Governance Study Guide

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Governance study guide
Development Studies (University of South Africa)
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© 2017 University of South Africa
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University of South Africa
Muckleneuk, Pretoria
DVA4801/1/2018–2020
70485011

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CONTENTS
LEARNING UNIT 0: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1
0.1 INTRODUCTION TO THIS MODULE ........................................................................................... 1

0.2 LEARNING OUTCOMES .............................................................................................................. 1
0.3 STRUCTURE OF THIS MODULE ................................................................................................ 1
0.4 HOW TO USE THE LEARNING UNITS ........................................................................................ 2
LEARNING UNIT 1: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT .............................. 4
1.1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 4

1.2 POLITICS AND ECONOMICS IN THE GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY .................................... 4
1.3 CHINA – EMERGING CENTRE OR RISING POWER ON THE PERIPHERY? ............................ 6
1.4 “THE NEW SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA” AND THE GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY .................. 6
1.5 A DECOLONIAL CRITIQUE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY ............................................................. 7
LEARNING UNIT 2: DEVELOPMENT AND POST-DEVELOPMENT ................................................... 8
2.1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 8

2.2 WHAT IS POST-DEVELOPMENT? .............................................................................................. 8
2.3 CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON POST-DEVELOPMENT .......................................................... 10
LEARNING UNIT 3: THE BRICS INITIATIVE AND SOUTH AFRICA ................................................. 13
3.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 13
LEARNING UNIT 4: DEVELOPMENT IN MODERN CHINA .............................................................. 16
4.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 16

4.2 ISSUES IN CHINA’S DEVELOPMENT ....................................................................................... 16
4.3 SUCCESSFUL GROWTH, EMERGING PROBLEMS ................................................................. 17
4.4 NEW DYNAMICS: NEW LABOUR CONDITIONS, THE END OF RAPID GROWTH AND
‘REFURBISHING STATE CAPITALISM’ ..................................................................................... 17
LEARNING UNIT 5: LAND REFORM IN SOUTH AFRICA ................................................................. 20
5.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 20

5.1 EFFECTS OF LANDLESSNESS ................................................................................................ 20
5.3 CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON POST-1994 LAND REDISTRIBUTION .................................... 21
5.4 NATURE OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN LAND REFORM POLICY ................................................ 22
5.5 THE REALITY OF LAND REFORM: FAILURE AND ELITE CAPTURE? .................................... 22
5.6 TAKING LAND REFORM FORWARD ........................................................................................ 23
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LEARNING UNIT 6: VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS: THE CASE OF THE GLOBAL FOOD INDUSTRY.. 24
6.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 24

6.2 VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS ......................................................................................................... 24
6.3 VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS AND THE GLOBAL FOOD INDUSTRY ............................................ 27
LEARNING UNIT 7: ADAPTING DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES TO CLIMATE CHANGE ................. 29
7.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 29

7.2 THE POLITICS OF ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE ............................................................ 30
7.3 LOCAL ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE .......................................................................... 30
BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................................... 33
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LEARNING UNIT 0: INTRODUCTION

0.1 INTRODUCTION TO THIS MODULE
Welcome to this module on analysing contemporary development debates and issues in development.
The other modules are:
Governance and development

Gender and development
Human security and development
Sustainable development: policy, practice and environment
When we revised the Honours curriculum a few years ago, we examined the international literature and
postgraduate courses offered at selected institutions around the world, to identify the key issues that are
currently dominating the development debate – and that will continue to do so for many years to come.
This module engages with a number of topical debates and issues in development – particularly those
which do not fall neatly into our other Honours modules. The issues and debates dealt with here are
linked through their relationship to development, and by virtue of the fact that they are all topical issues.
0.2 LEARNING OUTCOMES
This module has five specific learning outcomes:
Specific outcome 1: Analyse identified contemporary issues in development

Specific outcome 2: Analyse the dynamics of selected issues in development
Specific outcome 3: Analyse selected debates on development
Specific outcome 4: Evaluate different theories and positions in selected debates on development
Specific outcome 5: Interpret and draw into argument high-level academic texts and ideas
0.3 STRUCTURE OF THIS MODULE
This module consists of seven largely unrelated issues – at least on the surface. They are linked by being
current topics of debate in development literature, and are further linked by the current global context,
even though two of the learning units – those on South Africa and China – have a national focus.
Learning Unit 1 concentrates on the political economy of global development – in other words, the major
dynamics of economic and political power in today’s world. This is followed by an investigation into two
contrasting theories: Learning Unit 2 focuses on post-development and its critique of development, while
Learning Unit 3 deals with the BRICS initiative in relation to South Africa.
Learning units 4 and 5 deal with our national issues, but these are closely intertwined with global issues.
Learning Unit 4, which concerns development in modern China, aims to provide insights into this rising
world power and its development issues. Learning Unit 5, land reform in South Africa, allows you to
carefully consider land redistribution in this country, along with its societal dynamics. On a different tack,
Learning Unit 6, the subject of which is value chain analysis as applied to the global food industry,
introduces you to an analytical perspective which can be very useful in informing economic and political
strategy.
Learning Unit 7 is a discussion of the adaptation of development initiatives to climate change – an issue
which has become increasingly urgent and topical in recent years, as evidence mounts of global warming
and new imbalances in the world’s climate. How do these issues affect agriculture and various types of
development initiative?

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0.4 HOW TO USE THE LEARNING UNITS
The learning units are a guide to your studies. Each learning unit follows the same pattern:
We start with a list of enabling outcomes. Here we explain what you should be able to do once you
have completed a learning unit and worked your way through the required reading. The outcomes act
as pointers to show you what to look out for as you work through the unit. They therefore also help
you to structure your reading.
We then provide a very brief summary of, or introduction to, the theme covered in that specific learning
unit. Each summary serves purely as an introduction to the issues covered in the unit and required
reading. Each learning unit has three to five prescribed academic articles which you must read in
conjunction with the unit. These articles take you into the key debates around each topic. It is your
responsibility to do all the required reading so that you develop a thorough knowledge and
understanding of the various themes. The reading for this module will be in the e-reserves found
through myUnisa and the library.
Because so much is currently being written on each of these development themes, it is possible that
we may add some recommended reading to your prescribed reading. If that is the case, we will include
a list of these recommended sources in Tutorial Letter 101.
As a postgraduate student you are, however, also expected to find additional relevant academic sources
on your own. There are many diverse academic sources – both books and articles – on the topic of each
learning unit. You may even have relevant experience in the issues addressed in the different units: you
are welcome to use examples from these sources or personal experiences in your assignments.
In addition, you may want to consult the internet and to include web-based information in your
assignments. Excellent starting points would be the gateways offered by the following:
Google Scholar – possibly the best engine to search for academic articles,, including many full-text
articles in pdf
Eldis, which is run by the Institute of Development Studies in Sussex, England: www.eldis.org
The Southern African Poverty Reduction Network (SAPRN): www.saprn.org.za
NB! Do not plagiarise from internet sources (or anywhere else). It is easy to check, and if you are caught
you will receive no marks at all for your assignment. This will also tarnish your student record terribly!
There is no substitute for good and well-conducted research. Also, avoid citing materials from Wikipedia
because, while it is useful, it is not regarded as a scholarly source.
In each learning unit you will find activities/tasks that will help you in your studies. Please do not submit
completed activities to Unisa, but make sure that you do the activities. We strongly advise that you
attempt them because they will
— guide you through some of the required reading, thereby helping you to collect and organise
information that could be used in assignments
— give you a chance to incorporate your own knowledge of development debates and issues into
your study material
— give you a chance to reflect on new and interesting ideas and arguments.
At the end of the learning units you will find a bibliography that lists the sources used to compile the
learning units.
Each learning unit contains only the barest outlines of these issues and debates. This was deliberate on
our part. At the Honours level, we expect you to become skilled in conducting literature searches in
libraries and on the internet, to complement the prescribed reading that you already have. Doing a good
and thorough literature search is a basic but important research skill that is crucial for your studies and
for your student career in general. Bear in mind that we expect you to use academic texts which are
normally found in academic journals or books, and which may contain references to other texts. As an

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adult learner, you will undoubtedly have had very specific reasons for registering for this module. We
have tried to give you as much opportunity as possible to explore those aspects of human security that
interest you specifically.
We sincerely hope you will enjoy this module.
Best wishes
Prof Peter Stewart

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LEARNING UNIT 1: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………......
.
ENABLING OUTCOMES
After having worked through this learning unit and read the recommended material, you should be able
to:
discuss different approaches to the global political economy

analyse current dynamics in the global political economy, including China’s rise
discuss the position of the global South in the global political economy.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Advantages that countries and cities have with regard to development are strongly influenced (and
sometimes even determined) by the interplay of global and economic forces. In this learning unit, we
consider the global political economy and its effect on development. It really does make a difference to
us in the South if the United States (US) goes to war in the Middle East, or if the Chinese economy goes
into recession. Similarly, the global ordering of affairs by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World
Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO) currently seems to work for the benefit (in the global
economy) of both the states of the North and the transnational corporations (TNCs), resulting in sharp
and rising inequality among and within nations. This global interlinking of economics and politics and its
effect on development form the topic of this learning unit and the associated reading. The literature on
this topic is vast. Some book-length treatments of the topic include those by Linden (2003b), which has
a particular focus on values and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the global political economy;
Bakker and Gill (2003), which examines security and insecurity in current global dynamics; Stubbs and
Underhill (2000), an excellent textbook on the global political economy; and Phillips (2005), which also
employs a textbook approach to focus on state and governance issues in the current context.
Political economy involves the influence of the state and the law on economies, and further concerns the
combined effect of political and economic processes. The global political economy considers how global
political and legal actors and forces shape the world economy. In our current context, the main issues
include the political dominance of the US, especially over institutions of global governance. It also
concerns the role of such institutions as the WTO, the IMF, the World Bank and the United Nations (UN)
in particular. Other concerns are the balance of military power and the War on Terror; the balance of
economic power, with the European Union (EU) and East Asia and the rise of China as an economic
power limiting US hegemony; the TNCs; and the position of the global South in this context and the
possibility of improving the situation.
1.2 POLITICS AND ECONOMICS IN THE GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY
In an article on the position of the global South in the global economy, Prabhakar (2003) shows ways in
which the South is dominated and excluded from global processes of trade, employment, ownership of
capital and financial flows. He investigates the countering of global trends through economic and political
strategies to stimulate South–South interactions and foster greater local reliance.
What are the politics and the economic strategies at the top of the global order that will determine the

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likely success of such pro-South strategies? Linden (2003a) outlines the strength of the US in establishing
global rules; the enormous and expanding power of TNCs, and the highly problematic roles that the World
Bank and IMF have played. However, Linden also outlines some of the opportunities opened up by the
politics of the post-Washington Consensus (politics mostly occurring outside the US).
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………......
Activity 1.1
Read the article on e-reserves by Linden. Then write a page outlining the ways in which the US maintains
“hegemony” – control and domination – in the global arena, according to Linden.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………......
In whose interests do the current global arrangements of the political economy work? Tabb (2005)
analyses whose class interests are served by institutions of global governance such as the WTO and
IMF. Not surprisingly, he notes that they serve the interests of elite global classes; more significantly,
Tabb illustrates how domestic elites in countries of the South buy into the strategies of the dominant
global elites and compete with these strategies, to some extent. He also discusses the influence of the
“justice movements” challenging these elite strategies.
In an article reviewing four books on American power and its decline, Trichur (2005) draws in yet more
factors involved in the global political economy. He notes the contradiction between, on the one hand,
growing economic inequality in the world, and on the other hand, growing “intellectual equality” in an age
of access to information and education. Trichur sees the current War on Terror as part of a strategy
involving straight dispossession through war and political power, rather than relying only on the project
of expanding capitalist production globally. Trichur illustrates the competing economic weight of the EU
and East Asia, and the lack of overall controls on the world economy, and how these factors have created
difficulties for the US, which has had to resort to political and military strategies to prop up its influence
and power in different regions of the world.
Trichur (2005) also discusses scenarios for the future. He believes that the US will continue its dominance
for some decades, but will then weaken and become poorer. As the US loses the capacity to lead the
world alone, it could ally with the European bloc represented by the EU at present. Trichur suggests it
might be more in the interests of the global South (which he believes is a force for global democratisation)
to ally itself with a comparatively benign possible future East-Asian global economic and political
leadership.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 1.2
Read the contributions in the reader by Tabb – they are dense and difficult, but excellent!
Then, from the latter half of the article, try to summarise, in two short paragraphs, the writer’s picture of
which elite global blocs (international clusters of power) are likely to be influential in the future.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......

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Activity 1.3
Global political economy and the culture of terrorism.
By following the hyperlink below, read the interesting short article on the globalisation of cultures of
terrorist nihilism, by Pankaj Mishra, entitled ‘The globalization of rage’:
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/world/2016-10-17/globalization-rage
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
1.3 CHINA – EMERGING CENTRE OR RISING POWER ON THE PERIPHERY?
By employing a centre–periphery model, Fischer (2015) argues that on three important counts China
remains part of the periphery, subject to US hegemony. According to Fischer, China still lags behind the
central capitalist countries on a number of technology measures, declining terms of trade, and
macroeconomic planning which is dependent on the business cycle and financial crises of the capitalist
centre. He further argues that the current huge US deficit and vast Chinese reserves hide both the
continued success of US transnational corporations and the link of Chinese reserves to considerable
liabilities managed by the Bank of China. Fischer concludes that to underplay US hegemonic power and
portray China as a near-equal superpower could help legitimate the US when ‘the scenario might be
leading to a reinvigoration of US hegemony’ (Fischer 2015:727).
Ayers (2013:248) similarly argues that China and other emerging states should not be viewed as a force
separate from global capitalism, but rather as part of ‘neoliberalism as a worldwide strategy of
accumulation [which] has effected profound changes in the social, technical and spatial organization of
capitalist production’.
1.4 “THE NEW SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA” AND THE GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY
Africa has been portrayed as in a Fourth-World backwater in the technological world. But, more recently,
Africa has been used as a rich source of oil, minerals, land, timber, and genetic and marine resources.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 1.4
Read the article by Ayers in the e-reserves (pp. 240–248), on the different struggles for resources and
control in Africa. Make notes on each, e.g., on the “new militarisation” and the quest for oil, gas and
minerals.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Just as Ayers sees emerging economies as actors within neoliberalism, so she sees the “new scramble
for Africa” as playing out the logic of the neoliberal economy, rather than being primarily about interstate
rivalry or new Chinese dominance. The discourse on new Chinese inroads into Africa has also served to

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hide the unbroken Western dominance of African affairs, she argues. Ayers thus locates the current
exploitation of Africa within the global political economy.
In sum, the article contends that “the new scramble for Africa”, together with the rise of the BRICS countries
themselves [is] “linked and shaped by broader transnational capitalist dynamics, in particular by the
establishment and intensification of transnational corporate-controlled cross-border production networks”.
Far from benefitting the continent, these dynamics are further impoverishing subaltern people across
Africa. (Ayers 2013:250)
1.5 A DECOLONIAL CRITIQUE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
Grosfoguel (2007) attempts to re-conceptualize the global order by imagining the view of an indigenous
woman made vulnerable by global processes. For Grosfoguel, this results in a far more complex and
inclusive view than that of politics and economics alone. It involves the ‘intersectionality of multiple global
hierarchies (‘heterarchies’) of sexual, political, epistemic, economic spiritual, linguistic and racial forms of
domination and exploitation where the racial/ ethnic hierarchy of the European/non-European divide
transversally reconfigures all of the other power structures’ (Grosfoguel 2007:217). In this approach, bodily
sense of being and people’s languages and meanings, and the hierarchies associated with these, are as
crucial and demanding of struggle as the injustices of economics and politics. At the global level, ‘the
multiple and heterogeneous processes of the world system, together with the predominance of Eurocentric
cultures …, constitute a ‘global coloniality’ between European/Euro-American peoples and non-European
peoples. Thus ‘coloniality’ is entangled with, but is not reducible to, the international division of labor
(Grosfoguel 2007:221).
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 1.5
Read the article by Grosfoguel in the e-reserves. Do you think that Grosfoguel shows global political
economy to be significantly limited in its approach?
Write a ten-line paragraph on this.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......

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LEARNING UNIT 2: DEVELOPMENT AND POST-

DEVELOPMENT
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
ENABLING OUTCOMES
to:
discuss the critique of development by theorists of post-development

discuss criticisms of post-development
analyse the overall contribution of post-development to the struggle for a better life.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
2.1 INTRODUCTION
This learning unit deals with the theory of post-development, which has emerged from the disillusionment
of many in the global South with the lack of progress of communities and nations, resulting from the
combined forces of capitalism and development. The mainstream development enterprise is seen as the
handmaid of capitalism, giving poor communities a softer entry into the market economy and patching
up some of the damage caused by this economy. Though in its anti-capitalism post-development is close
to dependency theories and socialist approaches to development, post-development theorists distinguish
themselves from these currents of thought by arguing that the whole idea of progress – even socialist
national development – is entangled with consumerism, environmental costs and unwarranted trust in
technology, as well as the instrumental rationality that derives from the West.
2.2 WHAT IS POST-DEVELOPMENT?
Post-development is a radical rejection of the whole of development – its institutions, language and
objectives. It is ‘a radical reaction to the impasse of development theory and policy’ which ‘starts out from
a simple realization: that attaining a middle-class life style for the majority of the world’s population is
impossible’ (Pieterse 1998:361). Pieterse (2000:177–181) highlights four claims of post-development: 1)
it attacks the way that development characterises poverty; 2) it attempts to highlight the inextricable
entanglement of development with different forms of Westernisation; 3) post-development advocates
claim that modernism, ‘the worship of progress’ and the dominance of science all work as power
structures serving dominant minorities; and 4) it claims that development works largely as an ideological
discourse, such that very different actions in the development field all assist in validating and bolstering
this ideology. In post-development circles there have been strong rejections of alternative development:
Esteva (cited in Pieterse 1998:365), for example, rages against people who ‘want to cover the stench of
“Development” with “Alternative Development” as a deodorant’. In the circles and among the individuals
who carry the post-development label, there is support for the traditional and local ways of life lived at
grassroots level, just as they are and as they decide to be: ‘the new commons are more often than not
suffering extreme restrictions. But modern blindness refuses to recognize that their suffering is the source
of the amazing capacities that “the people” have for reinvention and innovation’ (Esteva & Prakash
1998b:195). By contrast, an alternative development approach would be more likely to support grassroots
mobilisation in order to reach new goals, such as women’s emancipation, ending poverty and creating
new community structures that will counter environmental decline. Another difference between post-
development and alternative development is that, while alternative development aims to devise more
sensitive, empowering and ecologically sound ways of doing development, post-development is more

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concerned with unmasking the whole development discourse, and showing how ideas such as
development, progress, poverty and equality are all deeply compromised by their links to the failed project
of development.
Post-development can be associated with a number of key texts. In 1992, The development dictionary:
a guide to knowledge as power (Sachs 1992) introduced a set of stinging critiques of cosy development
concepts, and unmasked 19 of these concepts. In all the chapters of this book, by the elite of current
post-development thinkers such as Sachs, Esteva, Escobar, Rahnema, Latouche and Shiva, various
facets of development are portrayed as destructive, and also as a ‘revolt against the human condition’
(Illich 1992:94). According to this school of thought, development is a tool of Westernisation, and a denial
of the diverse resources and options of excluded majorities. The development dictionary does not go
significantly into what courses of action should be followed instead of development. The post-
development reader (Rahnema 1997) includes chapters by the same authors as The development
dictionary, but there is much more material on what the authors believe to be alternatives to development.
There is a whole section on ‘the vernacular world’: this is about the economic and cultural resources
present in indigenous societies and traditions unharmed by development. In another section, new post-
development social and perceptual spaces are suggested: localities, philosophies of simplicity, inner
spaces and different ways of experiencing the present. The alternatives suggested in The post-
development reader seem, on the one hand, to contain a romantic and conservative element, and to
see a fullness of values and essential welfare in indigenous and traditional societies and groupings. On
the other hand, compared with much development literature, these chapters have great personal and
moral sensitivity, and an awareness of the high number of dimensions in the lives of the poor. There is
also great sensitivity to what very many people will continue to experience: life-horizons which have not
been (and will not be) positively affected by modernisation, globalisation or development.
Two single-author texts are also particularly relevant. Arturo Escobar’s rather theoretical Encountering
development: the making and unmaking of the Third World (1995) has become the classic analysis of
development discourse. By examining the interdependence of discourses and power, Escobar attempts
to outline how “development” has helped particular interests to achieve positions of power over ordinary
people, and how the deceptive ideas of development justify themselves. In his analysis, the way
development has moved into issues related to poverty, hunger, women, peasants and the environment,
demonstrates the manipulation of each of these factors in the name of development. Escobar attempts
to engage in ‘imagining a post-development era’, which he sees largely in terms of autonomy from
Western discourse, and in terms of ‘two principles: the defence of cultural difference, not as a static but
as a transformed and transformative force; and the valorization of economic needs and opportunities
which are not strictly those of profit and the market’ (Escobar 1995:226). Lastly, Gilbert Rist’s The history
of development (1997) gives a detailed account of development from a post-development perspective.
This book provides a sort of case-by-case analysis of the self-serving, ineffective or destructive nature of
the major institutions, schools of thought and events in the development field. The United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), for example, is shown up as having an ambiguous development
discourse which hides the fact that its objectives are not being met, and that things are, in fact, getting
worse. The dependency school, in Rist’s view, while representing a genuine reaction to northern
domination, still possesses the Western goal ‘to modernize, to industrialize and to capture foreign
markets’ (Rist 1997:121).
In an article by Esteva and Prakash (1998a), post-development is portrayed as a living historical force,
and the example of the Zapatista movement in the Chiapas region of Mexico is cited. The authors argue
that this struggle goes beyond development in two crucial respects: 1) they confront the global and
Western project not only at the level of politics and economics, but also of discourse and ideology, and
as regards the modernist/developmental assumptions of how human relations among the world’s majority
should be organised; and 2) from within the struggle, autonomous new frameworks of ideas, processes
and institutions are elaborated on.

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2.3 CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON POST-DEVELOPMENT
Post-development includes different currents, issues and perspectives, and is not as distinct or coherent
as many writers on the topic seem to believe. Pieterse (1998:362) illustrates this:
Post-development ... is associated with several counterpoints, such as Ivan Illich’s conviviality,
indigenous knowledge, cultural diversity, new politics. It shares sensibilities with alternative development
and with trends in mainstream development. Post-development differs from Marxist positions: the focus
is no longer on class interests, yet Escobar also reinvokes radical anticapitalist struggles.
While the critique of development is very clear and well formed in post- development, its objectives and
precise alternatives to development are very much in the process of being formed. Writers such as Esteva
and Escobar suggest that locally based autonomy and political resistance to Western discourse and
power, and networking among all culturally autonomous groups, will be the basis for whatever follows.
What is needed are ‘profoundly practical initiatives to share knowledge and experiences of myriads of
local experiments all over the globe, struggling to resist and survive, liberate themselves and flourish by
refusing to submit to the goliath of global neoliberalism’ (Esteva & Prakash 1998b:44).
Both Gasper (1996:165ff) and Pieterse (1998:360ff) argue that the discourse of post-development can
be criticised for caricaturing the development field and development discourse, and reducing its great
variety to simple essentials and polarities. ‘They posit a fundamentally, essentially, unified practice and
mind-set called “development” expressed in “the development discourse”’ (Gasper 1996:168). Pieterse
argues that this essentialist labelling repeats the crude account of development provided by the Western-
centred modernisation theory (‘developmentalism’) of the years 1950–1980: ‘It attributes to
“development” a single and narrow meaning, a consistency which does not match either theory or policy,
and thus replicates the rhetoric of developmentalism, rather than penetrating and exposing its polysomic
realities’ (Pieterse 1998:366). In a more recent article Pieterse, in addition to showing the part-truth and
part-simplification of each of the pillars of post-development’s critique of development, argues that it has
a deep anti-managerialism which ignores many levels and forms of liberatory action, and that this leads
to a politics of resistance, not of emancipation (Pieterse 2000:182ff).
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 2.1
Read the article on e-reserves by Pieterse. Make sure you understand the sections in which he attempts
to show the limited value of post-development’s critique (the sections entitled ‘problematising poverty’,
‘development = Westernisation’, ‘critique of modernism’ and ‘development as a discourse’. Then write
notes on the features of post-development that distinguish it from more radical and alternative forms of
development, which are described under the headings ‘anti-managerialism’, ‘dichotomous thinking’ and
‘politics of post-development’.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Schuurman (2000) argues that post-development and other critiques of development and development
studies have arisen because new global developments have blurred assumptions which were key to
development for many decades. These were the existence of a definable “Third World”, the assumption
that world history involves general progress, and the importance given to the nation-state – both as a unit
of analysis and an actor in development. Schuurman argues that while conditions have indeed changed,
there is still a vital role for development studies in that the “Third World” or global South does not just
have differences, but different inequalities. While progress may not be as certain as previously thought,
and while some modern institutions do indeed have negative effects, there is still scope and an urgent
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need for ‘collective emancipatory projects’ (Schuurman 2000:16). The state is far from irrelevant, but
since its role has changed, ‘the definition of the state should be updated’ (Schuurman 2000:17).
In the face of all these criticisms, what role remains for post-development? One answer to this question
is provided by Ziai (2004). In a rather theoretical and dense article, Ziai argues that to derive something
valuable from post-development, two tendencies within post-development – one negative and one
positive – must be distinguished. The negative tendency within post-development, according to Ziai
(2004:1055), is to use it as ‘a programme of reactionary populism’, where an anti-modernist and
sometimes anti-democratic culturalism, imbued with patriarchal values, reinforces traditionalism and
takes a conservative political stance. Ziai contrasts this with another way of thinking within post-
development, which is characterised by a systematic scepticism of existing power, in order to support a
project of radical democracy. In this way, ‘sceptical post-development could be seen as a manifesto of
radical democracy in the field of “development” policy and theory’ (Ziai 2004:1057). Both tendencies must
be acknowledged, Ziai argues, before a proper assessment of post-development can be made.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 2.2
Read the 2004 article on e-reserves by Ziai entitled The ambiguity of post-development. Then do the
following:
(1) Explain, in a page, why Ziai does not think post-development uses a thorough- going Foucauldian
critique of power and discourse.
(2) Explain, in a page, why Ziai thinks that ‘sceptical post-development’ is connected to a ‘project of
radical democracy’.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
The debate on post-development has progressed. A decade later, Ziai concluded that the ‘burial’ of
development by post-development was inconclusive, ‘because the concept (of development) is still widely
used, ODA [overseas development aid] is still flowing, and the desire for a Western middle-class lifestyle
is still predominant in most of the world’ (Ziai 2015:849). At the same time, many of the approaches of
post-development now appear in mainstream development discourse. In more recent writings, according
to Ziai, Pieterse agrees that ‘the discourse of “development” is Eurocentric, produces economism and
relations of power and domination and has an ideological function for Western hegemony’ (Ziai
2015:845).
In this later article, Ziai concludes that supporters of post-development and critics of post-development
who support development should join together ‘to devise theories and strategies of how to fight global
inequality and achieve a “good life” for all in a non-Eurocentric and non-authoritarian manner’ (Ziai
2015:849).
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………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 2.3
Read the 2015 article on e-reserves by Ziai, entitled ‘Post-development: premature burials and haunting
ghosts’.
Write down the main points of each of these sections:
The premature burial of ‘development’

The ghost of ‘development’ in post-development
The premature burial of post-development
The ghost of post-development in development theory.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
With the passage of time, Esteva, by contrast, has continued to argue for a separate post-development
space which is outside and beyond the capitalist market and the consumer values of modernity.
Heartened by the new protests of the ‘indignados’ in Spain in 2011, protests in Argentina, the huge
presence of Via Campesina in rural struggles and the 2011 militancy of the Occupy Wall Street
movement, Esteva outlines a different path using a commons-based economy, radical democracy
rejecting formal democracy, and a ‘convivial’ use of technology that (in the words of Ivan Illich) “serve
politically related individuals rather than managers”’ (Esteva 2014:i153). This all requires an ongoing
revolution in the mode of the Zapatistas: ‘No vanguards. No leaders. No parties. Horizontal grassroots
organizations. Commotion instead of promotion. Ordinary folks doing extraordinary things’ (Esteva
2014:i158).
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 2.4
The article by Esteva in your reader is a reflection on the ideas of a post-development vision of the
economy, democracy, industry and revolution.
Read these sections and then assess whether Esteva has successfully outlined a viable path which is
distinct from development (and is not “haunted” by development!).
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
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LEARNING UNIT 3: THE BRICS INITIATIVE AND SOUTH

AFRICA
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
ENABLING OUTCOMES
to:
discuss the nature and success of the BRICS group

assess South Africa’s role in the group
discuss how the BRICS initiative relates to African development.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Amidst the current global capitalist economy, a new grouping, BRICS, has emerged. This grouping –
initially consisting of Brazil, Russia, India and China (meeting formally as BRIC in 2009), and a year later
bringing South Africa into the fold – is significant because it predominantly involves states from the global
South in an initiative that has some weight in global economic affairs. In a global economy dominated by
the states and corporations of the global North surely this initiative is in the interests of the global South.
Yet how central to each member country’s strategy is the BRICS initiative? Do BRICS strategies focus on
efficient participation in global capitalism? Is South Africa’s role in BRICS mostly symbolic, given its small
population and economy?
There are further questions on the political role of BRICS. In previous decades, continental organisations
such as the Organisation of African Unity (OAU; replaced by the African Union/AU) and political blocs such
as the socialist Eastern bloc and the Non-aligned Movement brought large numbers of countries into
alternative and oppositional positions to the West. The BRICS initiative, by contrast, consists of a small
group of countries which, though providing some leadership to other countries in the global South, are
pursuing their own strategic integration into global systems.
What, then, is the role of the BRICS group in global affairs and in development in Africa and South Africa?
Van Agtmael (2012) provides a general introduction to and assessment of BRICS – a general assessment
which is both positive and negative. He believes that ‘the BRICS will remain the main source of growth in
tomorrow’s world … together they will dominate the global economy later this century the way Europe and
the United States once did’ (Van Agtmael 2012:79) and that the BRICS countries survived the 2008 crisis
much better than the US or Europe. Further, the BRICS nations are growing faster than the West and
have benefited greatly from ‘cheap labour, higher productivity, massive (but far from universal) investment
in infrastructure and education, and a hunger to catch up with wealthier rivals’ (Van Agtmael 2012:78).
They are also catching up with the West in terms of the filing of patents.
Yet Van Agtmael argues that though the group is large it is not cohesive; that China will dwarf the rest of
the BRICS nations; and that political issues of democracy and social questions will trouble the grouping.
In addition, labour costs in the BRICS countries are rising, and there are new efficiencies in mechanisation
in the central capitalist states – such as robotic production.
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………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 3.1
Read the whole of the four-page contribution by Van Agtmael in the e-reserves.
Write down the seven questions debated, and for each give a one-sentence summary of Van Agtmael’s
conclusion to each question raised.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 3.2
Follow/copy and enter the video url: https://youtu.be/F03yzqR4gYI
entitled ‘What are the Brics countries?’ Treat this as introductory material .
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Stephen (2014) provides further context to this discussion, showing how the enmeshment of the BRICS
nations in the systems of global capitalism and its governance has reduced opportunities for the contender
powers in BRICS to confront the dominant powers. At the same time, ‘their economies also tend to be
more “organized” and more statist than those of the traditional capitalist heartland … the economic rise of
the BRICS has been marked by late-capitalist development under the supervision of strong state classes’
(Stephen 2014:925–926). The elites in BRICS countries are therefore partly ‘isolated from liberal
processes of transnational class formation’ (Stephen 2014:928), and often form illiberal polities focusing
on stability and control. In Stephen’s account there is no built-in concern for working-class and popular
interests by the statist elite classes amongst the BRICS grouping, even though these elites are partly
insulated from global capitalist integration.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 3.3
Go to the contribution in the e-reserves by Stephen. Read pp. 921–930: ‘Global capitalism, the BRICS
and transnational class formation’. Then write down your thoughts on the difference it makes that the
BRICS nations have relatively independent elites, who are not integrated into the global capitalist class.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Where does South Africa fit into this? Two articles, by Bond (2013) and Alden and Schoeman (2013)
respectively, locate South Africa’s role as being related to the African continent. Alden and Schoeman
(2013:114), in considering South Africa’s BRICS participation as a part of its general foreign policy to
secure a leadership role which is recognised internationally, assert that ‘unlike any of the other BRICS
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members, South Africa’s Great Power claims are almost completely founded on its perceived ability to act
as a regional manager and protector’. They also argue that South Africa has considerable weaknesses
that may undermine the project to secure a prime leadership role (Alden & Schoeman 2013:119–122).
Further, the progressive aims of mediation, support for African interests and the welfare of the continent,
which are present in various government plans, can be undermined by both South Africa’s national
interests and an approach based on business interests.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 3.4
Using the article by Alden and Schoeman, explain how membership of the BRICS grouping has been
used in South Africa’s foreign policy.
Then, EITHER
make a list of ten points about how BRICS membership has been used
OR
write an analytical paragraph on how the rhetoric of the BRICS has diverged from practice.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
In a more negative and critical approach, Bond (2013:252) perceives the BRICS as ‘re-legitimising
neoliberalism’ and securing ‘control of their hinterlands for the sake of regional capitalist hegemony’. This
sub-imperialism by the BRICS nations has succeeded in ‘lubricating world neoliberalism, hastening world
eco-destruction, and serving as coordinator of hinterland looting’ (Bond 2013:252). For Bond, this
destructive reality of BRICS coexists with a ‘talking-left-so-as-to-move-right’ discourse in South Africa, as
seen in military, economic, environmental and diplomatic policies siding with local power and global forces
(Bond 2013:256–266). Bond concludes that BRICS’ effect on the ground is indeed subimperialist and
therefore needs to be opposed by a movement against imperialism (Bond 2013:268).
The diversity of the debates on BRICS indicate a study area which is alive and requires critical thought.
This, then, is your role as a student: to enter the debate through critical thought.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 3.5
Read the contribution in the e-reserves by Bond. You will see that this contains plenty of evidence to
show the capitalist nature of South Africa’s BRICS participation.
Is Bond’s evidence enough to overthrow Stephen’s analysis of the relative independence of the elite
classes in the BRICS grouping? Write down your thoughts on this.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
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LEARNING UNIT 4: DEVELOPMENT IN MODERN CHINA

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
ENABLING OUTCOMES
to:
outline China’s current development path

discuss issues in China’s current development
discuss the relation between China’s development and the global South.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
4.1 INTRODUCTION
In recent years, China’s economy has been so successful that there is talk of it becoming the centre of
the world’s economy in the not-too-distant future. Yet 40 years ago, China had minimal contact with the
markets of the capitalist world, and the vast majority of its people were based in agriculture. Then, it was
neighbouring states such as South Korea and Taiwan (which China claims as a province) which displayed
amazing levels of growth. Now China, the world’s most populous nation, has an economy growing at
about 7% per annum. This is being achieved principally through export to the global capitalist market –
yet politically, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) remains firmly in control. What is going on? This
learning unit aims to acquaint you with aspects of China’s contemporary development by regarding its
successes but also major internal problems related to environmental degradation, inequality, welfare,
political accountability and financial regulation. A huge amount of literature has emerged on modern
China. From the viewpoint of the development concerns of this learning unit, some of the relevant book-
length literature includes John Gittings’ recent account of China (2005); a study of the changing Chinese
state in Zheng (2004); an edited study of the changing industrial and rural economy (Cook, Yao & Zhuang
2000) and a view of China as a case of uneven and unequal development (Shaoguang & Angang 1999).
4.2 ISSUES IN CHINA’S DEVELOPMENT
An issue in today’s China is whether rapid growth is sustainable, or whether the problems produced by
growth will force that country to pursue a more conservative and regulated course – or whether it will lead
to a political and economic crisis. This is because China has experienced an increase in popular protests
despite tight political control by the government (Zheng 2004; Gallagher 2014). A second issue is whether
the single-party authoritarian leadership of the CCP creates significant problems in the current context,
necessitating democratisation, or whether the Party is the indispensable guide, mentor and executor of
a long-term plan, necessitating protection of the Party and continual improvement of its ability to function.
A further issue concerns the decline of agricultural and environmental conditions as a result of the
capitalist “marketisation” of the economy. In many parts of the countryside, the overuse of fertilisers,
pesticides and herbicides has led to degraded soil, decreasing yields and ‘the contamination of water
bodies, eutrophication of lakes, the hardening and crusting of soil and progressive soil erosion’ and a
decline in rural health (Sanders 2006:203). It remains to be seen whether the combination of problems
will be manageable – problems such as the emergence of very rich classes, the unemployment of some
200 million rural workers (many of whom try to flock to the cities), declining educational standards for the
poor, the mushrooming of businesses with poor financial regulation, the environmental problems
mentioned above, together with massive problems of air pollution and shortages of clean water – as
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China seeks a route to national wealth and power.
China’s influence on the world stage has also grown enormously, and it has a major economic presence
in Africa. Another issue to explore here is China’s relation to the global South.
4.3 SUCCESSFUL GROWTH, EMERGING PROBLEMS
Hale and Hughes Hale (2003) outline the explosion of market-oriented exports and the massive increase
in production (including of high-tech goods) and in the internal consumption of consumer goods. They
show that China plays a key role in the capitalist global and regional economy, as a major producer of
‘low-end labour-intensive goods’ and as a major importer of ‘high-end, capital-intensive goods’ (Hale &
Hughes Hale 2003:6). In addition to the issues mentioned above, Hale and Hughes Hale add two more:
those of China becoming a major global competitor for commodities such as oil; and of China’s aging
population, which necessitates rapid growth to fund pension provisions (China did not have pension funds
even as late as 2003).
Nolan (2005) argues from a historical perspective that, because of the wide variety of challenges facing
China, it needs an improved (Communist Party-led) state to guide it through times of turbulence. Nolan
discusses at length the weaknesses of Chinese business, including the realities of weak financial
institutions, the lack of research and development, and lack of integration with the most efficient
production systems in each global industry. Furthermore, most Chinese exports were from foreign-
invested companies. He also highlights the oddity that China’s tax base is very low: central government
revenue was ‘only around 7% of GDP’ (Nolan 2005:3).
A consideration of the dynamics of China’s countryside is provided by Eyferth, Ho and Vermeer (2003).
Reforms to the commune system in 1978 led to two decades in which agricultural production increased
greatly, aided by a new system permitting private lease. At the same time, the development of rural-
based industry was the main force for growth in the Chinese economy until the end of the 1990s (Eyferth,
Ho & Vermeer 2003:2). By 1997, ‘township and village enterprises (TVEs) provided employment for 140
million workers’ (Eyferth, Ho & Vermeer 2003:4).
Much of this rural growth was, however, through “resource mobilisation” rather than real efficiency, good
management, growth in productivity or innovation in production. Because of this, according to Eyferth,
Ho and Vermeer (2003), growth in China’s rural areas slowed down greatly in the late 1990s; and the
recent spread of capitalist management of TVEs and seeking of foreign funding has led to falling
employment in these enterprises. Furthermore, TVEs were responsible for a large proportion of the
chemical pollution of the countryside in the 1980s and 1990s (Sanders 2006:203). Apart from soil and
water pollution in rural areas, China also faces severe air and coastal water pollution, as well as water
shortages in some provinces (Ho & Vermeer 2006:255–258).
While China has faced severe environmental problems, it has made considerable efforts in the direction
of a “green” government policy. Ho and Vermeer (2006) outline the government’s well-developed
response to environmental problems, but conclude that both business and government may need to be
more accountable to ordinary people, if China’s rapid industrial expansion is not to undermine its own
environmental conditions.
4.4 NEW DYNAMICS: NEW LABOUR CONDITIONS, THE END OF RAPID GROWTH AND
‘REFURBISHING STATE CAPITALISM’
After 2010, China entered new terrain because of rising skills and labour costs. As its international
influence increased, it began implementing policies of tight state control but also of development and the
collective good. Can China’s path be used as a development model elsewhere?
Gallagher (2014) outlines how relations between the Chinese state and workers have changed, as cheap
labour from the countryside has declined due to labour demand in an aging population and the
implementation of labour laws that give rights to all workers, while abolishing the socialist-model jobs-for-
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life in urban areas and replacing this with contracts. As job security declines, so strong unions have
emerged. Gallagher predicts that the Chinese state will have a difficult task in managing labour.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 4.1
Read the article by Gallagher in the e-reserves, then write paragraphs on the following:
The effect on wages and labour supply of the labour laws of 1994 and 2008.
The effect of the termination of permanent urban jobs and their replacement with contracts.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
McNally (2013) agrees that China has reached a crossroads. He links this to a dangerous bubble in the
housing market, aligned to credit expansion. He also links it to six imbalances in the economy: 1) China
has a rich state but poor people; 2) there is too much saving by government and households; 3) there is
sharp income inequality; 4) there are great imbalances between urban and rural areas; 5) coastal regions
are much richer than the interior; and 6) there is a lack of environmental sustainability. He argues that
China has a convincing state-led strategy to address common problems through focusing less on
economic growth alone and more on a refurbished state capitalism that is attempting to rebalance ‘the
political economy by promoting consumption, urbanization, the service sector and industrial upgrading’
(McNally 2013:56). A central aim of the strategy is to improve the state itself: ‘The Chinese state under
the CCP is for the most part not liberalizing economic governance in favour of market-based dynamics,
but rather aiming to refurbish itself to more effectively guide a socially inclusive political economy’ (McNally
2013:64).
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 4.2
Read the article on e-reserves by McNally.
Now summarise the reformist steps taken by the Chinese government, as outlined in the section
‘Rebalancing China’s political economy’ (pp. 56–64).
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………......
McNally (2013:67) believes that the success of China’s state-led strategies strengthens the argument for
‘liberal market policies that are tempered by state regulation and state guidance’. But what does Chinese
state-led capitalist development imply for the global South? According to Vadell, Ramos and Neves (2014),
the major effect on the global South is not the influence of China’s development model itself, but rather
the political and economic spaces opened up by the ‘Asian consensus’ which ‘constitutes a new network
power between PRC [the People’s Republic of China] and some less development [sic] regions,
particularly Africa and Latin America’ (Vadell et al 2014:97). In this alternative network to Western
liberalism, there are benefits. Countries of the global South have options as regards investment and
finance. China’s non-intervention policy within countries invested in, contrasts with Western
interventionism and is often preferred. Similarly, China’s financial aid does not have political conditions.
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Notably, China forms bilateral agreements that are tailored to each country (Vadell et al 2014:98–99).
Vadell et al further argue that China has key goals in the global South. It requires more energy and natural
resources for its development; it needs PRC recognition and the isolation of Taiwan; it requires political
support within the UN; as well as expanding export markets, including in the global South. In their account,
Vadell et al (2014) suggest a marriage of convenience between China and the global South under the
‘Asian consensus’, rather than direct emulation of Chinese policies by Africa or Latin America.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………......
Activity 4.3
By referring to the article by Vadell, Ramos and Neves in the e-reserves,
briefly outline how the ‘Asian Consensus’ differs from ‘Washington Consensus’ neoliberalism
state what the global South derives from the ‘Asian Consensus’
state what China derives from the ‘Asian Consensus’.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………......
It has been argued that Africa can learn from China’s internal agricultural policies. Xiaoyun, Lixia, Xiuli,
Gubo and Haimin (2013) argue that the smallholder-based agricultural policies developed in China might
be particularly useful in some African countries, despite great economic differences between China and
these countries. They argue that China has sustained smallholder farming on small plots, in times of
technological change, through high-density farming, joint services and extension services provided by the
state, irrigation, fertilizer use, and a ‘consistent agriculture-centred development strategy and staple food
crop-led agricultural policy, honed through an incremental learning process’ (Xiaoyun et al 2013:38).
These authors believe African agriculture lacks solid government backing and ‘a strong pro-agriculture
policy’, long-term commitment, intensive and labour-saving strategies, the use of improved seed and
fertilizer, appropriate tenure that facilitates common strategies, and ‘a political environment in which
smallholders can exert their influence’ (Xiaoyun et al 2013:38).
They believe that if African countries get their smallholder policies right, ‘the China case shows that both
food-based systems and large scale agriculture can exist side by side and that many mutual benefits can
be derived from their coexistence’ (Xiaoyun et al 2013:39).
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 4.4
Read the article on e-reserves by Xiaoyun, Lixia, Xiuli, Gubo and Haimin, then draw up two tables.
Complete one table by listing the differing agricultural conditions in Africa and China. Use sections 2,
3, 4 and 6 in the article for this purpose.
Complete a second table by listing the differences between Africa and China in terms of smallholder
agricultural production and productivity. Use section 5 in the article for this purpose.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
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LEARNING UNIT 5: LAND REFORM IN SOUTH AFRICA

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
ENABLING OUTCOMES
After having worked through this learning unit and read the recommended material, you should be able to
discuss the role of land reform in granting the world’s poor classes access to land
recognise and appreciate the complexities of land reform
critically analyse the potential of the South African land reform policy to achieve equity, efficiency,
fairness and poverty reduction
assess the progress of land reform in South Africa, and prospects for the future.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
5.1 INTRODUCTION
Using South Africa as an example, this learning unit addresses the land reform issues that are
increasingly becoming crucial for future development, especially in the southern part of the African
continent. Events around land reform (for example in Zimbabwe) have led to interrogative thinking about
the complex nature of this process and of granting the poor access to productive land. Coupled with this
is the continuous search for better models that can be used to satisfactorily address the socioeconomic
conditions created by years of land dispossession in the affected countries. Colonialism (and in some
cases settler colonialism) created situations where the majority of the indigenous population were left
virtually landless. These events have since led to evolving land wars over the ownership of land. We
should quickly add here that, in the true sense of the word “ownership”, no single individual or group
anywhere completely owns the land. Ownership could be understood only as referring to the use-rights
that individuals and/or groups have over a particular geographic space. Similarly, land reform is not only
limited to developing countries. Developed countries also have their own issues around land possession.
When South Africa entered the democratic era, one of the fundamental issues it had to deal with was the
question of land reform; hence the 1997 White Paper on Land Policy. To this end, you are required to
study the South African land reform processes broadly, and to be able to form educated opinions on the
issue.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 5.1
If you wish to see a longer video showing some of the emotions and arguments on South African land
reform, follow/ copy and enter the video url: https://youtu.be/-ibpIpi2zAE , entitled The Big Debate (ep. 1,
Feb 17): Does Land Reform Threaten Our Future?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
5.1 EFFECTS OF LANDLESSNESS
South Africa represents one of the world’s most unequal societies in modern times. Centuries of
colonialism and settler colonialism ensured that the majority of the country’s inhabitants remained
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marginalised, while the minority prospered. The conditions of land dispossession can be traced to the
17th century, when in 1658 the white settlers told the Khoi people that they could no longer use the land
across the Salt and the Liesbeek rivers (see the article by Thwala [2010] in the e-reserves). The much-
dreaded Natives Land Act of 1913 became the main legislation enforced to completely alienate
indigenous peoples from their land. Various other laws were passed to remove indigenous peoples from
the lands they had occupied over many years before the dawn of colonialism. In many instances, the
removed people were resettled on marginal lands that were not economically productive. To make
matters worse, people were restricted to areas which came to be called “reserves” and later “bantu
homelands/bantustans”. As the population increased, they made demands on the limited geographic
spaces provided for them, to the detriment of the soil from which they were supposed to derive their
livelihoods. Those who finally migrated (either voluntarily or through force) to towns and cities were also
faced with laws that prohibited them from owing any form of property in urban areas. Through land
dispossession, indigenous people were turned into a class that only belonged to the bantustans of South
Africa. They became workers and squatters on white farms, while those in urban areas became a
property-less proletarian class, providing cheap labour to the mines and factories.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 5.2
Read the article by Thwala and identify the pieces of legislation that enforced land dispossession of the
indigenous peoples of South Africa. Write a paragraph in which you discuss the extent to which each
piece of legislation contributed to the intensification of poverty.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
5.3 CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON POST-1994 LAND REDISTRIBUTION
The South African land reform policy has specific aims which, in summary, aim to
(a) redress the injustices of the past discriminatory land policies

(b) foster national reconciliation and stability
(c) underpin economic growth
(d) improve household welfare and reduce poverty.
These aims are underpinned by the principles of equity, efficiency, fairness and poverty reduction. You
should be able to apply these in your own discussion, and to evaluate their potential to achieve the stated
goals of the land reform policy in South Africa.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 5.3
Read through the articles by Ntsebeza and by Weideman and identify the potential for achieving, as well
as the possible barriers to achieving, equity, efficiency, fairness and poverty reduction.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
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5.4 NATURE OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN LAND REFORM POLICY
By now you should have some understanding of the complexities involved in land reform. In an attempt
to do justice to issues of land dispossession and at the same time refrain from harming those who are
already in possession of such land, South Africa chose a path that tries to satisfy all parties. Three kinds
of conditions have emerged: 1) those who require that the land (from which they were forcefully removed)
be returned to them; 2) those who merely need land for residential purposes, without necessarily claiming
any part of the land, and 3) those who require security of tenure on the land they occupy, especially rural
inhabitants of the former bantustans.
To satisfy these conditions, South Africa adopted a land reform policy with three legs, namely land
restitution, land redistribution and land reform. All three legs are aimed at achieving various aspects of
the land reform requirements in the country. In the reader, the two articles by Thwala and Ntsebeza
provide basic information on these aspects of land reform.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 5.4
By referring to the articles by Thwala and Ntsebeza, identify the various legs of the South African land
reform policy. Explain the nature and conditions under which each leg is applicable.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
5.5 THE REALITY OF LAND REFORM: FAILURE AND ELITE CAPTURE?
In the years since 1994, there have been numerous initiatives in land reform, and procedural (but painfully
slow) processing of claims.
In 22 years, land reform has barely altered the agrarian structure of South Africa, and has had only minor
impacts on rural livelihoods. Around 8 to 9 per cent has been transferred through restitution and
redistribution and many settled restitution claims have not been fully implemented. The great majority of
69 000 urban restitution claims have been settled through cash compensation. (Cousins 2017:142).
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 5.5
In Cousins’ (2017) article in the e-reserves, read the critical evaluation of land reform under the successive
presidencies of Mandela, Mbeki and Zuma.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
What has gone wrong? Cousins (2017:142–146) advances six suggestions: 1) the relevant policy
frameworks lack coherence; 2) government has used private ownership as its model, yet 60% of South
Africans are on land without official registration; 3) government has had other oversights such as also
prioritising the large-scale commercial farm model and overlooking smallholders, treating the rural poor
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and smallholders as a single grouping, ignoring the informal sector, and ignoring peri-urban areas in land
reform; 4) elites (including agribusiness, mining interests and chiefs) have ‘captured the policy agenda’;
5) land has also been taken up as a weapon of populist politics; and 6) relevant state capacity is lacking.
Hall and Kepe (2017:4–7) concur with the points about the absence of secure land rights, discordance
among state departments and ‘elite capture’ by agribusiness backed by state collusion. This scenario has
resulted in perverse forms of land reform: ‘Our findings indicate a contorted reform governed by state
officials, consultants and agribusiness “strategic partners” concerned with surveillance and control of
“beneficiaries” in “projects” with precarious tenure on un-subdivided commercial farms now owned by the
state’ (Hall & Kepe 2017:8).
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 5.6
Read pp. 142–146 in Cousins’ article, and pp. 4–7 in Hall and Kepe’s article in the e-reserves, on what
has gone wrong with land reform.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
5.6 TAKING LAND REFORM FORWARD
Given the noble values espoused in early land reform documents after 1994, it is distressing that land
reform has taken this negative direction. There needs to be a wide debate on the best way to reconnect
land reform to popular interests.
Cousins (2017:146–152) offers a way forward. His suggestions include secure social (rather than private)
tenure rights in both rural and urban areas; creating non-farm jobs for most of the rural population;
developing employment around small-scale agriculture for about one million citizens; redistributing 80%
of commercial land to 200 000 black smallholder farmers; building government extension support to
smallholder agriculturalists; increasing state capacity; making rural development a function of local
government; and settling most restitution claims through cash settlement.
Each of these provisions is contestable, but to contest them academically, a full reception of his argument
is necessary.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 5.7
In Cousins’ article in the e-reserves, read the sections under the headings ‘A new narrative for land
reform’ and ‘Policy provocations’ (pp. 146–152).
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
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LEARNING UNIT 6: VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS: THE CASE

OF THE GLOBAL FOOD INDUSTRY
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
ENABLING OUTCOMES
to:
outline the basic nature and techniques of value chain analysis

discuss features of the global food industry
analyse case studies on value chain analysis in the global food industry.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
6.1 INTRODUCTION
This learning unit outlines a particular approach to economic analysis which aims to inform development
policy and aid local development by tracking at what stages commodities have their main value added,
and who exactly controls these stages. Commodity chain analysis originated in the late 1970s and 1980s
in the world system theories of Wallerstein, who described how dependency is maintained through the
pricing of commodities at different points in their international movement. With the rise of TNCs a new
body of literature, termed “global commodity chain” research, examined how these corporations move
and price commodities within themselves, for their own benefit. More recently, in response to new global
conditions, a school of research pursuing “global value chain analysis” has emerged.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 6.1
Follow/copy and enter the video url: https://youtu.be/GppysScJ-68 entitled
‘Global value chains and why they matter’. Treat this as introductory material .
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
To apply value chain analysis, and for an idea of how much use it is, it is necessary to gain an
understanding of the industry in which the value (or commodity) chain is located. In this unit we take the
case of the food industry, considering both the global context and particular foods such as coffee and
fish.
6.2 VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS
Part of your task in this learning unit is to weigh up the significance of value chain analysis for
development. It may be that value chains are often the product of economic and political struggles, and
making the value chains of a variety of commodities serve development may require political intervention
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and a great deal of effort, not just an economic focus on improving a value chain. It should also become
apparent from your reading that, in an era when TNCs conduct business in digital form, the tracking of
global value chains (GVCs) is sometimes an approximate science. Furthermore, there is a great deal of
disagreement about the methods and terminology that should best be utilised in value chain analysis.
Conversely, value chain analysis has the enormous advantage that it can go a long way towards outlining
particular institutional structures and processes through which powerful economic players harvest value
from a commodity chain, which often starts in the global South.
The topic of this learning unit is approached in three stages, by considering 1) the way in which value
chain analysis could promote development; 2) one global industry, namely the food sector; and 3) two
case studies: one on the value chains in the horticulture export sectors in sub-Saharan Africa, and the
other on the relation between South Africa’s four largest retailers and SME (small and medium enterprise)
suppliers.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 6.2
Follow/ copy and enter the video url: https://youtu.be/PfaOEs39Uss entitled ‘Building African Participation
in Global Value Chains’ - World Bank. After watching, do you think the World Bank is critical of global
value chains?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Gereffi, Humphrey, Kaplinsky and Sturgeon (2001:94) describe the significance of value chains in the
following manner:
The value-chain view of global economic integration highlights that for many industries access to
international markets is not achieved merely through designing, making and marketing new products.
Instead, it involves gaining entry into international design, production and marketing networks consisting
of many different firms. Understanding how these value chains operate is very important for developing-
country firms and policymakers because the way chains are structured has implications for newcomers.
How can economic actors gain access to the skills, competences and supporting services required to
participate in global value chains?
In discussing how corporate interests have established control over the global food industry, McMichael
(2004:188–189) argues that value chains are entwined with financialisation:
World economics is premised on three key dynamics. First is the reconstitution of capital through
financialization, such that corporate strategies intensify vertical integration from seed to supermarket; …
second, the privatization of states by the multiple relations of financialization … facilitates the
reconstitution of capital on a global scale and the transformation of food security into a private relation …
Third, the priority given to the reproduction of money ... increasingly governs institutional politics in global
and national arenas … at the expense of sustained social policies..
McMichael’s account states that value chains are neither socially neutral nor necessarily just, but that
they are an embedded part of global capitalism.
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………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 6.3
In McMichael’s article in the e-reserves, read the sections entitled ‘World agriculture and empire’ and
‘Food sovereignty and the anticapitalist movements’. Write a paragraph on value chains as a part of
broader anti-popular strategies around food and agriculture.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Nadvi (2004) examines the relation of value chains and their analysis to poverty, national economies in
the global South and employment. He concludes that participation in GVCs can create employment and
comparatively good jobs. At the same time, there are fewer good jobs in this sector, and there are often
educational barriers to moving into better jobs. There is also ‘increasing casualisation of work’ in GVCs
(Nadvi 2004:203).
Gereffi (2014:10–12) outlines the growing importance – since 1990 – of value chains in the strategies of
corporations and states, and the move from import substitution industrialisation to export-oriented
industrialisation, and, after 2000 and in the post-Washington Consensus era, ‘the role of emerging
markets as new sources of demand and production competencies in the global economy’.
Gereffi portrays an economic environment in which GVCs have become more concentrated and are led
by larger firms, but are now more regionally based, with power shifting ‘toward the top manufacturers
located in emerging economies such as China, India, Brazil and Turkey’ (Gereffi 2014:15). Gereffi argues
that the most dynamic part of the global economy is now not in the trade of physical commodities among
nations, but in trade in the value that is added; it is in the form of production and trade value chains as
networks linking large and small suppliers to the global economy.
While Gereffi describes a new pattern of production which is changing the nature of the global economy
and has strong participation from the more efficient emergent economies, what does this analysis imply
for economies without lead companies, and which are currently outside the key networks of production
and exchange?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Activity 6.4
Read the article on e-reserves by Gereffi. This is a pretty dense article. Start with the abstract on p. 9,
the middle paragraph on p. 12 (which explains most of the structure of the article) and the conclusions
on p. 28.
After you have done this, read these two sections:
‘II: Governance structures and increasing concentration in global value chains’

‘III: Economic upgrading and the new geography of global production and change’
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
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6.3 VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS AND THE GLOBAL FOOD INDUSTRY
To enable you to study particular cases of value chain analysis in the food industry, we now provide an
overview of the global food industry. The analysis of the global food industry by McMichael (2004)
examines how global governance, TNCs and the global capitalist economy in general have massively
undermined food sovereignty and security in the South. This article builds on an important earlier book,
The global restructuring of agro-food systems (McMichael 1994). Keep in mind that in focusing on elite-
led global processes, this article does not fully discuss the domestic value chains of food production and
consumption that remain in many countries. Further studies of global agro-food systems can be found in
book-length texts such as that by Almås and Lawrence (2003).
Maertens, Minten and Swinnen (2012) provide a case study of the welfare effects of participation in GVCs
in the horticulture industry, by producers and labourers in Senegal and Madagascar. The study involves
vertically organised industries which are successfully supplying green beans and tomatoes to global food
chains. The authors conclude that the ‘modernisation of export supply chains can produce important
positive effects or rural development and poverty reduction’ (Maertens et al 2012:492) – especially if
labour-intensive industries are developed. They also argue that promoting this economic sector requires
strategic government involvement. Even if this happens, in countries with weak enforcement of food safety,
the ‘stringent quality and safety requirements’ in the industry may cause increasing difficulties.
Governments therefore have responsibilities in this regard (Maertens et al 2012:492–493).
In a study of SME supply to big food retailers (PicknPay, Shoprite Checkers, Woolworths and Spar) in
South Africa, Von Broembsen (2016) found that emerging and informal businesses are, in effect, excluded
from participation – even where the value chain does not include large suppliers. While suppliers with
strong independent brands are in a position to negotiate contracts, suppliers without a brand are in a very
weak position (except in the case of Spar franchises, which source locally). For most suppliers, ‘their
supply agreements are such that they are structurally coerced to pursue …. “production upgrading”,
namely capturing more value through more automated production’ (Von Broembsen 2016:21). Suppliers
also face the insecurity of contracts and ‘rebate commissions’ through which risk is transferred to suppliers.
Von Broembsen’s study notes that it is private procurement practices rather than inflexible labour laws
that limit job creation, and that the standards of production and hygiene go beyond public requirements.
The study therefore advocates legal and governance reforms to help entry-level suppliers.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 6.5
Read the article in the e-reserves by Von Broembsen.
Write a paragraph discussing whether the legal strategies suggested at the end of the article are likely to
significantly change the access to supermarket supply of informal and emerging suppliers.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
To synthesise the materials and concerns of this learning unit, the evidence of these case studies should
be used to construct a debate involving Gereffi’s take on GVCs as providing significant opportunities for
efficient emerging economies, and McMichael’s more pessimistic account which sees these new corporate
practices as further reducing the democratic and environmental accountability of business. Though both
Von Broembsen and Maertens et al advocate strategic government action to cultivate employment in
industries involved in GVCs, will this in fact happen, or will these industries become an elite sector of the
economy, backed by government?
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………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 6.6
Go to the article in the e-reserves by Maertens et al.
Read section 5.2: ‘Supply chain structure and governance’

Compile a table to illustrate the different contract and employment structures in each of the three
cases
Read section 5.3: ‘Participation through product and labour markets’, as well as 5.5: ‘Impact through
direct and indirect effects’
Write a short paragraph on the various welfare effects of participation in these industries.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
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LEARNING UNIT 7: ADAPTING DEVELOPMENT

INITIATIVES TO CLIMATE CHANGE
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
ENABLING OUTCOMES
to:
outline the debates, dynamics and risks surrounding major climate change
outline the politics surrounding climate change and development
discuss the environmental reasons for current concerns about adapting development initiatives to
changing climatic conditions
discuss case studies on adapting to climate change in development initiatives.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
7.1 INTRODUCTION
The issue of climate change has become increasingly important in recent years, for both governments
and international bodies, but also for those dealing more directly with economic and human development,
and human security. There is growing consensus that we are entering a human-made era of global
warming, and there is widespread experience of unusual and extreme climatic conditions. The key
environmental issue here is how to reverse global warming and stabilise climate patterns. In this learning
unit, however, we consider climate change as a given: What do we do with farming in the Western Cape
in conditions of extended dryness? What opportunities are there for cold countries, that now have regions
with longer summers and milder winters? How can we adapt local and national initiatives in changed
climatic conditions?
In recent years, a vast amount of literature on this topic has emerged. This is partly because it has
become a feature of the discourse of global institutions, and as such it is connected with major research
and project/programme funding. The literature is also a response to the growing sense of urgency. In
response to both environmental and institutional dynamics, books have appeared such as those by
Munasinghe and Swart (2005) and Low (2005), which consider the issue in relation to Africa.
What is happening with global climate? This is discussed by New, Liverman, Schroder and Anderson
(2011). In their study they argue that it is very likely that the global temperature will rise by at least 2°C
more than during preindustrial times, and may even rise by 4°C. A rise of 4°C would have a major (and
probably catastrophic) impact on agriculture and coastal cities, and will result in the destruction of
ecosystems (for example, coral reefs), the die-back of forests, the melting of the permafrost in Canada
and Russia (resulting in faster warming) and chaotic changes in water systems in many parts of the world.
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………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 7.1
Read pp. 6–13 of the article in the e-reserves by New et al.
What science is this argument based on?

Why do the authors believe the objective to limit the global temperature rise to 2°C will not be met?
What are the consequences of a rise of 4°C?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
7.2 THE POLITICS OF ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE
Richards (2003:5) outlines the engagement of global institutions with the issue of climate change. He
illustrates the different agendas of the North and South in global forums – namely the North’s interest in
emissions and other mitigation targets, and the South’s insistence on redistribution or compensation –
since climate change is mainly caused by the industrialised North, and 97% of deaths from natural
disasters between 1990 and 1998 occurred in the global South. Richards then outlines the global funding
mechanisms and the various ways in which poverty relief and equity can be tied to the concerns of these
global climate initiatives.
7.3 LOCAL ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE
Yamin, Rahman and Huq (2005) have attempted to develop a conceptual framework for prioritising the
poor, while addressing climate change. They do this firstly by using the perspective of vulnerability: who
is most vulnerable to climate change? The second step of their approach is to focus on community-led
adaptation. Then the authors consider ways in which relevant policy processes at different levels could
include such community-led adaptations or – more likely – how policy processes may continue to exclude
community voices.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 7.2
Read the contribution by Yamin, Rahman and Huq in the e-reserves and, in no more than a page,
summarise their arguments on the relation between community adaptation and policy.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Armed with such general perspectives, you can now engage with studies which bring the debate down
to earth.
In a study on responses to drought and wind erosion in Senegal, Seck, Mamouda and Wade (2005) show
how a pilot farm introduced forestry windbreaks, alternative fuels, drop irrigation and the planned
selection of crops, to meet the demands of the urban market. Even though this pilot farm is portrayed as
a great success, the study shows the predicament that Senegal faces as a result of changing climate
(Seck et al 2005:71–76; 84–85).
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In another study on water issues, Chatterjee, Chatterjee and Das (2005) discuss community adaptation
to drought in Rajasthan in the semi-arid north-west of India. This study shows the severe effects seven
years of drought had on agriculture, employment, food security and livestock. The authors outline how,
in response to the drought, a number of traditional adaptive behaviours were used, such as changes in
cropping, storage and animal husbandry practices, and the introduction of new technologies and
practices by the local NGO.
In a contrasting study (Lin, Yang, Ma, Ju, Guo, Xiong, Li & Xu 2005) an area in northern China which
may benefit from global warming, is considered. Recent years have seen ‘a prolonged growth period,
northward movement of accumulated temperature belts and decreases of cold stress’ (Lin et al 2005:15).
Northeast China has responded through ‘readjustments of crop composition and structure, enlargement
of sown areas and [the] adoption of advanced technologies’ which, over the 20 years between 1982 and
2002, have resulted in a rise of 155.7% in total grain output (Lin et al 2005:27).
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 7.3
For a light video on food production and climate change in the Western Cape, follow/ copy and enter the
video url: https://youtu.be/-W-QgfkqEtg entitled ‘Land is Life: South Africa – climate impacts’.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
These contrasting studies illustrate the different environmental consequences of climate change, but also
the differing national and institutional settings (Senegal being a poor country and China a rising economic
giant). It is also noteworthy that China seems to have had an autonomous national response to an aspect
of climate change, whereas the initiatives in Senegal aim to link up with UN processes and funding.
A more recent case study emphasises the trade-off between immediate interests and long-term climate
strategy, and the ‘maladaptive’ choices that can be made by local communities in their responses to
climate change and socioeconomic stress, such as overfishing, increased driving distances to fields and
the intensification of child labour in Zanzibar (Suckall, Tomkins & Stringer 2014:116–118). For these
authors, policies on, for example, cooperatives, the management of the Zanzibari shoreline through
coastal zoning policies, and improved education facilitating a variety of livelihoods are essential for
enabling ordinary people in terms of adaptation and mitigation of climate change (Suckall et al 2013:120).
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 7.4
Go to the article in the e-reserves by Suckall et al on the study of trade-offs in Zanzibar. To get to grips
with the content, start by reading the following sections:
Coastal livelihoods in Zanzibar

Drivers, pressures, states and impacts
Barriers to maximizing AMD [adaptation, mitigation and development synergies] in Responses.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
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Similarly, in a study of desertification in the Cape Verde islands, De Pina Tavares, Ferreira, Reis,
Baptista, Amoros, Costa, Furtado and Coehlo (2014) emphasise an approach that includes all
stakeholders in strategies to combat and mitigate desertification. They claim that through highlighting
each stakeholder’s knowledge and experience, the group can ‘assess, identify and test sustainable soil
and water management practices’ (De Pina Tavares et al 2014:55) and also help resolve conflicts
between interest groups, for instance farmers and cattle-raisers (De Pina Tavares et al 2014:56).
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 7.5
Read the article in the e-reserves by De Pina Tavares et al.
This article claims to be based on global best practices. In the light of both this case study and the big
future challenges of climate change, as outlined by New et al, is the inclusive stakeholder method outlined
here a model that can be used at any level?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Both Suckall et al (2014) and De Pina Tavares et al (2014) advocate a strong governmental role in local
adaptation and mitigation. Yet these are discussions of local strategies. How are broader issues, such
as large-scale migration from coastal and increasingly dry areas to be managed? The adaptation and
mitigation strategies discussed in New et al (2011:11–15) indicate the need for international, corporate
sector, national, city and local strategies on issues including coastal flooding, overpopulation in river
basins and the destruction of ecosystems (such as coral reefs). Yet they also argue that our lack of
knowledge of the scale of future global warming could lead to well-meaning yet inaccurate strategies of
adaptation and mitigation: ‘Responses that might be most appropriate for a (+) 2°C world may be
maladaptive in a +4°C world: this is, particularly, an issue for decisions with a long lifetime’ (New et al
2011:12–13). Examples are the placement of reservoirs or even the relocation of towns.
New et al (2011:16) are thus clear that alongside a societal shift towards adaptation and mitigation, there
is an urgent need for ongoing research into climate itself, into the costing of various environmental
changes and initiatives, and into new technologies such as geoengineering.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
Activity 7.6
Go to the article in the e-reserves by New et al.
Make brief notes on the following sections:
‘5. Impacts and adaptation’

‘6. Mitigation options outside of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’
‘Geoengineering: the silver bullet?’
‘Research agenda for a 4°C world.’
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….......
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Governance Study Guide

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Governance study guide

Development Studies (University of South Africa)

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0.1 INTRODUCTION TO THIS MODULE ........................................................................................... 1

LEARNING UNIT 1: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT .............................. 4

1.1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 4

LEARNING UNIT 2: DEVELOPMENT AND POST-DEVELOPMENT ................................................... 8

2.1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 8

LEARNING UNIT 3: THE BRICS INITIATIVE AND SOUTH AFRICA ................................................. 13

3.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 13

LEARNING UNIT 4: DEVELOPMENT IN MODERN CHINA .............................................................. 16

4.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 16

LEARNING UNIT 5: LAND REFORM IN SOUTH AFRICA ................................................................. 20

5.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 20

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6.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 24

LEARNING UNIT 7: ADAPTING DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES TO CLIMATE CHANGE ................. 29

7.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 29

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LEARNING UNIT 0: INTRODUCTION

Governance and development

0.2 LEARNING OUTCOMES

This module has five specific learning outcomes:

Specific outcome 1: Analyse identified contemporary issues in development

0.3 STRUCTURE OF THIS MODULE

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0.4 HOW TO USE THE LEARNING UNITS

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We sincerely hope you will enjoy this module.

Prof Peter Stewart

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LEARNING UNIT 1: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF

discuss different approaches to the global political economy

1.2 POLITICS AND ECONOMICS IN THE GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY

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Global political economy and the culture of terrorism.

1.3 CHINA – EMERGING CENTRE OR RISING POWER ON THE PERIPHERY?

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1.5 A DECOLONIAL CRITIQUE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY

Write a ten-line paragraph on this.

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LEARNING UNIT 2: DEVELOPMENT AND POST-

discuss the critique of development by theorists of post-development

2.2 WHAT IS POST-DEVELOPMENT?

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2.3 CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON POST-DEVELOPMENT

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Write down the main points of each of these sections:

The premature burial of ‘development’

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LEARNING UNIT 3: THE BRICS INITIATIVE AND SOUTH

discuss the nature and success of the BRICS group