Third World Politics 3336

Dr. Kathleen (Kathy) Staudt, 747 7975 (kstaudt@utep.edu), Benedict Hall 303

Fall 2002 (Office Hours: MWF 8:30-10:30; TR 11-12)

In this course, we will examine the politics of the so-called “developing,” “poor,” “third world,” countries.  Those countries, most of them former colonies, are located primarily in Asia, Africa, and Latin America or “the south.”  We will analyze these countries in the global context of north-south relations, examining culture, political economy, and sustainable development in varying governance structures from democratic to authoritarian.

Three books are available for purchase at the bookstore:

Benjamin Barber, Jihad vs. McWorld: Terrorism’s Challenge to Democracy (on religious fundamentalism, secular consumerist capitalism, and democracy)

Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions, (on growing up Zimbabwe amid racial and gender hierarchy)  “The condition of native is a nervous condition”  --from an introduction to Franz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth.

Frances Moore Lappe and Anna Lappe, Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet (on living democracy, with case studies from Brazil, Bangladesh, India, and Kenya, with a special focus on poverty, self-reliance, and agricultural policies)

Students will be expected to keep a journal in which they reflect on (1) weekly readings, (2) systematic attention to news in a specific region of the third world, and (3) visits to web sites, as noted on the syllabus.  For example, students might follow the Brazilian elections and examine the Brazilian NGO about which we read, as presented on websites.

It is essential that students know country locations on a world map.  By the end of the third week in the course, students will be expected to identify 60 countries correctly on a blank map. 

This is a community partnerships class that extends learning through experience beyond the classroom.  Students will be able to choose Option I, a class project that involves tutoring immigrants in citizenship classes (20 hours, plus final reflection writing) through Project Shine OR Option II, writing a traditional 25-page research paper, (proposal approved by late September).

Evaluation Criteria

Exams: 30%

Journals: 30%

Project Shine OR Research Paper: 30%

Participation: 10%

Team Project, October: tips average upward (or downward!)

Assignments 

8/27     Introduction

8/29     Richard Gutierrez, Project Shine

9/3       Lappe & Lappe, Prologue “Pushing the Edge of Hope”

            Barber, 2001 Introduction (2^nd edition) and Introduction (1^st edition)

9/5       Lappe & Lappe, “Maps of the Mind” – five thought traps

9/7       Project Shine training/Union

9/10     Lappe & Lappe, “The Delicious Revolution”

9/12     Barber, Ch 1-3, “Old Economy…,” “Resource Imperative…” and  “Industrial Sector”

            MAP QUIZ

9/17     Brazil: Lappe & Lappe, “The Battle for Human Nature”

            Visit web sites on MST, elections

9/19     Brazil: L&L, “Beautiful Horizon”

            Speaker

9/24     Zimbabwe: Dangarembga Ch 1-3

9/26     Zimbabwe: continue, Ch 4-5

10/1     Bangladesh:  Lappe & Lappe “The Hyacinth Principle”

10/3     EXAM

10/8     finish Nervous Conditions        

            Kenya: Lappe & Lappe “Walking to Nairobi”

10/10   Barber, Ch 4-5, “Hard Goods,” “Soft Goods to Service”

10/15   Barber, Ch 6-8, Hollywood, Television/MTV, and Teleliterature

10/17   Class Teams: Update Ch 6-8 through web visits, videos

10/22,4Team Presentations

10/29   Barber, Ch 10 on nationalisms

10/31   Barber, Ch 11 on cultural pluralism

11/5     Barber, Ch 12-14

11/7     India: Lappe & Lappe, “Seeking Annapoorna”

11/12   Barber, Ch 15-16, “New World Disorder” “Wild Capitalism”

11/14   Fair Trade: Lappe & Lappe, Ch 9

11/19   Lappe & Lappe, Ch 11

11/21   Where do we go from here?

            Barber, Ch 19, “Securing Global Democracy”

            Lappe & Lappe, “Taking Off”

11/26; 12/3, 12/5: Final Presentations

FINAL EXAM/FINAL WEEK