Development in Africa

What does development mean in a continent where most economic growth

is generated by resource extraction?

Amartya Sen: Indian economist, Nobel laureate

• Should development be measured by GDP per person?

• What about health?• What about happiness?• What about democracy?• Model of capabilities and

human development: measure development by child mortality rates, education, life expectancy

The Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy index map for 2014. Greener colours represent more democratic countries. Full democracies: 9.00-9.99 8.00-8.99 (dark greens)Flawed democracies: 7.00-7.99 6.00-6.99 (lighter greens)Hybrid regimes: 5.00-5.99 (yellow) 4.00-4.99 (orange)Authoritarian regimes: 3.00-3.99 (red) 2.00-2.99 (darker red) 1.00-1.99 (brown) Insufficient information, not rated

Do economic growth and human development go hand in hand?

Or can one have a wealthy economy and lack support for human development and capabilities?

James Ferguson

• What is globalization?• What is his argument about

globalization and Africa?• What did you agree with?• What did you disagree with?• Was his point supported or

contradicted by other readings we have done?

Rwandan Genocide

• From April to July 1994, members of the Hutu ethnic majority in the east-central African nation of Rwanda murdered as many as 800,000 people, mostly of the Tutsi minority, mainly by machete.

• Begun by extreme Hutu nationalists in the capital of Kigali, the genocide spread throughout the country with staggering speed and brutality, as ordinary citizens were incited by local officials and the Hutu Power government to take up arms against their neighbors.

• Process of reconciliation after the genocide• Rwanda now experiencing a lot of economic

growth and a repressive regime

Causes of Rwanda’s Genocide

• Most sources attribute it to long-standing ethnic tensions.

• What is Peter Uvin’s argument?

Structural Violence vs. Acute Violence

• Definitions of these terms• Infant mortality (Deaths per 1,000 live births):

• Life expectancy at birth:

• Does structural violence cause acute violence in the US?

Location Non-Hispanic White Non-Hispanic Black Hispanic

United States 5.3 12.2 5.4

Location White African-American Latino Asian-

AmericanNative American

United States 78.9 74.6 82.8 86.5 76.9

What were the Causes of Structural Violence in Rwanda?

Back to Evaluating Uvin’s Argument

• What did you agree with?

• What did you disagree with?

• Was his point supported or contradicted by other readings we have done?