GEOG 310
Development and Livelihoods
Lectures: Tuesday and Thursday, 10:05-11:25
Location: Duff Medical Building THTR 1
Instructors: Prof Gorge Wenzel (george.wenzel@mcgill.ca)
Prof Jon Unruh (jon.unruh@mcgill.ca)
Ms. Karen Mcallister (karen.mcallister@mail.mcgill.ca)
Teaching Assistant: Mr. Matthew Pritchard (matthew.pritchard@mail.mcgill.ca)
Mr. Alexandre Corriveau-Bourque
(alexandre.corriveau-bourque@mail.mcgill.ca)
Course description: Discussion of the geographical dimensions of rural/urban
livelihoods in the face of socioeconomic and environmental change in developing
regions. Emphasis on household natural resource use, survival strategies and
vulnerability, decision-making, formal and informal institutions, migration, and
development experience in contrasting global environments.
COURSE OVERVIEW:
This course introduces students to a broad range of debates and concerns regarding how
people make a living in developing regions in the Arctic, Africa and Southeast Asia,.
This course brings together professors with „first hand‟ experience and knowledge in
these regions, who will discuss the important conceptual and theoretical perspectives on
development livelihoods, as well as drawing from a range of case studies to debate such
issues as peasant decision making processes, land tenure debates, and socio-economic
changes in developing areas.
The course is structure in three parts, 1) Development livelihoods – concepts and issues,
will draw on cases and experience in the Arctic; 2) Livelihoods under change and stress,
focusing on Africa, and 3) Livelihoods, markets and the state, with examples from Asia.
REQUIRED TEXT: There is a course pack associated with this course which is
available at the McGill bookshop.
The readings and lectures are complementary: neither substitutes for the other.
You are responsible for keeping up to date with the readings.
Material from both the readings and lectures is examinable.
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COURSE EVALUATION:
Evaluation:
Value:
Date:
In class test 1
In class test 2
Final examination
25%
25%
50%
February 11
March 25
TBA
More details on each will be given in class.
REGARDING EVALUATION AND OTHER INFORMATION

In-class tests are to be taken at the scheduled time; no make-up tests will be
offered. In case a test is missed, with valid reason (e.g., medical note, etc.
provided), its value will be added to the next test.

No opportunity will be available for supplemental work.

The TAs for this course are always the first point of contact for all course-related
questions regarding the readings, assignment, tests and final exam.

The course outline is available on WebCT as will be supplementary lecture
material. Instructors‟ lecture notes, however, will not be placed on WebCT.
McGill University values academic integrity. The presentation of the work, idea or
creation of another person as though it is your own is a form of cheating and is a very
serious academic offence. All students must understand the meaning and consequences of
cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the Code of Student Conduct and
Disciplinary Procedures (see www.mcgill.ca/integrity for more information).
Mutual respect is expected at all times amongst instructors, teaching assistants, support
staff and students at McGill University. Students are referred to the Handbook of Student
Rights and Responsibilities (the „Green Book‟) for McGill‟s policies on Code of Conduct
and to www.mcgill.ca/dp-cio/epolicies for McGill‟s E-policies.
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TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE 2010
LECTURE Lecture topic:
DATE
Introduction
T Jan 5
Course introduction
Development Livelihoods – Concepts and Issues
Th Jan 7
Concepts of economy and economics
T Jan 12
Political economy and political ecology I
Th Jan 14
Political economy and political ecology II
T Jan 19
Subsistence as Social Economy
Th Jan 21
Measuring Subsistence
T Jan 26
Subsistence and Money
Livelihoods under Change and Stress
Th Jan 28
Pastoralist livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa
T Feb 2
African livelihoods: diversity and change
Th Feb 4
Land tenure and African livelihoods
T Feb 9
Mid-term 1 recap and preparation
Th Feb 11
T Feb 16
Th Feb 18
T Feb 23
Th Feb 25
T Mar 2
Th Mar 4
Professor:
All
Wenzel
Wenzel
Wenzel
Wenzel
Wenzel
Wenzel
Unruh
Unruh
Unruh
Wenzel
Unruh
T Mar 9
Th Mar 11
T Mar 16
Th Mar18
T Mar 23
Mid Term 1
African livelihoods under stress: drought and conflict
African livelihoods under stress: famine and anti-poverty policy
Study week
Study week
Livelihood recovery I
Livelihood recovery II
Livelihoods, Markets and the State
Peasants, livelihoods and agrarian change
Coastal Livelihoods in Indonesia
Commodity chains, markets and trade relations
Property, markets and agrarian enclosures
Mid-term 2 recap and preparation
Th Mar 25
T Mar 30
Mid Term 2
State policies, power and peasant livelihoods
Mcallister
Th Apr 1
T Apr 6
Th Apr 8
Local knowledge and agricultural development interventions
Development in the peripheries: conservation and CBNRM
CONCLUSION, SUMMARY AND REVIEW
Mcallister
Mcallister
All
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Unruh
Unruh
Unruh
Unruh
Mcallister
Mcallister
Mcallister
Mcallister
Unruh
Mcallister
G310 Reading List
Winter 2010
January 7: Concepts of Economy and Economics
Pryor, F. 2005. Introduction, In Economic Systems of Foraging, Agricultural, and
Industrial Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp.3-11.
January 12: Political Economy and Political Ecology I
Sahlins, M. 1972. The Original Affluent Society. In Stone Age Economics. Chicago:
Aldine. Pp. 1-39.
January 14: Political Economy and Political Ecology II
Murphy, R. and J. Steward. 1956/1968. Trappers and Tappers: Parallel Process in
Acculturation. Reprinted in Theory in Anthropology: A Sourcebook. Ed. by R. Manners
and D. Kaplan. Chicago: Aldine. Pp.393-408.
Peterson, N. 1991. Introduction: Cash, Commoditisation and Changing Foragers. In Cash,
Commoditisation and Changing Foragers. Ed. by N. Peterson and T. Matsuyama. Senri
Ethnological Studies No.30. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology. 1-16.
January 19: Subsistence as Social Economy
Wenzel, G.W. 1991. The Culture of Subsistence. In Animal Rights, Human Rights:
Ecology, Economy and Ideology in the Canadian Arctic. Toronto: University of Toronto
Press. Pp.56-63.
Wenzel, G.W. 1991. The Clyde Inuit Economy. In Animal Rights, Human Rights:
Ecology, Economy and Ideology in the Canadian Arctic. Toronto: University of Toronto
Press. Pp.97-105.
January 21: Measuring Subsistence
Wenzel, G.W. 1991. Clyde Inuit and Seals: Ecological Relations. In Animal Rights,
Human Rights: Ecology, Economy and Ideology in the Canadian Arctic. Toronto:
University of Toronto Press. Pp.64-96 (+ 3 additional tables).
January 26: Subsistence and Money
Wenzel, G.W. 2000. Sharing, Money, and Modern Inuit Subsistence: Obligation and
Reciprocity at Clyde River, Nunavut. In The Social Economy of Sharing: Resource
Allocation and Modern Hunter-Gatherers. Ed. by G.W. Wenzel, G. Hovelrud-Broda and
N. Kishigami. Senri Ethnological Studies No. 53. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology.
Pp.61-85.
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Peterson, N. 1991. Cash, Commodisation and Authenticity: When Do Aboriginal People
Stop Being Hunter-Gatherers? In Cash, Commoditisation and Changing Foragers. Ed. by
N. Peterson and T. Matsuyama. Senri Ethnological Studies No.30. Osaka: National
Museum of Ethnology. Pp.67-90.
January 28: Pastoralist livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa
Hjort af Ornas, A. 1989. “Environment and security of dryland herders in Eastern
Africa”, Ecology and Politics: Environmental Stress and Security in Africa, Hjort af
Ornas A, and Mohamed Salih, M (eds.) Scandinavian Institute of African Studies,
Uppsala. pp. 67-88.
February 2: African livelihoods: diversity and change
Stock R. 2004. “Indigenous food production systems” Africa South of the Sahara: A
Geographical Interpretation . The Guilford Press, New York, pp 195-209.
Stock R. 2004. “Agrarian development and change”, Africa South of the Sahara: A
Geographical Interpretation. The Guilford Press, New York, pp 210–223.
February 4: Land tenure and African livelihoods
Bruce, J. 1993. “Do indigenous tenure systems constrain agricultural development?”,
Land in African Agrarian Systems. Bassett T, and Crummey D., (eds.). University of
Wisconsin Press, Madison. pp. 35-56.
February 16: African livelihoods under stress: drought and conflict
Roncoli, C., K. Ingram and P. Kirshen. 2001. “The costs and risks of coping with
drought: livelihood impacts and farmers‟ responses in Burkina Faso”, Climate Research
19: 119-132.
Adedeji, A. 1999. “Comprehending African Conflicts”, Comprehending and Mastering
African Conflicts. Zed Books, New York. pp. 3-21.
February 18: African livelihoods under stress: famine and anti-poverty policy
Stock, R. 2004. “Food security”, Africa South of the Sahara: A Geographical
Interpretation. The Guilford Press, New York, pp 224-238.
Ellis, F. and H. Freeman. 2004. “Rural livelihoods and poverty reduction strategies in
four African countries”, The Journal of Development Studies 40: 1-30.
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March 2: Livelihood recovery I
Malan, J. 2005. “Traditional and local conflict resolution”, People Building Peace:
Successful Stories of Civil Society, Tongeren P, Brenk M, Hellema M, Verhoeven J
(eds.) Lynne Rienner Publishers, London. pp. 449-472.
March 4: Livelihood recovery II
UNEP 2009. From conflict to peacebuilding: the role of natural resources and the
environment. United Nations Environment Programme. Geneva.
UN Security Council. 2009. Report of the panel of experts established pursuant to
resolution 1591 (2005) concerning the Sudan. UN Security Council, New York.
March 9: Peasants, livelihoods and agrarian change:
Ellis, F. 2000. “Livelihoods, diversification and agrarian change”, Rural Livelihoods and
Diversity in Developing Countries. Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 3-27.
Ellis, F. 2000. “A framework for livelihoods analysis”, Rural Livelihoods and Diversity
in Developing Countries. Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 28-54.
March 11: Coastal Livelihoods in Indonesia
Pollnac, R. B. 1991. “Social and cultural characteristics in small-scale fishery
development”, Putting people first: sociological variables in rural development. Cernea,
Michael M. (ed.). Second Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford. pp. 259-299.
March 16: Commodity chains, markets and trade relations
Bush, S. and P. Oosterveer. 2007. “The missing link: intersecting governance and trade in
the space of place and the space of flows”, Sociologia Ruralis 47(4): 384-99
March 18: Property, markets and agrarian enclosures
Rocheleau, D. and D. Edmunds. 1997. “Women, men and trees: gender, power and
property in forest and agrarian landscapes”, World Development 25(8): 1351-1371
Li, T.M. 2002. “Local histories, global markets: cocoa and class in upland Sulawesi”,
Development and Change 33(3): 415-437
March 30: State policies, power and peasant livelihoods
Bryant, R. L. 1992. “Political ecology: an emerging research agenda in Third-world
studies”, Political Geography 11(1):12-36
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Lestrelin, G. and M. Giordano. 2007. “Upland development policy, livelihood change
and land degradation: Interactions from a Laotian village”, Land Degradation and
Development 18:55-76
April 1: Local knowledge and agricultural development interventions
Sillitoe, P. 1998. “What, know natives? Local knowledge in development”, Social
Anthropology 6(2):203-220.
Goebel, A. 1998. “Process, perception and power: notes from „participatory‟ research in a
Zimbabwean resettlement area”, Development and Change 29:277-305
April 6: Development in the peripheries: conservation and CBNRM
Roth, R. 2004. “On the colonial margins and in the global hotspot: park-people conflicts
in highland Thailand”, Asia Pacific Viewpoint 45(1):13-32
Agrawal, A. and C. Gibson. 1999. “Enchantment and disenchantment: the role of
community in natural resource conservation”, World Development 27(4): 629-649
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