organized by week.
Academic Integrity
Each student in the course is expected to abide by the Cornell University Code of
Academic Integrity. It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the code,
(http://cuinfo.cornell.edu/Academic/AIC.html). Any work submitted by a student in the
course should be the student’s own, original work. For this course, collaboration is
allowed for group assignments when specified by the instructor. The final take-home
essay should represent individual and independent student work.
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Course Outline
Week
Date
Topic
I. Introduction, Background and Context
Week 1
8/26
International Development Planning
Week 2
9/2
Institutional and Historical Perspectives
Week 3
9/9
Modernism and Development Theory
Week 4
9/16
The State, Public Sector and Decentralization
Week 5
9/23
Civil Society, NGOs, INGOs in Development
Week 6
9/30
Community-Based Organizations and Community-Driven Development
Week 7
10/7
The Market, the Private Sector and Corporations
II. Actors
III. International Institutions and Global Governance
Week 8
10/16
The United Nations—Millennium Development Goals (MDG)
Week 9
10/21
The World Bank—Knowledge Generation and the Science of Delivery
Week 10 10/28
World Trade Organization—Agricultural Trade and Food Security
Week 11 11/4
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—Politics and Science
IV. New Configurations, Forces for Change and Challenges
Week 12 11/11
Migration and Transnationalism
Week 13 11/18
Social Movements
Week 14 11/25
Post-Democracy and Anarchism
Week 15 12/2
Conclusion
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I. Introduction, Background and Context
Week 1—International Development Planning
Escobar, A. 1992. Planning. In The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as
Power, Wolfgang Sachs ed., London: Zed Books, pp. 132-145.
Week 2—Institutional and a Historical Perspectives
Gibson, C.C., Andersson, K., Ostrom, E. and S. Shivakumar. 2005. The Samaritan’s
Dilemma: The Political Economy of Development Aid, pp. 3-86.
Woolcock, M. Szreter, S. and V. Rao. 2011. How and Why Does History Matter for
Development Policy? The Journal of Development Studies, 47(1), pp. 70-96.
Week 3—Modernism and Development Theory
Rostow, W.W. 1960. Introduction. Chapter 1. The Five Stages-of-Economic Growth—A
Summary. The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto,
Cambridge: Cambridge Press, pp. 1-16.
Scott, J. C. 1998. Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human
Condition Have Failed, New Haven: Yale University Press, pp. 1-83.
II. Actors
Week 4—The State, Public Sector and Decentralization
Acemoglu, D. and J.A. Robinson. 2012. Why Nations Fail Today. Why Nations Fail.
New York: Crown Business, pp. 368-403.
Pritchett, L., Woolcock, M. and M. Andrews. 2012. Looking Like a State: Techniques of
Persistent Failure in State Capability for Implementation. The Journal of
Development Studies, 49(1), pp. 1-18.
Week 5—Civil Society, NGOs, INGOs in Development
Warren, Mark. E. 2001. Democracy and Association. Princeton: Princeton University
Press, pp. 39-59.
Wallace, T., Bornstein, L. and J. Chapman. 2007. The Aid Chain: Coercion and
Commitment in Development NGOs. Warwickshire: Intermediate Technology
Publications, Ltd., pp. 19-48.
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Week 6—Community-Based Organizations and Community-Driven Development
Beard, V.A. 2012. Citizen Planners: From Self-Help to Political Transformation, in
Oxford Handbook of Urban Planning, eds., R. Weber and R. Crane, Oxford:
Oxford University Press, pp. 706-721.
Mansuri, G. and V. Rao. 2004. Community-based and -driven development: A critical
review. The World Bank Research Observer, 19(1), pp. 1-39.
Week 7—The Market, the Private Sector and Corporations
Harvey, D. 2005. Uneven Geographical Developments. A Brief History of Neoliberalism.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 87-119.
Nelson, J. 2011. The Private Sector and Aid Effectiveness: Toward New Models of
Engagement. Catalyzing Development: A New Vision for Aid. Washington, D.C.:
Brookings Institute Press, pp. 83-111.
III. International Institutions and Global Governance
Week 8—The United Nations—Millennium Development Goals (MDG)
Sachs, J. 2005. The End of Poverty. New York: Penguin Books, pp. 210-225.
Pogge, T. 2004. The First United Nations Millennium Development Goal: A Cause for
Celebration? Journal of Human Development: A Multi-Disciplinary Journal for
People-Centered Development, 5(3), pp. 377-397.
Week 9—The World Bank—Knowledge Generation and The Science of Delivery
Bebbington, A. Guggenheim, S., Olson, E. and M. Woolcock. 2007. Exploring Social
Capital Debates at the World Bank. The Journal of Development Studies, 40(5),
pp. 33-64.
Kim, Jim Y. 2012. Delivering on Development: Harnessing Knowledge to Build
Prosperity and End Poverty, Keynote Speech to World Knowledge Forum Seoul,
Korea, http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/speech/2012/10/08/deliveringdevelopment-harnessing-knowledge-build-prosperity-end-poverty.
Week 10—World Trade Organization—Agricultural Trade and Food Security
Moore, J.W. 2010. Cheap food & bad money: food, frontiers and financialization in the
rise and demise of neoliberalism. Review (Fernand Braudel Center), 33(2/3): 225261.
Lee, R.P. 2012. The Politics of International Agri-Food Policy: Discourses of Trade-
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Oriented Food Security and Food Sovereignty. Environmental Politics, 22(2), pp.
216-234.
Week 11—Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—Politics and Science
Hoppe, R. and Wesselink, A. Cairns, R. 2013. Lost in the Problem: the role of boundary
organisations in the governance of climate change. Wiley Interdisciplinary
Reviews—Climate Change, 4(4), pp. 283-300.
Ostrom, E. 2012. Nested externalities and polycentric institutions: must we wait for
global solutions to climate change before taking action at other scales? Economic
Theory, 49(2), pp. 353-369.
IV. New Configurations, Forces for Change and Challenges
Week 12—Migration and Transnationalism
Burgess, K. 2012. Collective Remittances and Migrant-State Collaboration in Mexico
and El Salvador. Latin American Politics and Society, 54(4), pp. 119–146.
Collins, F.L. 2012. Transnational mobilities and urban spatialities: Notes from the AsiaPacific. Progress in Human Geography, 36(3), pp. 316-335.
Week 13—Social Movements
Zubaida, S. 2012. The ‘Arab Spring’ in the historical perspectives of Middle East
politics. Economy and Society, 41(4), pp. 568-579.
Gitlin, T. 2013. Occupy’s predicament: The moment and the prospects for the movement.
The British Journal of Sociology, 64(1), pp. 3-25.
Week 14—Post-Democracy and Anarchism
Newman, Saul. 2011. Postanarchism and space: revolutionary fantasies and autonomous
zones. Planning Theory, 10(4), pp. 344-365.
Scott, J.C. 2012. Two Cheers for Anarchism: Six Easy Pieces on Autonomy, Dignity, and
Meaningful Work and Play. Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. xi-29.
Week 15—Conclusion
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