COURSE OUTLINE
Sociology & Anthropology of Development
SOC 3331A
Deborah Sick
Winter 2014
Class schedule:
Office hours:
Office:
Tues 13h00-14h30
Thurs. 11h30-13h00
Wed 14h30-15h30; Thurs. 10h00-11h00
or by appointment
FSS 10021
Location: MRT 211
E-mail: dsick@uottawa.ca
Tel.: (613) 562-5800 ext. 2522
E-Mail. Any questions sent by email should receive a response within two business days or during the
following class if taken place within the 48 hours following receipt of the email. Note that the professor reserves
the right not to answer an email if the level of language used is inadequate.
Course Website via Blackboard Learn: A course website has been set up to provide up-to-date information
about the course, as well as copies of the syllabus, reading guides, other handouts, and suggested readings, etc.
Please check the website frequently. Post questions about course material & readings on Discussion Board here.
OFFICIAL COURSE DESCRIPTION
Introduction to the sociology and anthropology of development: social change and development, modernisation,
ideologies of development, development and underdevelopment, strategies of development, dependent societies
and international economic system.
GENERAL COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course critically examines development concepts and issues from anthropological and sociological
perspectives, using a case study approach. In this approach, issues pertaining to poverty alleviation, equity,
environmental degradation, and long-term socio-economic change and human well-being will be explored
through a critical analyses of case studies which examine both the macro-policies and the experiences of
everyday people living in diverse societies and cultures throughout the world.
The primary objectives of the course are to:
develop critical thinking skills in terms of understanding the processes, impacts of, and reactions to
development policies and practices in a range of socio-cultural settings.
provide an understanding of how socio-cultural contexts shape the ways in which these processes and
practices are perceived and enacted.
enable students to understand and critically assess the principle theories and debates which have shaped and
are shaping developing practice and discourse from an anthropological and sociological perspective
develop listening, reading, writing, research, and analytical skills
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TEACHING METHODS
Course format will be primarily lecture-based with occasional films and small-group discussion work. Not all
material from the required readings will be covered directly in class. You will still be expected to know the
material, so be prepared to ask questions if you do not understand a reading.
All students are expected to:
• Attend classes and understand material presented in the lectures, films, and readings. Late arrivals and early
departures are disruptive. Please avoid them!
• Read the assigned material before the class indicated on the Reading Schedule. There will be
approximately 40-60 pages of reading /week.
• Ask questions concerning material from readings that you do not understand and contribute to class
discussions. Though there is no formal participation mark other than for presentations, general class
participation helps stimulate thought and allow the professor to gauge how well students are grasping
material. Participation will be considered in the case of students with borderline marks.
• Complete assignments and submit on time. All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the date
due.
• Late Work. All late assignments must be accompanied by a valid written excuse (e.g. doctor’s note) or it
will be marked down at the rate of ½ mark per day late (i.e. a ‘B+’ paper will receive B if 1 day late –
including weekends!). It is in your interest to contact me as soon as possible regarding the submission of
late work and absences.
• Assignments will not be accepted by e-mail unless previously agreed upon by me. If you are ill the day an
assignment is due, you may submit electronically to show that the assignment was completed on time, but a
hard copy is also required, along with a valid written excuse. Assignments not handed in directly to me
should be put in the “Student Work” slot/box in the hallway near the Sociology/Anthropology office. Do
NOT slip papers under my office door.
• Submit original work. (see UO policies on plagiarism)
• Complete all exams and assignments. Failure to do so will result in a mark of INC (= F).
REQUIRED TEXTS
Course Reader Available UO.
*Case Studies* (note: each student will be required to read one of the following. Books assignments will
be made within the first 2 weeks of class. DO NOT BUY until you have confirmed with the instructor).
de Casanova, Erynn Masi (2011). Making Up the Difference: Women, Beauty, and Direct Selling in
Ecuador. Austin: university of Texas Press.
Hilhorst, Dorothea (2003). The Real World of NGOs: Discourses, Diversity, and Development. ZED
Books.
Igoe, Jim. (2003). Conservation and Globalization. Wadsworth Publishers.
Khanna, Sunil (2010). Fetal/Fatal Knowledge: New Reproductive Technologies and Family-Building
Strategies in India. Wadsworth Publishers.
Sick, Deborah. (2008). Farmers of the Golden Bean: Costa Rican Households, Global Coffee, and Fair
Trade. DeKalb, Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press.
Recommended
Willis, Kate. (2011). Theories and Practices of Development, 2nd edition. (1st addition also OK).
Routledge Press.
Books are available at the University of Ottawa Bookstore and Agora Bookstores
Copies are also on reserve in Morriset Library
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ASSESSMENT METHODS
Components of Final Mark
Evaluation format
Weight
Dates
Analytic Book Review with research topic
and questions
15%
Jan. 30
Mid-Term Exam
6-source Annotated Bibliography+
25%
15%
Feb. 13
Group Presentation and participation
Final exam (during exam period, April 7-24)
10%
35%
Mar. 25-Apr 1
TBA
EXAMS
• Mid-Term Exam will be a combination of Multiple Choice and Short Answer questions.
• Final Exam. The final exam will be in two parts: Part I will cover material from the second half of the
course and will be a combination of Multiple Choice and Short Answer questions. Part II will be
comprehensive, in the form of comparative essay asking you to draw on material and concepts from the
entire course.
• Missed Exams: Students who miss the mid-term exam must present a valid written (e.g. medical) excuse
within 1 week of the missed exam (e.g. written medical excuse). Make-up exams will be scheduled at the
discretion of the instructor within 2 weeks of the missed exam. There is no provision for taking missed
make-up exams. .
ANALYTIC BOOK REVIEW
• Within the first 2 weeks of class, each student will be assigned one of the five case study books listed above.
(You may list your first two preferences, but final decision will be mine.) Your first task is to read the case
study and write a 2-page summary and review of the study in terms of sociological and anthropological
perspectives on development issues. You will then develop 1-2 possible questions for further research
stemming from issues dealt with in this work. Guidelines for reading each case study and for developing
research questions will be handed out when books are assigned.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY+
• Building on your research interests from the assigned case studies, students will be put into small groups
with others who have read the same book. Groups will then develop and choose a common overarching
research question/topic (to be approved by instructor) and decide which aspects of the topic each member
will independently research.
• Each student will then independently conduct a review of the relevant literature, select at least 6 peerreviewed articles/books that seem to best address the issue/answer the question, and write an annotated
bibliography of those sources, ‘contextualized’ within a relevant introduction and conclusions based on that
research.
•
Guidelines for the Annotated Bibliography+ assignment will be handed out by the end of January.
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University Policy on language quality and late submissions
In all your work, you will also be judged on your writing abilities. It is recommended to take the
appropriate measures to avoid mistakes. You will be penalized between 5% to 15%, at the professor’s
discretion, for poor quality written work.
Late submissions are not tolerated. Exceptions are made only for illness or other serious situations
deemed as such by the professor. University regulations require all absences from exams and all late
submissions due to illness to be supported by a medical certificate. The Faculty reserves the right to
accept or reject the reason put forth if it is not medical. Reasons such as travel, work and errors made
while reading the exam schedule are not usually accepted.
In the event of an illness or related complications, only the university counseling service or a medical
doctor may issue valid certificates to justify a delay or absence.
In the case of e-mailed work, the time of receipt of the email by the recipient is guarantor of the time of
delivery.
We advise you to notify your professor as soon as possible if a religious holiday or event forces your
absence during an evaluation.
Beware of Academic Fraud!
Academic fraud consists of dishonest and wrongful acts on exams, tests or assignments, resulting in
flawed grades and assessments. The University does not tolerate academic fraud, and anyone found
guilty of this behaviour is liable to severe penalties.
Here are some examples of academic fraud:
Plagiarizing or cheating in any way;
Presenting falsified research data;
Submitting an assignment of which you are not the sole author ;
Presenting the same work from another course without written permission from the professors
concerned.
With the development of the Internet these past years, it has become much easier to detect plagiarism.
Indeed, given the powerful tools now at their disposal, your professors can, by typing a few simple
words, readily trace the exact source of a text on the Web.
For more information on fraud and how to avoid it, you can refer to the Faculty web page, which offers
tips to help you with your studies and the writing process for university-level projects at the following
address: http://www.socialsciences.uottawa.ca/undergraduate/student-life-academic-resources.
You can also refer to the Faculty web page for information on plagiarism in university assignments:
http://web5.uottawa.ca/mcs-smc/academicintegrity/home.php.
Persons who commit or try to commit academic fraud, or who are accomplices in fraud, will be
penalized. Here are some of the possible sanctions:
a grade of F for the assignment or course in question;
the imposition of three to 30 more credits as a condition of graduation;
suspension or expulsion from their faculty.
To consult the regulation, go to: http://www.uottawa.ca/governance/regulations.html#r72.
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PROJECTED TOPICS & READING SCHEDULE
*
Readings available online via Morisset Library
Readings available on course website
Jan. 7
Introduction to the Course
Jan. 9
Overview: Major Theoretical Currents in Development Policy and Practice
Jan. 14
Sociological & Anthropological Approaches to Development
* De Saardan, O. (2005) ‘Ch. 2: The Socio-anthropology of Development,’ in
Anthropology and Development: Understanding contemporary Social Change.
London & New York: Zed Book. Pp. 23-41.
* Nolan, R. (2002). “Ch. 1: Anthropology as a Science of Discovery,” in Development
Anthropology: Encounters in the Real World. Pp 3-27.
Recommended: Willis Ch. 1
Jan. 16
Ethnographic Case Studies Assigned
LIVELIHOODS: Agriculture and Development
Land, Markets, and Food Security
Recommended: Willis (2005) Ch. 2-3
Jan. 21
Jan. 23
Case Study: Rural Development and Farming Families
Overview: Family Farmers in Costa Rica
Sick (2008) Ch. 1-2 in Farmers of the Golden Bean: Costa Rican Households,
Global Coffee, and Fair Trade. DeKalb, Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press.
Pp. 5-33.
Small Farmer Strategies: Cooperatives, Fair Trade
Moberg, M. (2005) Fair Trade and Eastern Caribbean Banana Farmers: Rhetoric and
Reality in the Anti-Globalization Movement. Human Organization 64(1): 4-15.
Recommended: Willis Ch. 4
Jan. 28
Small Farmer Strategies: Diversification & Non-Farm Incomes
Rigg, J. (2006) Land, Farming, Livelihoods and Poverty: Rethinking the Links in
the Rural South. World Development 34(1): 180-202.
Sick, D. (2014) The New Face of the Countryside: Agriculture and Livelihood
Diversification in Costa Rica,” in Rural Economies, Livelihoods, and Processes of
Change in the 21st Century, D. Sick (ed). Routledge ISS Studies in Rural
Livelihoods.
Jan. 30
GENDER &EQUALITY ISSUES: Measures of Inequality
Recommended: Willis Ch 5
Feb. 4
DUE: Analytical Book Review and Research Questions
Gender, Livelihoods and Empowerment
de Casanova, E. (2011). Introduction: Avon Ladies in the Amazon? in Making Up
the Difference: Women, Beauty, and Direct Selling in Ecuador. Austin: University
of Texas Press. Pp. 1-22.
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Feb. 6
Civil Society & NGOs
Eversole, R (2003) Managing the Pitfalls of Participatory Development: Some
Evidence from Australia. World Development 31(5): 781-95.
Hilhorst (2003) Introduction in The Real World of NGOs: Discourses, Diversity,
and Development. ZED Books.
Feb. 11
Mid-Term Exam
Feb. 13
Research Groups Workshop
Feb. 18-20
Reading Week (no classes)
Feb. 25
Environment and Development
Feb. 27
Recommended: Willis Ch. 6
Case Study: Indigenous People and Conservation
Overview Tanzania and Maasai Resource Management
Igoe Ch 1-2
Mar. 4
State Policies and Conservation
Levine, A. (2002). Convergence or Convenience? International Conservation NGOs
and Development Assistance in Tanzania. World Development 30(6): 1043-55.
Mar. 6
Community Based Conservation & Ecotourism
Carrier, J. and D. Macleod(2005) Bursting the Bubble: The Socio-Cultural Context
of Ecotourism. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 11: 315-34
Case Study: Female Selective Abortion in India
Population Policies, Technology and Development
Sex Ratios and Prenatal Diagnostic Technologies
Khanna, S. (2010) Population Growth and ‘Missing’ Girls (Ch. 4) in Fetal/Fatal
Knowledge: New Reproductive Technologies and Family-Building Strategies in
India. Wadsworth Publishers. Pp. 57-75.
Cultural Contexts of Fertility Control
Patel, T. (2007). The Mindset behind Eliminating the Female Foetus, in SexSelective Abortion in India: Gender, Society and New Reproductive Technologies.
New Delhi, Thousand Oaks, and London: Sage Press. Pp 135-74.
Cultural Institutions, Practices and Development Initiatives
TBA
DUE: Annotated Bibliographies
Research Groups & Presentation Prep
Mar. 11
Mar. 13
Mar. 18
Mar. 20
Mar. 25, 27
Apr. 1
Group Presentations
Readings for Presentations TBA
Apr. 3
Summary and Review for Final Exam
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Selected Bibliography
Barham et al (2011) Fair Trade/Organic Coffee, Rural Livelihoods and the ‘Agrarian Question’ … Mexico
Bebbington, A., S. Hickey, and D. Mitlin (eds).(2008). Can NGOs Make a Difference? The Challenge of
Development Alternatives. New York & London: Zed Books.
Burke, B. (2010) Cooperatives for “Fair Globalization”? Indigenous Peoples, Cooperatives, and Corporate
Social Responsibility in the Brazilian Amazon. Latin American Perspectives 175 (6): 30-52.
Cleaver, F. (1999) Paradoxes of Participation: Questioning Participatory Approaches to Development. Journal
of International Development 11: 597-612.
de Saardan, O. (2005) Anthropology and Development: Understanding contemporary Social Change. London
& New York: Zed Books
Dolan, C. and L. Scott (2009) Lipstick Evangelism: Avon Trading Circles and Gender Empowerment in
South Africa. Gender & Development 17(2): 203-18.
Ellis, F. And N. Mdoe (2003) Livelihoods and Rural Poverty Reduction in Tanzania. World Develoment
31(8): 1367-84.
Logan, I. and W. Mosely (2002). The Political Ecology of Poverty Alleviation in Zimbabwe’s Communal
Areas Management Program for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE). Geoforum 33: 1-14.
Sick, D. (1997) Coping with Crisis: Costa Rican Households and the International Coffee Market. Ethnology
36(3): 255–75.
Long, N. (2001) Development Sociology: Actor Perspectives. London and New York: Routledge Press.
Walley, S. (2003) Our Ancestors Used to Bury their ‘Development’ in the Ground: Modernity and the
Meanings of Development within a Tanzanian Marine Park. Anthropological Quarterly 76(1): 33-54
Willis, K. (2011 2nd ed. Theories and Practices of Development Routledge Perspectives on Development.
London & New York: Routledge Press.
Schellhorn, Matthias. 2010. Development for whom? social justice and the business of ecotourism.
Journal of Sustainable Tourism 18, (1) (20100101): 115, www.csa.com (accessed September 29,
2010).
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RESOURCES FOR YOU
FACULTY MENTORING CENTRE - http://www.sciencessociales.uottawa.ca/mentor/fra/
The goal of the Mentoring Centre is to help students with their academic and social well-being during their
time at the University of Ottawa. Regardless of where students stand academically, or how far along they are in
completing their degree, the Mentoring Centre is there to help them continue on the path to success.
A student may choose to visit the Mentoring Centre for very different reasons: talking to older peers to gain
insight into programs and services offered by the University, or to simply brush up on study skills (time
management, note-taking, exam preparation, etc.).
In sum, at the Mentoring Centre, you can discuss all things academic and everything about life on campus with
mentors who are social science students themselves and trained to answer all your questions.
ACADEMIC WRITING HELP CENTRE - http://www.sass.uottawa.ca/writing/
The Academic Writing Help Centre provides free, individualized help and advice for writing academic
assignments. With the help of our advisors, you learn to correct your errors, to write well independently, to
improve your critical analysis and to sharpen your argumentation skills—everything you need to master the
official language of your choice.
CAREER SERVICES - http://www.sass.uottawa.ca/careers/
This unit provides an array of career-development services and resources designed to help students identify
and put forward the critical skills they need to enter the work force.
COUNSELLING-SERVICE - http://www.sass.uottawa.ca/personnel
There are many reasons to call on the Counseling Service, including:
personal counselling
career counseling
study skills counseling
ACCESS SERVICE - http://www.sass.uottawa.ca/acces/
The University has always strived to meet the needs of individuals with learning disabilities or with other
temporary or permanent functional disabilities (hearing/visual impairments, sustained health issues, mental
health problems), and the campus community works collaboratively so that you can develop and maintain your
autonomy, as well as reach your full potential throughout your studies. You can call on a wide range of services
and resources, all provided with expertise, professionalism and confidentiality.
If barriers are preventing you from integrating into university life and you need adaptive measures to progress
(physical setting, arrangements for exams, learning strategies, etc.), contact the Access Service right away:
in person at the University Centre, Room 339
online at http://www.sass.uottawa.ca/access/registration/
by phone at 613-562-5976
Deadlines for submitting requests for adaptive measures during exams
midterms, tests, deferred exams: seven business days before the exam, test or other written evaluation
(excluding the day of the exam itself).
final exams:
November 15 for the fall session
March 15 for the winter session
Seven business days before the date of the exam for the spring/summer session (excluding the day
of the exam itself).
STUDENT RESOURCES CENTRE - http://www.communitylife.uottawa.ca/en/resources.php
These centres strive to meet all sorts of student needs.
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