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I'll be creating pages similar to this one for the articles in my e-zine. I'll change the title of each page I create to reflect
its specific content.
Question #3: How has your thinking about development evolved over the course of the semester? Incorporate at least three
key reading and/or course concepts in explaining how your perspective has taken shape over the semester.
My personal thinking about development has evolved from a widespread stereotype to a more complete, educated understanding
of not only what developmentalism encompasses, but how specific measures affect not only the global economy but me personally.
I have come to this understanding through a number of different concepts we discussed this semester beginning with colonialism
as detailed by Ashis Nandy and Nanda Shrestha, continuing to the global AIDS crisis as discussed through Paul Davis and Meredith
Fort, and finally through local reform as shown by the Drake Community Gardens and Anna Carter's actions in South Central
Los Angeles.
I had the preconception that colonialism was a very American ideal, and the only people who had any argument to it were
simply undereducated. I discovered my own lack of education as we discussed the idea that with de-colonization city-states
developed in which several national ethnic groups are placed together causing rivalries, such as in Iraq or Africa. This
"systematic carving up" creates a huge relational inequality . The concept of nation-states was very foreign to
most of the places that were colonized. As I had previously thought, colonization is a western term. Nandy conveys that
post-colonial states are put in a state of dependency. Even Ghandi admitted colonialism was evil when the gains and the losses
are weighed rationally and logically. He states that the system of colonialism is uncivilized. He did, however, use a western
rationality to make his arguments against colonization. To argue against colonialism, Ghandi used tools of colonialism.
However, in contrast, I was able to gather from Shreshna's article that colonialism is to be seen as a superior tactic; that
the alternative was 'nativeness,' which is defined as the rejection of all western ideals . I would conclude that through
the concepts we discussed in the course that modern colonialism is defined as the idea of circumstances where one country's
economics and customs are deeply changed by another country. A great example of this would be Coca-Cola as American imperialism,
which, though similar to colonization, focuses more on cultural colonization. This definition has evolved greatly from my
initial westernized views.
The next poignant concept that helped evolve my understanding of developmentalism was the global AIDS crisis. I had a
very limited background in AIDS education in the United States, let alone other countries and continents. After reading and
discussing Davis and Fort's article, I came to the conclusion that inequality played a strong role in the global AIDS crisis.
Per structural adjustment programs, the poorest countries were forced to charge clinic fees. This causes a reduced number
of people who are able to afford treatment, which in turn will set back the progress of treatment. It was also inferred from
the discussion that drugs change the social context to AIDS by reducing the social stigma, creating the perception of poverty
as a psycho-social category. The idea that intellectual property rights play into the AIDS crisis in poor countries was supported
by the information that part of the anti-viral availability is dependent on the lodging of United States pharmaceutical industry
. This information was complemented by Bezruchka and Mercer's article , from which I was able to conclude that poverty could
be defined as a lack of access to things that create good health (i.e. water, medicine, sanitation, etc.). I am concluding
that poverty does affect global health through inequality, which increases by globalization through the lack of access to
healthcare. An example is how the World Trade Policy in Brazil discourages low cost anti-virals that are patented by U.S.
companies.
The final step in shaping my perspective on development came through the readings, discussion, and presentation concerning
local reform. The Drake Community Gardens gave me a rounded outlook on development due to its focus on the local community.
I had been educated on the concept of asset based community development through prior readings but had not realized the benefits
of looking at the assets of a community rather than its deficits. From focusing on the assets, grants are "annually
given to hundreds of schools, organizations, clubs, and intergenerational programs throughout the U.S." The goals behind
implementing these grants demonstrated knowledge of the bigger goals that are being met through this local reform movement.
Such goals as identifying assets, protecting open space, protecting diversity of native ecosystems, promoting passive recreation,
and facility development per resource awareness are, when met, able to give benefits such as food and food security, involvement
and decreased crime (through a feeling of connectivity in the neighborhood), overcoming cultural and economic barriers, education,
decreased pollution, and ultimately finding another way to measure development. Anna Carter continues this idea of local
reform creating eventual global benefits through her work with creating local organic gardens in Watts, California -- a district
in South Central Los Angeles. Carter states, "If you look at history, you can see it takes only one person to change
an environment -- one person who takes a stand, an advocacy, an action. It takes only one person to change the entire world."
This concept of grander transformations through individual action shows the entwining nuances of globalization and developmentalism.
This semester has shaped my perspective into the opinion that all these ideas and actions, when put together, complete
the concept of developmentalism. From the global force of American colonialism and imperialism to the inequities created
by poverty and a resulting AIDS epidemic in poor countries, the final touch is that any country has the ability to change
its development progress through smaller local change that starts with its most valuable asset: its people.
Works Cited
- Nandy, Ashis. "Colonization of the Mind." - class notes
- Shrestha, Nanda. "Becoming a Development Category." - class notes
- Davis and Fort, "The Battle Against Global AIDS" - class notes
- Bezruchka and Mercer, "The Lethal Divide: How Economic Inequality Affects Health." - class notes
- Drake Community Gardens - class notes
- Drake Community Gardens "Sprouts" Nov. 2004 Issue.
- Carter, Anna Marie. "Seeds of Justice, Seeds of Hope."
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