Rural Development and Resource Planning:Political Economy/Ecology Approach

Instructor: Dr. Kuan-Chi Wang (王冠棋博士)

Course Assistant: PJ Chen (陳品潔)

Office Hours: By appointment

Date: 2022/9-2022/12

Slaves Below Deck, Lt. Meynel, 1845

Overview

This course is a graduate seminar that examines key concepts, major approaches and current debates that pertain to rural development and resource planning. It examines how concepts and theories of development and environment have been produced, maintained, used, and challenged in different world economies. In the first part of the semester we examine the rise and fall of dominant development paradigms and how they shaped different ideas concerning the environment and the management of natural resources. In viewing development as a contested process operating at multiple levels of economy and society, the course seeks to provide a set of analytical tools that is both critical and constructive. Questions to be addressed include:

  1. How and why specific ideas become hegemonic in particular historical conjunctures, while other ideas were discounted?

  2. How did these ideas translate into natural resource and agriculture policy and practice in different regions of the world?

  3. What are the processes by which dominant paradigms have been undermined?

The second part of the course examines current and emerging debates in empirical research on nature and resource development, addressing issues of resource struggles, the politics of knowledge systems, and socio-political movements that shape governing institutions for rural development.

Readings

Required book:Bernstein, H. 2010. Class Dynamics of Agrarian Change. Halifax NS: Fernwood

Additional readings are posted online.

Course Requirements

Class presentation

Except week 1, 7, and 16. Every week students (as a 2 people group or by consent) will be responsible for presenting the meta message of each reading, summarizing the main issues and raising questions (at least three questions), topics of interest and in general, running the discussion. Power points and/or handouts may be used to display the presentations. The presenters must come to class with a clear-cut plan to stimulate discussion, moderate it, and if necessary, organize screening of relevant documentaries, small group discussions or other activities.

Reaction paper

Each student must write “3,” 2-page reaction papers, two for section one (before week 8), one for section two (after week 8, 1-inch margin on all sides, font size not less than 11.5, and line spacing of 1.5). The reaction papers should synthesize the readings for the coming week, critically evaluate them, and provide reactions or opinions; it should not be a mere compilation of facts from the readings. The reaction papers must be handed in before the class begins. In other words, the papers must be handed in before the class starts discussing the readings for which the student has written his/her reactions. The student must react to all the readings assigned for those specific 3 weeks that she/he chooses.

End term essay

You will need to address a topic that we have introduced in an essay of 5 pages. The essay is expected to particularly highlight the approach’s history, major debates, and your critiques. You may also decide to write a term paper by consent.

Readings assigned might change in accord with participants’ interests. Please note that late submission of assignments will not be accepted and there will be no makeup exams. In case you are unavailable on a day on which an assignment is due, then please submit the same a day or two earlier according to your convenience.

Attendance in class is mandatory

Grading

Reaction papers: 30 percent

Class presentations: 30 percent

Class Participation: 15 percent

End term essay: 25 percent

I reserve the right to make reasonable and responsible changes in the syllabus based on our progress, and any special requirement that may arise as the semester progresses. You will be notified about these changes well in advance.

Section I: Towards theorizing rural development and resource planning

Week 1: Introduction to class

王汎森（2019）『天才為何總是成群地來』。風傳媒：https://www.storm.mg/article/1946401

Forget the Anthropocene, we live in the Capitalocene (Podcast with Jason W. Moore) (Note: Lessoning the first 26 minutes and 39 seconds of the episode, and preparing 2 questions with regard to the materials, you are welcome to finish lessoning the whole episode): https://youtu.be/VvtdkZhT1yw

Baird IG. 2022. The problem of the urban–rural binary in geography and political ecology. Dialogues in Human Geography.12(2):218-222.https://doi.org/10.1177/20438206221102953

Week 2: Classical political economy of resource and agriculture, and reflections

Smith, A. 1776. The Wealth of Nations, Book I: Chapter 1, 2, 5, and 6.  Available from: https://www.ibiblio.org/ml/libri/s/SmithA_WealthNations_p.pdf

Ricardo, D.  1817 and 1823.  On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation.  Chapter 2 "On Rent" http://www.econlib.org/library/Ricardo/ricP1a.html

Peet, R. 2009. Ten pages that changed the world: Deconstructing Ricardo. Human Geography 2(1): 81-95. 

Week 3: The specter of Malthus – conceptions/misconceptions on population and resource

Malthus, T. 1998 (1798). An Essay on the Principle of Population, Chapters 1 through 7. Electronic Scholarly Publishing Project. Available from https://oll-resources.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/oll3/store/titles/311/Malthus_0195_EBk_v6.0.pdf

Malthus, T. 2011 (1836). Principles of Political Economy, Chapter 3 "Of the rent of land", Section 1 "Of the nature and causes of rent". Electronic Scholarly Publishing Project. Available from https://oll-resources.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/oll3/store/titles/2188/Malthus_1462_EBk_v6.0.pdf 

Foster, J. B. 2000. Marx's Ecology. Chapter 3 "Parson Naturalists" (pp. 81-104). New York: Monthly Review Press.