INTERNATIONAL STUDIES 390 INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Community-Based Approaches

Professors: Brian Hanson, Ph.D. Email: bhanson@northwestern.edu Jody Kretzmann, Ph.D. Email: j-kretzmann@northwestern.edu

 
Course Goals and Description Course Goals The overarching goals of this course are to prepare you with the theoretical and contextual knowledge needed for both conducting your project work this summer and thinking critically about key issues and challenges in international development based on your first-hand experience. Further, this course seeks to build a basis for students to pursue both curricular and extracurricular community-based development work furtheras undergraduates and as active citizens. To achieve these goals this course will: y Introduce you to the theory and practice of community-based/participator approaches to international development, with particular emphasis on Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) and to situate community-based approaches relative to alternative and complementary approaches to development; y Provide you with a practical set of tools and techniques for carrying out a collaborative project this summer based on ABCD principles; y Introduce you to key aspects of politics, economics, and culture of the country in which you will be working to create a starting point for understanding the context in which you will be living and working, and which shapes development in your country; y Offer an overview of the five key development issues students in our program will be working on, including microfinance, public health, gender, environment, and education and vocational training.These overviews will provide an introduction to the issue you will be working on this summer, and provide a window on who these issues interact; y Create opportunities to use your experience developing and implementing a development project to critically analyze the theoretical and conceptual frameworks for international development. Community Based Approaches to International Development

Revised August 2011

In the last two-decades, community-based approaches to international development have gone from the periphery to the mainstream of international development theory and practice. There are several variants within this family of approaches with different names and nuances, such as participatory development, participatory rural appraisal, asset-accumulation development, capabilities-based development, bottom up development, people-centered development, asset-based community development and others. All of these community-based approaches emerged from disappointment at the failure of traditional development strategies to deliver on promises of economic growth, poverty alleviation, social justice, and political stability. They also share a critique of traditional development approaches as being top down, technocratic and designed by outside experts with little understanding or appreciation for the aspirations and capabilities of the people they are trying to help. In contrast, community-based/participatory approaches view local people and communities as centrally important agents of their own development. From this perspective, local people and communities must be full participants in the decision-making process and implementation of the development strategies that affect their lives. To be sustainable and effective, international development efforts needs to be focused on helping local communities to develop their own capacities and skills so that they may effectively address solve the problems they face. In doing so, poor and marginal communities will not only be able to shape the direction of their own lives, but will be increasingly empowered to and capable of to challenge and change unjust political, social, and economic structures that have impeded their development. Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) In this course, and in our projects this summer, we will focus our work on the community-based approach called Asset-Based Community Development or ABCD.This approach was developed through the pioneering work of Northwestern faculty members Jody Kretzmann and John McKnight. The ABCD Institute at Northwestern has become one of the leading centers in the world for the study and practice of community-based development domestically and internationally. We will learn the fundamental tenants of the ABCD approach and examine cases in which it has been applied so that we can employ this approach in the development projects we will be working on this summer. Course Readings All readings are available on the Blackboard site for this course. The readings include a varied combination of theoretical works, policy arguments, applied case studies, evaluative articles, The classroom proportion of this is concentrated and intense. To get the most from the lectures and discussions you will need to have read the materials in advance of the relevant class session. Students are strongly encouraged to have completed the reading before they arrive for the pre-departure seminar. That way you will be in a position to prepare for class sessions by reviewing the readings and reminding yourself of the arguments and perspectives. Assignments & Evaluation

All components of your grade will be evaluated on an A,A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D, F. Discussion (30%) This class will be taught in a combination of lecture and seminar style. Much of each class session will be devoted to discussing the readings, cases, and presentations by guest experts. Active participation in these discussions is essential for critically examining the material and for preparing for your field experience in the less developed world. Two Analytical Papers (30%) Two analytical papers are required during the eight-weeks in the field. The purpose of these papers is to step back from your day to day work, and both use the theoretical frameworks introduced in class to think critically about your experience and observations in the field, and to use your experiences and observations to critically reflect on the theories and frameworks of community approaches to international development. Professor Hanson will provide the prompts for these papers while you are in the field. Comparison and Dialog Paper (10%) You are required to write one comparison and dialog paper, constructively engaging with the arguments and observations of a paper written by a student in a different project team from your country or elsewhere. The purpose of these reaction papers is to stimulate dialog and comparisons across projects and regions. Final Group Reports and Presentations (30%) Upon returning to Evanston, each group will write a report (10-12 pages) analyzing and critically assessing what they observed and encountered using the theoretical and conceptual framework of Asset-Based Community Development. What are the lessons you learned from your experience? How does your experience inform your understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of community-based approaches to international development? Academic Credit Grade reports are available on Northwesterns CAESAR system soon after the end of the summer term quarter. For successful completion of this course, students earn one course unit credit from Northwestern University, which is equal to 4 quarter hours. This is equal to approximately 3 semester hours of credit. If you need more detailed information, please contact please contact conversion@northwestern.edu or call 312-503-0306.

Course Policies Completing Course Requirements Please note that failure to complete any of the assignments for this course will result in a non-passing grade for the course. Academic Integrity

University policies on academic integrity apply to this course. Cheating (using unauthorized materials or giving unauthorized assistance during an examination or other academic exercise) and plagiarism (using another's ideas or words without acknowledgment) are serious offenses in a university. All quotations and ideas taken from others should be appropriately cited in all written work. For more information on University policy on academic integrity, see Academic Integrity Policy. Course Schedule Saturday, June Introductory Session: Talking About Your Generation Session Leader: Brian Hanson Throughout the country, and worldwide, your generation is deeply interested in and highly motivated to address important global issues and challenges. You are taking your energy and passion to get involved in helping to bring about social change and global development. This session explores key issues in turning that motivation into effective action that has a positive impact in the world and on the lives of those people you seek to help. Readings: y Nicholas Kristof, D.I.Y. Foreign-Aid Revolution, New York Times Magazine, Oct. 20,2010. y Dave Algoso, Dont Try this Abroad, Foreign Policy, Oct. 26, 2010. Sunday, June 21 Session 2: What is development? Why is it so difficult to achieve? Session Leader: Brian Hanson What do we mean by development?What are the major alternative goals that guide development work? How does each approach conceptualize the actually problem to be solved and the challenges that must be addressed to achieve development? How dodifferences in conceptualization of development shape the programs and projects pursued? How do these different conceptualizations shape the assessment and evaluations of the efficacy of development work? Also explored are questions of why development however defined remains so difficult to achieve. Readings: y Martha Nussbaum, Chapter 1, A Woman Seeking Justice, Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach (Belknap Press, 2011), pp. 1-16. y Laderchi, Saith and Stewart, Does it Matter that we do not Agree on the Definition of Poverty? A Comparison of Four Approaches, Oxford Development Studies,Vol. 31, No. 3, September 2003, pp. 243-269. y United Nations, Millennium Development Goals Fact Sheets (2011) pp. 1-16.

Session 3: Global Health and Development

Session Leader: Dr. ShibanGanju, Physician. Founding Member, India DevelopmentService. Founder and Chief Volunteer, Save A Mother. Session 4: Country specific session on history, politics, economy, and society Session Leader: Country experts Bolivia (Culture and Society) Karina Walker, alumna, Northwestern University India (Culture and Society) Professor Jock McLane, History, Northwestern University Nicaragua (History) Professor Rose J. Spalding, Political Science, DePaul University South Africa (Politics) Professor Rachel Reidl, Political Science, Northwestern University Uganda (Politics) Pamela Khanakwa, PhD Candidate, History, Northwestern University Monday, June 22 Session 5: Introduction to Development Economics Session Leader: Professor Cynthia Kinnan, Economics, Northwestern University. This session introduces students to central concepts and approaches within the field of development economics. What is the scope of economic poverty in the world? What are the economic conditions faced by people living in poverty? What is the financial life of these people? What are some of the most important developments in development economics for assessing what types of projects and programs are most likely to help people escape from poverty? Readings: y Collins, et. al. Chapter 1, The Portfolios of the Poor, Portfolios of the Poor: How the Worlds Poor Live on $2 a Day (Princeton University Press, 2009), pp. 1-27. y Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, Chapter 1, Think again, again in Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty (Public Affairs, 2011) pp. 1-17. Session 6: Environment and Development Session Leader: Professor Sylvia Washington Hood, Environment and Health Occupation Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Illinois Chicago. Editor in Chief of the international journal, Environmental Justice. Session 7: Country specific session on history, politics, economy, and society Session Leader: Country experts Bolivia (History) Professor Jorge Coronado, Spanish and Portuguese, Northwestern University India (Economy) Professor Cynthia Kinnan, Economics, Northwestern University Nicaragua (Politics) Professor Rose J. Spalding, Political Science, DePaul University South Africa (History) Professor Prexy Nesbitt, African History, Columbia College Chicago Uganda (History) Pamela Khanakwa, PhD Candidate, History, Northwestern University Tuesday, June 23 Session 8: Introduction to Asset-Based Community Development ABCD Session Leader: Professor Jody Kretzmann What is Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD)? What are the core characteristics of this approach? What are the types of outcomes this approach seeks to achieve? How does it differ from other approaches? How has it been applied in international development work?

Readings: y John P. Kretzmann and John L. McKnight, Introduction, Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Communitys Assets (ACTA Publication, 1993), pp. 1-11. y John McKnight and Peter Block, Introduction&The Abundant Community,The Abundant Community (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2010), pp. 1-5, 65-82. y Giles Mohan, Participatory Development, in Desai and Potter, The Companion to Development Studies, 2nd Ed. (Hodder Education, 2008), pp 45-49. Session 9: Social Entrepreneurship and Development Session Leader: Dr. Jamie Jones, Associate Director of the Social Enterprise at Kellogg (SEEK) Program, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. Session 10: Country specific session on history, politics, economy, and society Session Leader: Country experts Bolivia (Politics) Juan Lorenzo Hinojosa, Executive Director and Founder, Solidarity Bridge India (History) ArnabDey, PhD Candidate, History, University of Chicago Nicaragua (Economics) Mneesha Gellman, PhD Candidate, Political Science, Northwestern University South Africa (Economics) Willem Ellis, Sr., President and Founder, South Africa-Minnesota Business Council Uganda (Economics) Pamela Khanakwa, PhD Candidate, History, Northwestern University Wednesday, June 24 Session 11: The Broader Context of International Development Actors and Approaches Session Leader: Brian Hanson International development work is conducted by many different types of actors using different types of approaches. This session provides a survey of the major types of actors, governmental, economic, and civic and their roles in development. We will look approaches that span such recent phenomena such as social entrepreneurship to traditional bilateral aid. We will pay particular attention to the issues of which approaches are most likely to be effective in addressing what development challenges. We also want to explore where the role of the community fits (or doesnt) in these alternative approaches. Readings: y J. Gregory Dees, Philanthropy and Enterprise: Harnessing the Power of Business and Social Entrepreneurship for Development, in Brainard and Chollet (eds.), Global Development 2.0: Can Philanthropists, the Public, and the Poor Make Poverty History? (Brookings Institution, 2008), pp. 120-134. y Michael Edwards, When Business Thinking Advances Social Change and When it Doesnt Small Change: Why Business wont Save the World(Berrett-Koeler, 2010), pp. 16-34. y Arjan de Hann, The Aid Industry Defined, in How the Aid Industry Works (Kumarian Press, 2009), pp. 21-61. Session 12: Education and Development

Session Leader: Dr. Erwin Epstein, Founding Director of the Center for Comparative Education, Loyola University. Session 13: Country specific session on history, politics, economy, and society Session Leader: Country experts Bolivia (Public Health) Professor Stephen Kingsley Scott, Anthropology, University of Chicago India (Politics) Professor Rajeev Kinra, History, Northwestern University Nicaragua (Culture and Society) Pleasant Radford, Jr., Returning Peace Corps Volunteer South Africa (Culture and Society) Erin Eskildsent, Returning Peace Corps Volunteer Uganda (Economics) Margaret NassoziAmanyire, Uganda (Jinja) Program Director, Foundation for Sustainable Development Thursday, June 25 Session 14: Community-based Development: Your Role, Practices and Outcomes Session Leader: Brian Hanson In this session, we take a closer look at the role you all will play as connectors in the community development projects. What is that role and how does it relate to communities, organizations and leadership? We will also examine some common challenges in community-based development. What are some of the major challenges that are found in this work? What are core principles that you might want to consider in your role as a practitioners? Finally, we will reflect on some of the positive outcomes of development work that are not captured by economic growth rates and GDP numbers, but that point to significant results and efficacy of development work. What does this imply for the work you will be doing this summer? Readings: y John McKnight and Peter Block, The Power of Connectors, The Abundant Community (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2010, pp. 132-148. y Lucius Botes and Dingie van Rensburg, Community participation in development: nine plagues and twelve commandments,Community Development Journal, vol. 35, no.1, January 2000, pp. 41-58. y Charles Kenny, Abandoning Hope, Getting Better: Why Global Development is Succeeding- and How We can Improve the World Even More (Basic Books, 2011), pp. 1-14. Session 15: Microfinance and Development Session Leader: Tom Coleman, Founder, Bottom Billion Fund. ___________________________________________________________________________ Required Reading for Papers Written in the Field You will be asked to write two papers during your field experience. These papers will ask you to use your first-hand experience to critically analyze key issues in international development and community/participatory approaches to development. y Lucius Botes and Dingie van Rensburg, Community participation in development: nine plagues and twelve commandments, Community Development Journal, vol. 35, no.1, January 2000, pp. 41-58. (Review this article).

Glyn Williams, Towards a repoliticization of participatory development: political capabilities and spaces of empowerment, in Hickey and Mohan (eds.) Participation: From Tyranny to Transformation (Zed Books, 2004), pp. 92-107. ________________________________________________________________________________ y

Final Learning Summit (August 17-20) As part of the final learning summit when you return from the field, we will draw on the following new readings as well as use your experience from the field to critically engage the readings and arguments from the intensive predeparture seminar work. New Readings: y Martha Nussbaum, Chapter 2, The Central Capabilities, in Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach (Belknap Press, 2011), pp. 17-45. y John McKnight and Peter Block, Community Abundance in Action, The Abundant Community (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2010), pp. 132-148 Session 16: What is Development? Reprise Session Leader: Brian Hanson Session 17: Thinking Critically about the Role of Community in Development Session Leader: Brian Hanson Session18: Sustainability and Transformation in International Development Session Leader: Brian Hanson