Development of 3 fingers (3)

University of Cambridge
Department of Geography
Part IB Paper 3: Development
Co-ordinator: Dr Liz Watson
Contributors: Dr Emma Mawdsley (EEM); Dr Bhaskar Vira (BV); Dr Liz Watson (EEW)
Supervisor | Teaching Assistant: Matthew Wilburn King

This course begins with an examination of the history of ideas that have shaped
development thinking. It explores the way in which key theories have been converted into
development interventions and evaluates their outcomes. The course discusses theories of
development and economic growth, and modernisation of institutions, technologies and
individuals. It then examines the shift that has taken place in development thinking, from
"top-down" to "bottom-up" development projects, built around notions of social capital,
civil society, indigenous agriculture and participation. The course illustrates these shifts
through a study of important subject areas for contemporary development. These include
famine and hunger; the role of aid and donors; structural adjustment and debt; good
governance, and gender, to name only some of the topics. It also addresses key
contemporary issues and theories for example, democracy; the role of government and
the state; and participatory development. It also examines 'post-development' and the
capability approaches to development as freedom.
An Introduction to Development Theory

1
What is Development? (EEM)
2
Development and modernization (EEM)
3
Socialist Alternatives (EEM)
4
Neo-Liberal revolutions (EEM)
Themes in the Political Economy of Development
5
Capital and Development (BV)
6
The Debt Crisis and Debt Relief (BV)
7
Aid and Conditionality (BV)
8
Governance, Democracy and Development (BV)
Themes in Social Development
9
Famine and Entitlement (EEW)

10
Gender and Development (EEW)
11
Anti-Development and Post-Development (EEW)
12
'New' social movements (EEW)
13
Rights and Culture (EEW)

14
15
16

Indigenous Knowledge (EEW)
Participation 1: Theory (EEW)
Participation 2: Practice (EEW)

Key readings













Cooke, B. and Khothari, U., 2001, Participation: A New Tyranny? London: Zed
books
Desai, V. and Potter, R.B., 2002, eds., The Companion to Development Studies.
London: Arnold
Kabeer, N., 1994, Reversed Realities: Gender Hierarchies in Development
Thought. London: Verso
Leftwich, A. ed., 1996, Democracy and Development: Theory and Practice. Cambridge: Polity
Press
Power, M. 2003. Rethinking Development Geographies. London: Routledge


Schech, S. and Haggis, J., 2000, Culture and Development. Oxford: Blackwell
Publisher
Todaro, M.P., 2000, Economic Development. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison
Wesley. (esp. chapters 1, 2 and 5)
World Bank, 1998, Assessing Aid: What Works, What Doesn’t and Why, New
York,
Oxford
University
Press.
On-line
at
http://www.worldbank.org/research/aid/aidtoc.htm
World Bank, 1998-2005, World Development Reports. Oxford: Oxford
University Press. (have a look at one or two of these - the themes vary across
years - in libraries and also available at http://econ.worldbank.org/wdr/)

Timetabling
Dr Emma Mawdsley (4 lectures Michaelmas Term weeks 1-4);
Dr Bhaskar Vira (4 lectures Michaelmas Term weeks 5-8)
Dr Liz Watson (8 lectures Lent Term weeks 1-8)


Mode of assessment
Paper 3 will consist of three unseen examination questions

Field trips / practicals
None.

Supervisions / seminars
The number of supervisions for this course will depend on the number of students taking
the paper. Information will be emailed to Directors of Studies during the first week of the
Michaelmas Term.

Websites
As well as the readings above, the following websites are full of information and debates
about development issues, and can provide useful background/extra reading:
World Bank: www.worldbank.org
(see for eg: http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/voices/index.htm)
DFID (Department for International Development): www.dfid.gov.uk
ELDIS ('the gateway to development information') http://nt1.ids.ac.uk/eldis
id21 www.id21.org

Third World Network www.twnside.org.sg/
Oneworld.net www.oneworld.net
GEOGRAPHICAL TRIPOS PART 1B 2006-7

PAPER 3

DEVELOPMENT

TOPICS FOR SUPERVISIONS

Attached are eight supervision topics that will be used by supervisors for this paper. It is
suggested that you do around four of these topics over the year, but you do not have to do
the topics in any particular order (i.e. you do not need to start with supervision 1).

You have already been allocated a supervisor. If you are not sure already who is supervising
you, please consult your DOS or see the lists on the supervisors’ noticeboards.
Students are advised to sign up for supervisions as soon as possible. They should also ensure
that they are doing the same topic as other people in their group.
Late essays will not be marked.


Supervision 1: Capital and Development
How useful is the Department for International Development’s ‘capital framework’
for fostering development policies that deal with society at large rather than limiting
themselves solely to an economistic perspective? [TRIPOS 2006]
Economic Development (general background reading)
P. P. Streeten Thinking about Development, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Michael P. Todaro Economic Development (Fifth Edition), New York and London, Longman,
1994. Chapters 1, 3 and 4.
World Bank World Development Report 1999, New York, Oxford University Press, 1999.
Especially “Introduction: New Directions in Development Thinking.” On the web at
http://www.worldbank.org/wdr
Human Capital and Human Development

Keith B. Griffin and John Knight (eds.) Human Development and the International Development
Strategy for the 1990s, London, Macmillan, 1989.
P. Streeten “Human Development: Means and Ends,” American Economic Review, 1994, 84,
232-7.
Amartya Sen “Editorial: Human Capital and Human Capability,” World Development, 1997,
25(12), 1959-61.
UNDP Human Development Reports, 1990-99. UNDP Human Development Report

Office Web Site: http://www.undp.org/hdro/
Natural Capital and Sustainability

R. Costanza and H. Daly “Natural Capital and Sustainable Development,” Conservation
Biology, 1992, 6, 37-46.
M. Jacobs “Sustainable Development, Capital Substitution and Economic Humility: A
Response to Beckerman” Environmental Values, 1995, 4 (1), 57-68.
Friends of the Earth web site - http://www.foe.co.uk/progress/
Social Capital

C. Grootaert et al The Role of Social Capital in Development: An Empirical Assessment, Cambridge,
Cambridge University Press, 2002.
John Harriss (ed.) “Policy Arena: ‘Missing Link’ or Analytically Missing?: The Concept of
Social Capital,” Journal of International Development, 1997, 9(7), 919-71.

B. Fine “The Developmental State is Dead - Long Live Social Capital?” Development and
Change, 1999, 30 (1), 1-19.
Supervision 1: Capital and Development (contd.)
M. Molyneux “Gender and the silences of social capital: Lessons from Latin America,”
Development and Change, 2002, 33(2), 167–188.

F. Cleaver “The Inequality of Social Capital and the Reproduction of Chronic Poverty”,
World Development, 2005, 33(6), 893-906.
World Bank pages on social capital –
http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/scapital/index.htm
DFID’s Livelihood/Assets/Capitals Framework and its applications to poverty
DFID Sustainable Livelihoods: Building on Strengths, London: DFID, n.d. On the internet at
http://www.livelihoods.org/info/docs/SL_BoS.pdf
Carol Moser “The Asset Vulnerability Framework: Reassessing Urban Poverty Reduction
Strategies” World Development, 1998, 26 (1), 1-19.
Anthony Bebbington “Capitals and Capacities: A Framework for Analyzing Peasant
Viability, Rural Livelihoods and Poverty,” World Development, 1999, 27(12), 2021-44.
D Carney ‘Sustainable Livelihoods Approaches: Progress and Possibilities for Change’.
London: DFID, 2002. On the internet at
http://www.livelihoods.org/info/docs/SLA_Progress.pdf
DFID livelihoods website: http://www.livelihoods.org

Supervision 2: Debt Relief and Poverty
Critically assess Sachs’ (2005) claim that “It is time for the debts of the highly
indebted poor countries to be cancelled outright”.
Jeffrey Sachs The End of Poverty, Penguin Press, 2005.

Susan George A Fate Worse than Debt, Penguin, 1988.
Stuart Corbridge Debt and Development, Oxford, Blackwell, 1993.
Huw Evans (1999) “Debt Relief for the Poorest Countries: Why did it Take so Long?”
Development Policy Review, 17, 267-79.
Ann Pettifor (2000) “Tackling Debt,” Development, 2000, 43(2), 26-30.
Ann Pettifor and Romilly Greenhill (2002) “Debt Relief and the Millennium Development
Goals”, Background paper by the New Economics Foundation for the UNDP Human
Development Report 2003, online at
http://stone.undp.org/hdr/docs/publications/background_papers/2003/HDR2003_Pettif
or_Greenhill.pdf
M Coleman (2002) “Thinking about the World Bank’s “accordion” geography of financial
globalization”, Political Geography, 21(4), 495-524.
John Roberts (2005) “Millennium Development Goals: are international targets now more
credible?”, Journal of International Development, 17(1), 113-129.
D Kitabire (2005) “Implications of substantially increased development aid: the case of
Uganda”, IDS Bulletin, 36(3).
Make Poverty History website: http://www.makepovertyhistory.org
World Bank debt website: http://www.worldbank.org/debt
Jubilee Debt Campaign: http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk


Supervision 3: Structural Adjustment
What can be learnt from the cases of Ghana and/or Mozambique about the
experience of adjustment and development in Africa?
Hutchful, Eboe 2002 Ghana's Adjustment Experience: The Paradox of Reform. Greenwood Press.
Lall, S. 1995. ‘Structural Adjustment and African Industry’ World Development 23 (12) 20192031.
Konadu-Agyemang, K. 2000. ‘The Best of Times and the Worst of Times: Structural
Adjustment Programs and Uneven Development in Africa: The Case of Ghana’. Professional
Geographer 52 (3): 469-483.
Khor, M. with Hormeku, T. 2006. ‘The Impact of Globalisation and Liberalisation on
Agriculture and Small Farmers in Developing Countries: The Experience of Ghana’ Third
World Network
http://www.twnside.org.sg/title2/par/Ghana_study_for_IFAD_project_FULL_PAPER_re
v1apr06.doc
Hanlon, J. 1996. Peace without profit: how the IMF blocks rebuilding in Mozambique. Oxford: James
Currey.
Arndt, C, Tarp Jensen, H, and Tarp, F., Stabilization and structural adjustment in
Mozambique: an appraisal. Journal of International Development, 2000 (12): 3, 299-323.
Toye, J. 1993 (second edition) Dilemmas of Development: Reflections on the Counter-revolution in
Development Economics
World Bank (1998) Assessing Aid: What Works, What Doesn’t and Why, New York, Oxford
University Press. On-line at http://www.worldbank.org/research/aid/aidtoc.htm
Todaro, M, and Smith, S. (2003 Economic Development. (8th Edition). Reading, Massachusetts:
Addison-Wesley. (or Todaro, 2000 edition)
Brian F Crisp and Michael J Kelly (1999) “The Socioeconomic Impacts of Structural
Adjustment,” International Studies Quarterly, 43, 533-52.
A Adedeji (1999) “Structural Adjustment Policies in Africa,” International Social Science Journal,
51(4), 521-9.
Tony Killick (1995)“Structural Adjustment and Poverty: An Interpretative Survey,”
Development and Change, 26(2), 305-31.

Paul Mosley et al (1995) “Assessing “Adjustment in Africa”” World Development, 23(9), 145973.
O E G Johnson (1994) “Managing Adjustment Costs, Political Authority, and the
Implementation of Adjustment Programmes, with special reference to African countries”
World Development, 22(3), 399-411.

Supervision 4: Aid/Democracy
To what extent have post cold war political reforms contributed to the deepening of
democracy in the developing world? [TRIPOS 2006]
UNDP (2002) Human Development Report 2002 Deepening Democracy in a Fragmented World,
online at http://hdr.undp.org/
IDS Bulletin Volume 36, No. 3, September 2005, Special Issue edited by James Manor.
World Bank (1998) Assessing Aid: What Works, What Doesn’t and Why, New York, Oxford
University Press. On-line at http://www.worldbank.org/research/aid/aidtoc.htm
Adrian Leftwich (1994) “Governance, the State and the Politics of Development,”
Development and Change, 25(2), 363-386.
Y. K. Museveni (1994) “Democracy and Good Governance in Africa: An African
Perspective,” Mediterranean Quarterly, 5(4), 1-8.
Adrian Leftwich (ed.) (1996) Democracy and Development: Theory and Practice, Cambridge, Polity.
D. Moore (1996) “Reading Americans on Democracy in Africa: From the CIA to ‘Good
Governance’,” European Journal of Development Research, 8(1), 123-148.
Niraja Gopal Jayal (1997) “The Governance Agenda: Making Democratic Development
Dispensable,” Economic and Political Weekly, 32(8), 407-412.
Patrick Chabal (1998) “A Few Considerations on Democracy in Africa,” International Affairs,
74(2), 289-303.
Jan P. Pronk (2001) “Aid as a Catalyst”, Development and Change, 32 (4), 611-29.
Graham Harrison (2001) “Post-Conditionality Politics and Administrative Reform:
Reflections on the Cases of Uganda and Tanzania” Development and Change, 32 (4), 657-79.
Niels Hermes and Robert Lensink (2001) “Changing the Conditions for Development Aid:
A New Paradigm?”, Journal of Development Studies, 37 (6), 1-16.
Martin Doornbos (2001) “‘Good Governance’: The Rise and Decline of a Policy
Metaphor?” Journal of Development Studies, 37 (6), 93-108.

Supervision 5: Famine
‘War, the last bastion of famine.’ Discuss. {TRIPOS 2006]
De Waal, A. 1989. Famine that Kills: Darfur, Sudan, 1984-1985.Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Sen, A. 1981. Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation. Oxford: Clarendon
Press.
Crow, B. (2000) "Understanding Hunger and Famine" in Allen, T. and Thomas, A. Poverty
and Development Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Luka Biong Deng, 2002, The Sudan famine of 1998: unfolding of the global dimension IDS
Bulletin, Vol 33 No 4.
Devereux, S. ed. 2002. The New Famines. IDS Bulletin, Vol 33 No 4.
Young, H., Osman, A.M, Aklilu, Y., Dale, R., Badri, B. and Fuddle, A.J.A. 2005. Darfur:
Livelihoods Under Siege. Feinstein International Famine Centre. Tufts University, Medford,
MA,
USA.
(available
at
http://nutrition.tufts.edu/pdf/research/famine/darfur_livelihoods_under_seige.pdf)
De Waal, A. 1997. Famine Crimes: Politics and the Disaster Relief Industry in Africa. London: James
Currey.
De Waal, A. 2005. 'Briefing: Darfur, Sudan: Prospects for Peace'. African Affairs, 104/414,
127-135. (see offprint collection).
Jaspars, S. with Leader, N. 2000. 'Solidarity and Soup Kitchens: A Review of Principles and
Practice for Food Distribution in Conflict' ODI HPG Report 7, pp1-40 (available at
http://www.odi.org.uk/hpg/papers/hpgreport7.pdf).
Also of interest are various media reports on the current situation in Darfur, Sudan.
Conversations between Alex De Waal and Stephen Devereux 'Same difference? - Comparing
Sudan's famines' may also be of interest. This can be found at
http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/news/Archive/deWaal.html
For updates on the most recent situation check the reports on Sudan on the FEWSNET
website (www.fews.net)

Supervision 6: Gender and Development
Critically consider the validity of the statement that ‘feminist approaches to
development are misconceived and outdated.’
Schech, S. and Haggis, J. 2000. Culture and Development: Blackwell Publishers.
N. Kabeer (1994) Reversed Realities: Gender Hierarchies in Development Thought. London: Verso.
Cleaver, F. ed. 2002. Masculinities Matter! Men, Gender and Development. London: Zed books.
Jackson, C. and Pearson, R. 1998. Feminist Visions of Development: Gender Analysis and Policy.
London: Routledge.
Cornwall, A., Harrison, E. and Whitehead, A. eds. 2004. Repositioning Feminisms in
Development. IDS Bulletin, 35 (4).
Cornwall, A. and White S. 2000. ‘Men, Masculinities and Development: Politics, Policies and
Practice’. Special Issue, IDS Bulletin. (This is a useful summary: have a look at the
introduction and then dip into subsequent chapters to see examples).
Hirschman, M. (1995) ‘Women in Development: A critique’ in Marianne H. Marchand and
Jane L. Parpart (eds) Feminism/postmodernism/development. London: Routledge, 1995
Jackson, C. (1999) ‘Men’s Work, Masculinities and Gender Divisions of Labour’, Journal of
Development Studies, 36(10): 89-108.
Crewe, E. and Harrison, E. 1999, Whose Development?: An ethnography of aid.
Chant, S. 2000. "From 'Woman-Blind' to 'Man-Kind': Should Men Have More Space in
Gender and Development?' IDS Bulletin, Vol 31: 2.

Supervision 7: Participation
Assess the argument that ‘far from being a transformative process in which local
people are able to exert control over decision-making, participation becomes a wellhoned tool for engineering consent to projects and programmes whose framework
has already been determined’ (N. HILDYARD et al., 2002).
Chambers, R. 1997. Whose Reality Counts? Putting the First Last. London: IT Press.
Chambers, R. (1995) ‘Paradigm Shifts and the Practice of Participatory Research and
Development’ in Nelson, N. and Wright, S. eds. Power and Participatory Development: Theory and
Practice. London: IT Press, pp 30-42.
Cleaver, F. 1999. 'Paradoxes of Participation: Questioning Participatory Approaches to
Development' Journal of International Development. 11(4): 597-612.
*Cooke, B. and Khothari, U. 2001. Participation: A New Tyranny? London: Zed Books.
Hickey, S. and Mohan, G. 2005. Relocating participation within a radical politics of
development. Development and Change, 36 (2): 237-262.
*Hickey, S. and Mohan, G. (Eds). 2004. Participation: From Tyranny to Transformation?
Exploring New Approaches to Participation in Development. London: Zed Books.
*Mosse, D. 1994. "Authority, Gender and Knowledge: Theoretical Reflections on the
Practice of Participatory Rural Appraisal". Development and Change 25: 497-526.
Nelson, N. and Wright, S. (1995) ‘Introduction: Participation and Power’ in Nelson, N. and
Wright, S. eds. Power and Participatory Development: Theory and Practice. London: IT Press, pp 118.
Pottier, J. 1997. 'Towards an Ethnography of Participatory Appraisal and Research' in Grillo,
R.D. and Stirrat, R.L. eds. Discourses of Development: Anthropological Perspectives.
Rahnema, M. (1992) ‘Participation’ in Sachs, W. ed. The Development Dictionary. London: Zed
books, pp116-131.
Uphoff, N. 1992. Learning from Gal Oya: Possibilities for Participatory Development and postNewtonian Social Science. London: IT publications.

Supervision 8: Post-Development
‘Proponents of post-development trade in unhelpful binaries, in wobbly romanticism,
or in implausible politics’ (S. CORBRIDGE, 1998). Discuss.
A. Escobar (1995) Encountering Development: The Making and the Unmaking of the Third World,
Princeton, Princeton University Press. Especially chapters 1, 2 and 6.
Power, M. 2003. Rethinking Development Geographies. London: Routledge.
Ferguson, J. 1990. The Anti-Politics Machine: "Development", depoliticization and bureaucratic power in
Lesotho. Cambridge: CUP.
Ferguson, J. 1999. 'Global Disconnect: Abjection and the Aftermath of Modernism' in J.
Ferguson, Expectations of Modernity: Myths and Meanings of Urban Life on the Zambian Copperbelt.
Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 234-254.
Rahnema, M. and Bawtree, V. eds. 1997. The Post-Development Reader. London: Zed Press.
Corbridge, S. (1999) 'Development, post-development and the global political economy' in
Cloke, P. Crang, P. and Goodwin, M. eds. Introducing Human Geographies.
G. Esteva (1992) “Development” in W. Sachs (ed.) The Development Dictionary: A Guide to
Knowledge as Power, London, Zed Books.
Breckenridge, C. A. and van der Veer, P. 1993. "Orientalism and the Postcolonial
Predicament" in C.A. Breckenridfge and P. van der Veer eds. Orientalism and the Postcolonial
Predicament. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Cowen M. and Shenton, R. 1995. "The Invention of Development" in J. Crush ed. Power of
Development. London: Routledge.
Radcliffe, S.A. 2005. Development and geography: towards a postcolonlial development
geography? Progress In Human Geography.
Fanon, F. 1967. The Wretched of the Earth. Middlesex: Penguin.
Said, E. 1978. Orientalism. New York: Vintage.
L. Yapa (1996) “What Causes Poverty?: A Postmodern View” Annals of the Association of
American Geographers, 86, 707-728.
S. Corbridge (1998) Book Review in Journal of Development Studies, 34(6), 138-48.