Read Michael Latham, “Chapter Two:
Take Off: Modernization and Cold War America.” 1.
From
page 40: Latham writes that “By the early 1960s,” many commentators and
policymakers had come to believe that “If the United States were going to
prevail in the global Cold War,” it would have to demonstrate what?The commentators and policymakers
believed t
...[Show More]
Read Michael Latham, “Chapter Two:
Take Off: Modernization and Cold War America.”
1.
From
page 40: Latham writes that “By the early 1960s,” many commentators and
policymakers had come to believe that “If the United States were going to
prevail in the global Cold War,” it would have to demonstrate what?
The commentators and policymakers
believed that if the U.S. were going to prevail, they would have to demonstrate
a more liberal and capitalist society would meet the expectations of the
postcolonial leaders, for the enhancement of overtime economic growth and
building relatively stronger social structures. These changes would at least
meet the Marxist articulations of an ideal society.
2.
From
page 42: When Eisenhower took office in 1953, “he expected that liberalized
trade and expanded private investment (‘trade not aid’) would help generate
sufficient growth to raise living standards and dampen radical appeals.” But
how does Eisenhower’s policy change by the latter 1950s?
Eisenhower's policy changes significantly
in 1957 when he realizes that the increased zeal for physical conditions
enhancement and rising living conditions caused by nationalism would cause
significant harm for the less developed economies. Following this realization,
Eisenhower influenced congress to come up with development loans, which would
avail long term public loans to the developing nations.
3.
From
pages 44-53: Name three “modernization theorists” whom Latham discusses, and
note their main idea(s)/main books.
Talcott Parsons- human being
behaviours and actions are shaped by institutional cultures and values, and not
innate drives and ecological factors as asserted by the classical liberalists.
Gabriel Almond- communism is
important towards meeting the interests of the middle classes in developed
nations. Communism may develop from psychological disintegration and may lead
to the rejection of parental and religious principles.
Lucian Pye- the popularity of the
communist, can be attributed to the ability by the structure to provide a balance
between efforts and overtime reward, and not its ideological doctrines, ability
to redistribute power and resources or it's anticolonial or liberalist
principles.
4.
From
pages 54-55: Name three entities that were major funders of modernization and development
studies, which help illustrate “the extent to which Cold War security concerns
were embedded in the establishment and functioning” of modernization theory.
·
Government
institutions
·
Philanthropic
foundations
·
Intellectual
institutions.
Readings
Read Richard Peet and Elaine
Hartwick. “Marxism, Socialism, and Development.” In Theories of Development:
Contentions, Arguments, Alternatives. 3rd ed. New York: Guilford, 2015. Only
pages 188-221.
5.
Page
188: What was the “basic message of the dependency school” of development
studies?
The development of U.S. and European
nation is attributed to the active underdevelopment of the non-European
nations, an aspect which continues to prevent their overtime development.
6.
Page
195: How does "world-systems theory," as theorized by Immanuel
Wallerstein, approach the question of development?
There exists a significant global
economic system, where some nations benefited at the expense of others. This
system hence promotes economic inequality between nations.
7.
Page
195: What were Wallerstein’s “three main economic zones,” and how did he define
them?
·
Core-
the core economic zone is comprised of well-organized administrative states, with
significant military capability. The nations also have a significant capacity
for production due to their accumulated production factors.
·
Semi
periphery- combines the attributes of core and periphery economic zones.
·
Periphery-
nations in this economic zone have weak administrative systems, and lack
important production factors such as labour and capital.
8.
Page
196-197: What were Wallerstein’s “main stages in the history of the world
capitalist economy”?
·
The
European world economy (1450-1640)
·
Mercantilist
struggle (1650-1730)
·
Industrial
production (1740- the beginning of world war 1)
9.
Page
201-204: In a few sentences, what did political theorist Antonio Gramsci mean
by “Fordism”?
Significant economic expansion
model used to promote the production of standard mass goods and services, using
efficient machinery and unskilled labour. The goods and services also ought to
be afforded by the workers, engaged in the production process. Fordism is
associated with three principles. These include the standardization of the
final goods, integration of significant assembly lines including special equipment,
which promote the contribution of unskilled workers in output production and
availing higher wages to the workers, to enhance their affordability levels,
and hence the ability to purchase the goods and services.
10.
Pages
210-213: How was economic development organized/delivered in the socialist
U.S.S.R.? What was it's human development outcomes (see the top of page 212)?
After the revolution,
the U.S.S.R. economy was possessed by the people through the state governments
and financial institutions. Starting from 1928, the economy was guided by
five-year plans rather than market factors and forces. The goals and objective
for economic development were determined by the hierarchy of the Communist
Party of the Soviet Union (C.P.S.U.) among other communist parties. This
economic development structure led to the expansion of the production capacity
of U.S.S.R.
The ability by U.S.S.R.
to optimize its healthcare services significantly raised the life expectancy of
the people, enhanced skill development in the healthcare sector and promoted
the human development index.
11.
Bottom
of page 213: After the socialist Cuban Revolution in 1959, what was the
“initial aim of economic policy”?
To enhance economic
diversification, and overreliance on sugar as its primary income source and
enhancement to import substitution through industrialization.
12.
Pages
215-216: What were some of the changes made to the Cuban economy in the
“Special Period in a Time of Peace”?
·
Large
state-owned farms were broken down to small self-managed and financially
independent farms.
·
State
subsidies to businesses were reduced; prices for products increased and taxes
were introduced to some economic transactions.
·
Grants
water offered to foreign direct investments.
13.
Page
216: What have been the results of Cuba’s “difficult and contested socialist
development process”?
·
Higher
life expectancy.
·
Lower
infant mortality rate
·
Higher
literacy rate
·
Higher
human development index.
14.
Page
217-218: How did Hugo Chavez change Venezuelan oil policy (bottom of page 217)?
Then what happened in 2002 (top of page 218)?
Agreements were made with China, India and Argentina,
and Petrosur organization was initiated, that united all hydrocarbon firms in
the region, with the major aim of excluding the large multinational companies
from experiencing energy development.
In 2002, Bolivarian missions were funded with the aim
of enhancing social and economic transformation. Land redistribution and social
reform activities were expanded through the missions.
Readings
Read Vijay Prashad, "Belgrade:
The 1961 Non-Aligned Movement Conference." The Darker Nations: A People's
History of the Third World. New York: The New Press, 2007. 95-104.
15.
From Prashad’s article: Describe the
non-aligned movement. What was it, what were its aims, and in Vijay Prashad’s
opinion, how effective was it?
N.A.M. was the moderating factor in the postcolonial world
and the cold war era. Its aims were to maintain a peaceful co-existence and
enhance an active co-existence between nations. The democratization of the U.N.
to promote its ability to offer justice was also a significant N.A.M.
objective. In Prashad’s opinion, N.A.M.
was very effective as it promoted national integration. Foreign aids and
transfer of resources were made effective. For instance, the U.S. was able to
fund the building of the Aswan dam in Egypt, which is an aspect of active and
peaceful co-existence between nations.
Readings
Read Michael Latham, “Chapter
Three: Nationalist Encounters: Nehru’s India, Nasser’s Egypt, and Nkrumah’s
Ghana,” in The Right Kind of Revolution: Modernization, Development, and U.S.
Foreign Policy from the Cold War to the Present.
16.
Pages
67: Latham points out that in their experiences with countries like India,
Egypt, and Ghana, "U.S. social scientists and Kennedy administration
officials would discover [that] modernization itself was deeply contested
ground." What did postcolonial nationalist leaders like Nehru, Nasser, and
Nkrumah agree with U.S. officials and experts about? But how did they depart
from U.S. ideas about modernization?
The big push of investments and
increasing domestic savings was important towards reducing economic stagnation
and increasing self-sustaining growth. They also agreed that technological
developments were important and necessary for the enhancement of national development
planning, increasing workforce skills, promoting national productivity and
enhancing export diversification.
17.
Through
the 1950s and 1960s, Nehru’s India was a kind of laboratory for U.S.
development efforts (page 71). But how did this relationship break down? (Pages
72-75) Hint: It has to do with an
M.I.T.'s Center for International Studies (C.I.S.) controversy over the
direction Indian development would take, and revelations about C.I.S.'s funding
sources and U.S. government ties.
Although India and
U.S.A. had a common interest of ensuring economic development and raising the
living standards of the people, MIT CIS revelations articulate that the
government officials and development scientists differed on the means to
achieve these ends. The political strain in the U.S. during the cold war was
also a significant factor that led to the breakdown of the relationship.
18.
Through
the 1950s and 1960s, U.S. modernizers’ relationship with Nasser’s Egypt was
contentious, due to Nasser’s anti-Western and pan-Arabic politics (e.g. the
Eisenhower administration cancelled development funding for the Aswan High Dam
after Nasser accepted Soviet arms; in retaliation, Nasser nationalized the Suez
Canel, precipitating the Suez Crisis. Page 77). The Kennedy administration did,
however, provide some development aid through things like World Bank loans and the
food aid U.S. Public Law 480 (78-79). But how did the Kennedy-Nasser
development relationship break down? (Pages 80-83) Hint: It has to do with the
political significance of the Yemeni civil war, and Nasser’s ideological
commitments to Arab power and sovereignty.
Nasser’s strategies to counter the
security issues between Egypt and the middle east during the Yemeni civil war
were against U.S.'s objectives and goals for Egypt, which led to the breakdown
of the relationship between Egypt and U.S.
19.
As
with India and Egypt, the U.S. wanted to direct economic development in
Nkrumah’s Ghana. But how did the conflict in Congo (pages 85-86) and Nkrumah’s
abandonment of American economist and future Nobel laureate W. Arthur Lewis’
development plan (pages 88-89) work to undermine and ultimate break down the
U.S.-Ghanaian development relationship?
Economic destabilization
and political instabilities broke down the relationship between the U.S. and
Ghana. Lewis, although he was well informed on Ghana economic and political
structures was not well prepared to face the economic and political changes.
20.
Nehru,
Nasser, and Nkrumah were all focused on industrialization and were comfortable
with a central role for the state in guiding this industrialization. What U.S.
“founding father” do they remind you of?
Benjamin Franklin- drafted the declaration of
independence in the beginning of the American Revolution.
References
Latham, M. E. (2011). The right kind of revolution:
Modernization, development, and U.S. foreign policy from the Cold War to the
present. Cornell University Press.
Peet, R., & Hartwick, E. (2015). Theories of
development: Contentions, arguments, alternatives. Guilford Publications.
Prashad, V. (2008). The darker nations: a people's
history of the Third World. The New Press.
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