Syllabus GaD 302
CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES: FROM
ECONOMIC GROWTH TO HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Draft 9 August 2005
Lecturer: Asunción St. Clair
Asun.st.clair@sos.uib.no
15 Credits
Fall 2005
General objectives
 The main aim of this course is to trace the conceptual and policy
trajectory from economic growth to human development with a
particular emphasis on processes of gender mainstreaming. The course
will offer a critical analysis of the most relevant development theories
in contemporary debates their controversies, strengths and
weaknesses, and the challenges posed by globalization. The course
gives particular emphasis to poverty and vulnerability, processes of
production and re-production of discrimination and exclusion, and the
ways in which development theories and practices address the goals of
empowerment and self-reliance. The course will also introduce
students to the complex relations between local, national and global
development theories and practices.
Specific objectives
Students should be able to
 outline the most relevant development theories and trace
the transition from economic growth to human
development, with a particular emphasis on gender
mainstreaming and analysis of the contributions from
gender research.
 be familiar with the different ways in which the notion of
human development seeks to establish interconnections
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among the manifold aspects involved in processes of socioeconomic and political change, and the ways in which it
addresses poverty.
 outline the most important critical contributions to
development theory of different disciplines (e.g.
development economics, anthropology, sociology, political
science, feminist philosophy and economics).
 outline and understand debates on gender equity,
empowerment, marginalization and discrimination against
women within development theories and practices.
 outline and understand the current debates on and
challenges to human rights-based development, with
particular emphasis on gender issues (for example the
right to health and education).
 identify the different actors involved in the processes of
development policy and planning from the global to the
local level and the overlapping and interconnected layers of
governance involved in gender mainstreaming.
Assessment/ exam
 One mid-term in class written examination (3 hours) Friday 7 October
 1 Essay (8 pages) due 30th November
Lectures
 Lectures will be held Tuesdays from 12:15 to 14 hrs.
 Venue: building, Room
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Reading List
Mandatory Books
The Companion to Development Studies, edited by Vandana Desai and
Robert Potter, Arnold 2002. Selected texts (150 pages)
Reversed Realities, Naila Kabeer (selected 100 pages, shared with Gender
class) Chapter 2,3,4, 9 and 10
The Power to Choose: Bangladeshi Garment Workers in London and Daka,
Naila Kabeer (selected 100 pages, shared with Gender class)
Compendium:
Alkire, Sabina (2002), “Dimensions of Human Development,” Journal of
World Development 30:2 (ps. 181-205) Available online BIBSYS. (24 pages)
Appadurai, Arjun (2004) “The Capacity to Aspire: Culture and the Terms of
Recognition,” in Culture and Public Action, Vijayendra Rao and Michael
Walton (eds.) Washington D: C.: World Bank. Pgs 59-84 (25 pages)
Beneria, Lourdes (2003), “On Development, Gender and Economics,” in
Gender, Development and Globalization: Economics as if People Mattered,
London: Routledge. (1-29) (29 pages).
Bessis, Sophie (2001), “The World Bank and Women: ‘Instrumental
Feminism’” in Susan Kerry and Celeste Schenck (eds.) Eye to Eye: Women
Practicing Development Across Cultures, London: Zed. 11-22 (11 pages)
Elson, Diane (1993), “From Survival Strategies to Transformation Strategies:
Women’s Needs and Structural Adjustment” in Lourdes Beneria and Shelley
Feldman (eds.), Unequal Burden: Economic Crises, Persistent Poverty and
Women’s Work, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
Eyben, Rosalyn (2005), “The Road Not Taken: International Aids’ Choice of
Copenhagen over Beijing,” Background paper for United Nations Research
Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) Report Gender Equality: Striving
for Justice in an Unequal World, available at
http://www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BCCF9/httpNetITFramePDF?ReadForm&
parentunid=CF44F20D7ED85383C1256FE1004F404D&parentdoctype=paper
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&netitpath=80256B3C005BCCF9/(httpAuxPages)/CF44F20D7ED85383C1256
FE1004F404D/$file/eyben.pdf (29 pages)
Gasper, Des (2004), “The Meaning of Development” in Ethics and
Development: From Economism to Human Development, Edinburgh:
Edinburgh UP. Pages 25-48 (23 pages)
Gasper, Des and Irene Van Stavaren (2003), “Development as Freedom and
as What Else?” Journal of Feminist Economics 9:2/3 (p137-161) (25 pages)
Gore, Charles (1996), “ Social Exclusion, globalization, and the Trade-offs
Between Efficiency and Equity,” in Kohler, Gabrielle, Charles Gore, Utz-Peter
Reich and Thomas Ziesemer (eds.), Questioning Development: Essays on the
theory, Policies and Practice of Development Interventions. (pages 103-116;
13 pages).
Hickey, Sam (2005), “The Politics of Staying Poor: Exploring the Political
Space for Poverty Reduction in Uganda,” Journal World Development 33:6
(995-1009) (available online BIBSYS) (14 pages).
Katz, Cindi (2004), “Social Reproduction: Knowing Subjects, Abstracting
Knowledge” Chapter 4) Growing up Global: Economic Restructuring and
Children’s Everyday Lives, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press (22
pages).
Koggel, Christine (2003), “Equality Analysis in a Global Context: A Relational
Approach,” Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 28. (247-272) Extended reading.
Minogue, Martin and Uma Kothari (2002), “Orthodoxy and its Alternatives in
Contemporary Development,” in Uma Kothari and Martin Minogue (eds.)
Development Theory and Practice: Critical Perspectives. Pages 179-190 (11)
Moore, Donald (2000), “The Crucible of Cultural Politics: Reworking
‘Development’ in Zimbabwe’s Eastern Highlands, American Ethnologist 26:3
(pages 654-689), 34 pages. Extended Reading.
Mosse, David (2004), “The Ethnography of Policy and Practice,” in Cultivating
Development: An Ethnography of Aid Policy and Practice (1-20) 20 pages,
London: Pluto Press.
Nambissan, Geetha (2003), “Social Exclusion, Children’s Work and
Education: a View from the Margins,” in Child Labor and the Right to
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Education in South Asia: Needs versus Rights, London: Sage (109-142) 33
pages
Nussbaum, Martha (2000), “Feminism and International Development,” in
Women and Human Development: The Capabilities Approach, Chapter 1, 15
pages 1-33 (33 pages)
Nussbaum, Martha (2005), Women’s Bodies: Violence, Security,
Capabilities,” Journal of Human Development 6:2, pages 167-183, 16 pages.
Available via BIBSYS.
Okin, Susan Moller. 2003. "Poverty, Well-Being, and Gender: What Counts,
Who is Heard?" Philosophy & Public Affairs 31:280-316.
Osmani, Sidiqur Rhaman (2005), “Poverty and Human Rights: Building on
the Capabilities Approach, Journal of Human Development, 6:2 pages 205219 (14 pages), available via BIBSYS.
Pogge, Thomas (2005), “The First UN Millennium Development Goal: A Cause
for Celebration?” Journal of Human Development 5:3; (377-397) 20 pages,
available via BIBSYS.
Pyle, Jean (2005), “Critical Globalization Studies and Gender,” in Critical
Globalization Studies, Richard Appelbaum and William I. Robinson (eds.)
London: Routledge (249-257), 8 pages.
Robeyns, Ingrid (2005) “The Capabilities Approach: A Theoretical Survey,”
Journal of Human Development 6:1 p 115-134 (19 pages) (available online
via BIBSYS).
Robinson, William (2002), "Remapping Development in Light of
Globalization: From a Territorial to a Social Cartography," Third World
Quarterly 23:6 (1047- 1158) (Available online via BIBSYS) (11 pages).
Sen, Amartya (1981), “”Poverty and Entitlements, Concepts of Poverty” in
Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation, Clarendon
Press. (15 pages)
-------------- (2000) “A Decade of Human Development” Journal of Human
Development 1:1 p 17-23 (available online via BIBSYS). (6 pages)
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------------- (2000) “Women’s Agency and Social change,” in Development as
Freedom, (189-203) New York: Knopf (14 pages).
Townsend, Peter (2002), “Poverty, Social Exclusion and Social Polarization:
The Need to Construct an International Welfare State,” in World Poverty:
New Policies to Defeat and Old Enemy, Peter Townsend and David Gordon
(eds.), London: The Policy Press. (15 pages)
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (1995), Human
Development Report 1995: Gender and Human Development, “Overview:
The Revolution of Gender Equity” (10 pages), available online www.undp.org
--------------------- (2005) Human Development Report 2005, available
online www.undp.org
United Nations Office of the Secretary General (2005), In Larger Freedom:
Towards Security, Development and Human Rights for All, Chapter 2
“Freedom from Want,” Available online (5 pages).
http://www.un.org/largerfreedom/
Unterhalter, Elaine (2003), “The Capabilities Approach and Gendered
Education,” in Journal of Theory and Research in Education 1:1 (2003),
pages 7-22, 15 pages available via BIBSYS.
World Bank (2003), Empowerment and Poverty Reduction: A Sourcebook,
Chapter 2 “what is Empowerment,” 13-29 (16 pages), Available online
www.wordlbank.org
World Bank (2005), World Development Report 2006: Equity and
Development, overview chapter (15 pages) Available online
www.worldbank.org
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Schedule and Content of Lectures
Lecture 1 (23 August): Meanings of Development and Introduction to
Development Studies
Gasper, Des (2004), “The Meaning of Development” in Ethics and
Development: From Economism to Human Development, Edinburgh:
Edinburgh UP. Pages 25-48.
The Companion to Development Studies, edited by Vandana Desai and
Robert Potter, Arnold 2002. Chapters 1.1 to 1.10
Lecture 2 (30 August): Development Theories
The Companion to Development Studies, edited by Vandana Desai and
Robert Potter, Arnold 2002. Chapters 2.1 to 2.10; 2.13; and 2.14
Lecture 3 (6 September): Human Development and the Capabilities
Approach
Alkire, Sabina (2002), “Dimensions of Human Development,” Journal of
World Development 30:2 (ps. 181-205)
Nussbaum, Martha (2000), “Feminism and International Development,” in
Women and Human Development: The Capabilities Approach, Chapter.
Nussbaum, Martha (2005), Women’s Bodies: Violence, Security,
Capabilities,” Journal of Human Development 6:2, pages 167-183.
Robeyns, Ingrid (2005) “The Capabilities Approach: A Theoretical Survey,”
Journal of Human Development 6:1 p 115-134
Lecture 4 (20 September): Development as Freedom
Gasper, Des and Irene Van Stavaren (2003), “Development as Freedom and
as What Else?” Journal of Feminist Economics 9:2/3 (p137-161) (25 pages)
7
Sen, Amartya K. (1981), “”Poverty and Entitlements, Concepts of Poverty” in
Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation, Clarendon
Press.
Sen, Amartya K. (2000) “A Decade of Human Development” Journal of
Human Development 1:1 p 17-23.
Sen, Amartya K. (2000) “Women’s Agency and Social change,” in
Development as Freedom, (189-203) New York: Knopf.
Lecture 5 (27 September) Gender and Development: Politics and the
Role of the Disciplines
Beneria, Lourdes (2003), “On Development, Gender and Economics,” in
Gender, Development and Globalization: Economics as if People Mattered,
London: Routledge. (1-29) (29 pages).
Kabeer, Naila (1994), “Treating Cancer with Band-Aid? The Theoretical
Underpinnings of WID, Chapter 2 Reversed Realities (pages 11-39)
------------ “Same Realities, different Windows: Structuralist Perspectives on
Women and Development,” Chapter 3 in Reversed Realities (pages 40-67).
------ “Connecting, Extending, Reversing: Development from a gender
Perspective,” Chapter 4 in Reversed Realities (pages 69-94)
Lecture 6 (4 October) Gender and Poverty: The
Roads not Taken
DUE: Mandatory Title and Abstract for Final Paper
Eyben, Rosalyn (2005), “The Road Not Taken: International Aids’ Choice of
Copenhagen over Beijing,” Background paper for United Nations Research
Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) Report Gender Equality: Striving
for Justice in an Unequal World.
8
Okin, Susan Moller. 2003. "Poverty, Well-Being, and Gender: What Counts,
Who is Heard?" Philosophy & Public Affairs 31:280-316.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (1995), Human
Development Report 1995: Gender and Human Development, “Overview:
The Revolution of Gender Equity” (10 pages), available online www.undp.org
Friday 7 October: Mid-Term Exam
Lecture 7 (10 October) Addressing Equity and Vulnerability
Guest Lecture: Mandatory assistance to Open Lecture given By Thomas
Pogge “Freedom from Poverty ad Human Right” at 19:30 (place TBA).
Elson, Diane (1993), “From Survival Strategies to Transformation Strategies:
Women’s Needs and Structural Adjustment” in Lourdes Beneria and Shelley
Feldman (eds.), Unequal Burden: Economic Crises, Persistent Poverty and
Women’s Work, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
Gore, Charles (1996), “ Social Exclusion, globalization, and the Trade-offs
Between Efficiency and Equity,” in Kohler, Gabrielle, Charles Gore, Utz-Peter
Reich and Thomas Ziesemer (eds.), Questioning Development: Essays on the
theory, Policies and Practice of Development Interventions. (pages 103-116;
13 pages).
Kabeer, Naila (1995), “Empowerment from Below: Learning from the
Grassroots,” Chapter 9 in Reversed Realities (pages 223-263).
Pogge, Thomas (2005), “The First UN Millennium Development Goal: A Cause
for Celebration?” Journal of Human Development 5:3; (377-397) 20 pages,
available via BIBSYS.
Lecture 8 (25 October): Needs, Capability-Poverty, and Rights
Presentations of Final Paper’s Draft (TBA)
Osmani, Sidiqur Rhaman (2005), “Poverty and Human Rights: Building on
the Capabilities Approach, Journal of Human Development, 6:2 pages 205219 (14 pages).
9
Nambissan, Geetha (2003), “Social Exclusion, Children’s Work and
Education: a View from the Margins,” in Child Labor and the Right to
Education in South Asia: Needs versus Rights, London: Sage (109-142) 33
pages
Unterhalter, Elaine (2003), “The Capabilities Approach and Gendered
Education,” in Journal of Theory and Research in Education 1:1 (2003),
pages 7-22, 15 pages available via BIBSYS.
Lecture 9 (1 November): Challenges to Operationalizing Alternatives
to Mainstream Development Economics
Presentations of Final Paper’s Draft (TBA)
Appadurai, Arjun (2004) “The Capacity to Aspire: Culture and the Terms of
Recognition,” in Culture and Public Action, Vijayendra Rao and Michael
Walton (eds.) Washington D: C.: World Bank. Pgs 59-84 (25 pages)
Katz, Cindi (2004), “Social Reproduction: Knowing Subjects, Abstracting
Knowledge” Chapter 4) Growing up Global: Economic Restructuring and
Children’s Everyday Lives, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press (22
pages).
Mosse, David (2004), “The Ethnography of Policy and Practice,” in Cultivating
Development: An Ethnography of Aid Policy and Practice (1-20) 20 pages,
London: Pluto Press.
The Companion to Development Studies, edited by Vandana Desai and
Robert Potter, Arnold 2002. 10.2; 10.3; 10.4
Lecture 10 (8 November): Development Actors: Politics and the Poor
Presentations of Final Paper’s Draft (TBA)
The Companion to Development Studies, edited by Vandana Desai and
Robert Potter, Arnold 2002. Chapters 10.6; 10.8; 10.9; 10.10
10
Bessis, Sophie (2001), “The World Bank and Women: ‘Instrumental
Feminism’” in Susan Kerry and Celeste Schenck (eds.) Eye to Eye: Women
Practicing Development Across Cultures, London: Zed. 11-22
Hickey, Sam (2005), “The Politics of Staying Poor: Exploring the Political
Space for Poverty Reduction in Uganda,” Journal World Development 33:6
(995-1009) (
World Bank (2003), Empowerment and Poverty Reduction: A Sourcebook,
Chapter 2 “what is Empowerment,” 13-29 (16 pages), Available online
www.wordlbank.org
World Bank (2005), World Development Report 2006: Equity and
Development, overview chapter (15 pages) Available online
www.worldbank.org
Lecture 11 (15 November): The Challenges Posed by Globalization
Processes and New Perspectives in Global Development
Presentations of Final Paper’s Draft (TBA)
Kabeer, Naila (1995), “Triple Roles, Gender Roles, Social Relations: The
Political Subtext of gender Training Frameworks,” Chapter 10 in Reversed
Realities (pages 264-304).
Minogue, Martin and Uma Kothari (2002), “Orthodoxy and its Alternatives in
Contemporary Development,” in Uma Kothari and Martin Minogue (eds.)
Development Theory and Practice: Critical Perspectives. Pages 179-190 (11)
Pyle, Jean (2005), “Critical Globalization Studies and Gender,” in Critical
Globalization Studies, Richard Appelbaum and William I. Robinson (eds.)
London: Routledge (249-257), 8 pages.
Robinson, William (2002), "Remapping Development in Light of
Globalization: From a Territorial to a Social Cartography," Third World
Quarterly 23:6 (1047- 1158) (Available online via BIBSYS) (11 pages).
Townsend, Peter (2002), “Poverty, Social Exclusion and Social Polarization:
The Need to Construct an International Welfare State,” in World Poverty:
11
New Policies to Defeat and Old Enemy, Peter Townsend and David Gordon
(eds.), London: The Policy Press. (15 pages)
Lecture 12 (22 November): Summary and Further Work: The Power
to Choose
Final Paper Due 30th November
Discussion of the case study elaborated by Naila Kabeer in The Power to
Choose: Bangladeshi Garment Workers in London and Daka
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