Introduction to Power and Discourse
Fall 2005
Judy Whitehead
Office Hours: MW: 2:00-4:00, or by appointment.
Telephone: 329-2011.
E-Mail: Whitja01@uleth.ca
Anthropology 3200A
Introduction
The themes of the course:
How can the concepts of ‘discourse’ and ‘hegemony’ help us understand how power
operates invisibly and unconsciously.
how power operates in the context of liberalization of the world economy;
 how the concept of ‘development’ is related to systems of political economy and
reinforces this system.
How ideas and policies of development have affected small-scale societies.
How ‘development’ forms a grid through which we have been trained to view ‘other’
societies.
Course Topics
Course Topics: We Will Examine the Following Questions:
What is Development? Development is usually defined in 2 ways:

1. as an increase in the overall output of an economy measured in terms of its gross
domestic product; and

2. as an increase in the level of ‘well-being’, measured in terms of increases in
health, literacy, education and ‘quality of life.’
THESE TWO MEANINGS ARE OFTEN CONFUSED IN MUCH DEVELOPMENT
LITERATURE AND WE WILL EXAMINE THE REASONS FOR AND THE
CONSEQUENCES OF THIS CONFUSION.
Further Questions and Topics
How do the powerful and the powerless understand different things by the term
development? If so, what are some of the differences? For example, would the powerful
typically understand development as an increase in GDP, while the less powerful might
think of it as an increase in literacy, education, nutrition, and health care?
What is the importance of understanding a ‘local’ point of view and what role can
anthropologists play in linking local realities to global policies? How does this
understanding help us to decode terms such as GDP, commercialization, economic
‘growth’, informal economy or other economic terms.
How do the meanings of the terms development relate to questions of power in the
global economy?
And how does globalization affect the powerful and the less powerful?

Further Questions and Topics
Do the powerful and the powerless understand different things by the terms
development and environment? If so, what are some of the differences? For example,
would the powerful typically understand development as an increase in GDP, while the
less powerful might think of it as an increase in literacy, education, nutrition, and health
care?
What is the importance of understanding a ‘local’ point of view and what role can
anthropologists play in linking local realities to global policies?
How do the meanings of the terms development and environment relate to questions of
power in the global economy?
And how has the process of globalization affected the distribution of wealth and power
throughout the world?

Globalization: What is it? (Judy’s definition):
I. Increase in communication technology
II. Liberalization of trade restrictions.
What are the basic institutions promoting economic liberalization?
International Financial Institutions: World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World
Trade Organization.
Almost all current world governments (have to) support it, except Cuba, while
Malaysia’s former prime minister often criticized it.
However, massive demonstrations throughout the world at sites where IFIs hold
meetings indicate that there has been less than complete popular support for economic
liberalization.


How Has Trade Liberalization Affected Small-Scale Societies?
Changes in subsistence livelihoods. In numerous cases this has meant the destruction of
subsistence livelihoods.
Impacts on local knowledge, for instance through the patenting of seeds and traditional
medicines.
Destruction of common property resources.
Increasing divisions of wealth and poverty.
Changes in traditional authority structures.
Changes in gender relations.

All topics will be introduced through a case study method !
Course Assignments
3 thought papers
One assignment on tracing the origins of the parts of something that you use everyday.
Class
debate
Final research paper
Class participation.
Assignments and the Webpage
All assignments will be posted on the Web page for this course. In other words, you
need to consult the Web page in order to access your assignments. Words of
Encouragement:
You are encouraged to think up your own projects for the group presentation and the
research papers. However, I will also be suggesting topics. There are many interesting
topics to study.
Some of these topics include:
Genetically modified foods and their impact on ‘developing’ countries.
Impact of western industrialized waste on ‘developing’ countries.
Theoretical comparisons of Foucault and Gramsci on e.g. the question of class, culture,
political economy and/or the state.
Social movements in ‘developing’ countries that relate to development or environmental
issues, e.g. Chiapas.
Role of China and India as emerging powers and how that might change our ideas of
‘development’.
How development concepts such as GDP, poverty levels, ‘social capital’, structural
reform, or commercialization confuse and distort social relations.
