| Professor Gary Gereffi 264 Sociology/Psychology Building Tel. 660-5611 or 660-5614 |
Spring 2001 MW, 2:20-3:35 pm 225 Social Sciences Bldg. |
Globalization is one of the defining features of the contemporary world, but there is considerable controversy regarding its nature, impact, and future trends. This course will seek to integrate debates about globalization and development in the latter half of the twentieth century. Our analytical approach will be to study globalization through the lens of diverse “global regions” as well as “global industries.” We will address comparative development issues by looking at the range of institutional factors that affect how nations in varied regions of the world rise or fall in the global economy, and how national development issues are profoundly shaped by powerful international organizations (like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization), transnational corporations, and technological change. We will critically examine the meaning of development, the impact of globalization on the quality of life, and the interplay between the strategies of global, national, and local actors.
Course Requirements
There will be a mid-term examination, a research paper, a theory profile, and several short assignments required for this course. The paper counts for 40% of the course grade, the mid-term exam for 30%, the theory profile for 15%, and class participation for 15%.
Mid-Term Exam. This will be a take-home, open-book examination that will be handed out in class on Monday, March 5th, and due back in class on Wednesday, March 7th. Completed exams must be typed, and a page limit will be set.
Theory Profiles. One of the main objectives of this course is to identify and analyze the theories that lie behind the current globalization and development debates. Each student will be asked to select a theory and write a 6-8 page theory profile, following guidelines that will be announced early in the semester. In addition, each student will provide written comments on two of the theory profiles written by his or her peers. Three class periods are designated to discuss these theory profiles (January 29th, February 21st, and April 9th). The class as a whole will discuss initial drafts of the theory profiles on these dates; the pair of 1-2 page student commentaries will be due to the main author one class period later. The revised theory profile will be submitted to the instructor one week after the peer commentaries are due (i.e., February 7th, March 5th, and April 18th). Only the final version of the theory profile will be graded; the peer commentaries will count toward each student’s class participation grade.
World Trade Analyzer. Everyone will be introduced to World Trade Analyzer (WTA), a large database of United Nations export and import statistics that covers 19 years (1980-1998) and over 160 countries and regions. Students are encouraged to use WTA or other international economic databases for their research papers, plus you will have an assignment using WTA during the semester (on Feb. 14th).
Research Paper. Good research on globalization and development requires students to be aware of relevant theoretical debates, to develop a familiarity with comparative and historical case materials, and also to be able to utilize primary and secondary data sources where appropriate. Your research paper should focus on a longitudinal or comparative analysis of two or more countries. It should contain a clear statement of your research problem, a concise review of relevant theories, testable hypotheses, and some kind of empirical analysis. Papers will be typed, double-spaced, and no more than 25 pages in length.
CourseInfo and Readings
A wide range of materials related to this course will be available through CourseInfo <http://courses.duke.edu/>. All students in Soc. 222B will be expected to log on to CourseInfo on a regular basis for announcements, course documents, supplementary lecture materials, and convenient communication tools such as group pages, student drop boxes, and discussion boards. E-mail will be an important form of communication in this course, so check your e-mail accounts for messages from the instructor or fellow students.
The following books will be read for the course. They are available at the Duke University Bookstore:
Clayton M. Christensen. The Innovator’s Dilemma. New York: HarperBusiness, 2000.
Gary Gereffi and Miguel Korzeniewicz (eds.). Commodity Chains and Global Capitalism. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1994.
Philip McMichael. Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective, 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 2000.
James H. Mittelman. The Globalization Syndrome: Transformation and Resistance. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000.
The articles we will read for the course are all available through E-Reserves at Perkins Library: <http://www.lib.duke.edu/access/reserves/>. Most of these readings can also be accessed via CourseInfo.
COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST
Jan. 10 Introduction to the course.
Jan. 15 NO CLASS – Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
Jan. 17 The development project.
McMichael, Development and Social Change, Introduction and chs. 1-2.
Jan. 22 The globalization project.
McMichael, Development and Social Change, chs. 3-5.
Jan. 24 Development theory and the international economy.
Gary Gereffi, “The International Economy and Economic Development.” Pp. 206-233 in Neil J. Smelser and Richard Swedberg (eds.), The Handbook of Economic Sociology (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994).
Gary Gereffi, “Rethinking Development Theory: Insights from East Asia and Latin America.” Pp. 26-56 in A. Douglas Kincaid and Alejandro Portes (eds.), Comparative National Development (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1994).
Jan. 29 Theory profiles (student presentations).
Jan. 31 The international division of labor.
Mittelman, The Globalization Syndrome, Introduction and chs. 1-2.
Feb. 5 World Trade Analyzer (in-class demonstration of international trade data base).
[Consult WTA help guide at < http://docs.lib.duke.edu/maps/guides/WTA.html>.]
Feb. 7 Regionalism and globalization.
Mittelman, The Globalization Syndrome, chs. 6-8.
Feb. 12 Employment.
McMichael, Development and Social Change, ch. 6; Mittelman, The Globalization Syndrome, ch. 4.
Feb. 14 International trade illustrations of national patterns of industrial upgrading (discussion of WTA tables generated by students).
[Students should consult the industrial upgrading typology and statistical annexes in Sanjaya Lall’s paper on developing country manufactured exports, assigned for April 2nd.]
Feb. 19 Resistance to globalization.
Mittelman, The Globalization Syndrome, chs. 9-10 & 12; McMichael, Development and Social Change, chs. 7-8.
Feb. 21 Theory profiles (student presentations).
Feb. 26 The organization of commodity chains.
Gereffi and Korzeniewicz (eds.), Commodity Chains & Global Capitalism, chs. 1-2 & 4-5.
Feb. 28 The apparel commodity chain.
Richard P. Appelbaum and Gary Gereffi, “Power and Profits in the Apparel Commodity Chain.” Pp. 42-64 in Edna Bonacich et al., Global Production: The Apparel Industry in the Pacific Rim (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1994).
Gary Gereffi, “International trade and industrial upgrading in the apparel commodity chain,” Journal of International Economics 48, 1 (June 1999): 37-70.
March 5 Commodity chains in diverse industries.
Gereffi and Korzeniewicz (eds.), Commodity Chains & Global Capitalism, chs. 7, 8 & 11-12.
Take-home mid-term: handed out in class.
March 7 Film: Robert Reich (host), "Made in America? – Winners and Losers."
Take-home mid-term exam: due in class.
SPRING RECESS (March 12, 14)
March 19 Sustaining vs. disruptive technologies.
Christensen, The Innovator’s Dilemma, Introduction and chs. 1-2 & 4.
March 21 Managing disruptive technological change.
Christensen, The Innovator’s Dilemma, chs. 5-9.
March 26 David R. Mckendrick, Richard F. Doner, and Stephan Haggard, From Silicon Valley to Singapore: Location and Competitive Advantage in the Hard Disk Drive Industry (Stanford University Press, 2000), selected chapters.
March 28 Hard disk drives: Guest lecturers – Rick Doner, Emory University, and Joyce Thompson, Read Rite Corp.
April 2 United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO): World Industrial Development Report 2001, “Competing through Innovation.”
Sanjaya Lall, “Analytical Framework for WIDR 2001,” Dec. 2, 2000.
Sanjaya Lall, “The Technological Structure and Performance of Developing Country Manufactured Exports, 1985-1998” (ms., 36 pages, no date).
April 4 To be announced.
April 9 Theory profiles (student presentations).
April 11 Globalization and Equity.
Raphael Kaplinsky, “Spreading the Gains from Globalization: What Can Be Learned from Value Chain Analysis,” Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, United Kingdom, March 2000.
April 16 Term paper highlights (student presentations).
April 18 Term paper highlights (student presentations).
Term Paper: due in class.