Contemporary Issues in the Developing World

3 units

The idea of development has powerfully shaped the global scene over the last half century. It invokes a world in which certain areas are understood as models of progress, while others are deemed to have stagnated or fallen behind. How has this geography of uneven distribution and unequal resources come into existence? What are the assumptions that have made it possible? What does it actually mean in practice to be third world, underdeveloped, less developed, or developing? This course will engage these questions from a variety of perspectives, ranging from travel narratives and novels to film and social theory.