Tag: Dependency Theory

Why is Haiti in a State of Anarchy?

Haiti is in a state of anarchy, controlled by violent street gangs due to a power vacuum. Factors like historical debts, dictatorial rule, and natural disasters led to poverty and gang recruitment. After the 2010 earthquake, aid mismanagement and lack of leadership worsened conditions. A federation of 12 gangs, led by Jimmy Chérizier, currently holds power, resisting political reestablishment. Efforts to restore order include international intervention and plans for elections in 2026. Despite the chaos, there is still hope for a better future in Haiti.

Haiti is currently in a state of anarchy.  There is no functioning government and the country is effectively in control of numerous violent street gangs.

There are currently an estimated 300 gangs in Haiti, consisting of around 40 000 members. At the moment the most powerful group of 12 gangs are organised into a federation headed by Jimmy Chérizier, nicknamed Barbecue.

The gangs control most of the capital, Port au Prince, and rule through fear and violence. Kidnappings for ransom are a daily occurrence, which many of the gangs use to raise funds. 

40% of the police are corrupt or liaising with the gangs. 

Why has Haiti descended into anarchy…?

This was the topic of a recent Radio Four podcast in which Mike Thomson explores the longer term history behind Haiti’s current precarious situation. 

At least the following factors explain Haiti’s descent into anarchy:

  • Longer term structural factors: more than a century of paying reparations to ex-colonial rulers France, more than $20 billion.
  • Half a decade of brutal dictatorial and military rule in the mid 20th century
  • Natural disasters – hurricanes and an earthquake since 2000.

All of these have contributed to grinding poverty in Haiti and left a modern day power vacuum which gangs have walked into!

Longer Term Structural Factors 

Haiti declared independence from France in 1804, following a revolt from slaves. It was the second country in the Americas to ever gain independence. Haiti was also the first country in world history to gain independence after a successful slave revolt. 

Following Haitian independence, Napoleon demanded hundreds of millions of dollars in reparations for the country’s former slave owners. Haiti’s new leaders complied with this in order to avoid going to war with France. 

This had a hugely damaging long term effect on the Haitian economy. Over the next several decades an estimated 50-70% of Haiti’s national income was used to service this debt. This scuppered any chances of positive economic and social development. 

In 2003 the then president of Haiti calculated that Haiti had paid $21 billion to France over the years. He publicly declared France should pay this back. However, France refused to repay a single cent, let alone apologise for enslaving Haitians in the first place. 

All of this is in line with classic dependency theory arguments. Dependency theory argues that the long history of colonialism and exploitation are to blame for underdevelopment today. 

20th Century Dictatorships 

In 1957 Francois Devalier, popularly known as Papa Doc,  won the presidential elections and became ‘President for Life’. He went on to  establish a brutal dictatorial rule. He maintained power through his paramilitary wing, the Tonton Macoute. These were well armed and loyal only to Papa Doc and his estate. They drove fear into the majority of Haitians through visible displays of violence on the streets. There was zero tolerance of criticism of the regime, anyone who spoke out against it was imprisoned or killed.  

To find out more about Papa Doc’s rule you might like to watch this documentary with Alan Wicker, from the 1960s…

Papa Doc died in 1971 but his son, popularly known as Baby Doc, immediately took over, and carried on the brutal regime for another 15 years. 

After almost 30 years of dictatorship an estimated 40 000 people had been killed by the regime.  

In 1986 there was a popular uprising that led to the fall of the dictatorship. Baby Doc and his family were forced to leave the country. Celebrations, however, were short lived as this created a power vacuum which was filled by the military. 

There were two military coups in the next two years until elections in 1990 brought Jean Bertrande Aristide to Power. However,  only six  months later he was overthrown in another coup and Astride went into exile in the U.S. for three years. 

Astride returned to Haiti 1994 with the help of the then American President Bill Clinton and 20 000 American troops.  On his return Astride disbanded the Haitian arm, to prevent further military coups from happening.  

This created a security gap which led to street-based military forces forming, in other words this was the beginning of the era of freelance gangs backing a range of political leaders. 

These gangs were possibly worse than Papa Doc’s Tonton Acuoute. They were just as brutal as the previous paramilitary wing, but this new wave of gangs lack any structure or accountability, and so there is no control over them. 

Post 2000 Natural Disasters and Aid Mismanagement 

Grinding poverty in Haiti has long been a fertile recruiting ground for gangs. And a series of natural disasters has made it impossible for standards of living to improve. If anything, living standards have declined over the last few decades. 

Haiti was plagued by Hurricanes in the 2000s making it difficult to improve the day to day conditions of the Haitian people. 

In 2010 a devastating earthquake struck, killing an estimated 300 000 people. Haiti received more than $13 billion in international aid to reconstruct after the earthquake.

The aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti in 2010.

However Haitians themselves had little say in how the aid money was spent. The international aid donors didn’t ask the Haitians what they needed. As a result many development projects got approved but few got off the ground. Many development initiatives weren’t relevant to the Haitians, so the aid did little to promote economic or social development.

In the decade that followed the earthquake, what the country needed was strong leadership, but this was lacking, so there was nothing to keep the gang’s power in check. 

Haitian Gangs since 2020

Since 2020 gangs have controlled most of the Haitian capital, Port au Prince, and by 2021 gangs had so much power that the president was assassinated in his own home. This sends out the message that no one in the political elite is safe. 

The most powerful body in Port au Prince at the moment is a federation of 12 gangs headed by a former police officer, Jimmy Chérizier, nicknamed Barbecue. 

Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Cherizier.

The Federation sees itself as working on behalf of the Haitian people and is resistant to any formal political power base being re-established. 

In March 2024 gangs stormed the prison in Port au Prince releasing thousands of prisoners. 

There is currently a Transitional Council in Haiti who are working towards setting up elections in 2026, but the Federation is actively trying to stop this from taking place. 

Routes out of Anarchy…?

There are plans to put in place some kind of international intervention force. There is a deal for Kenyan forces to entire Haiti to try and restore order and the US has pledged $40 million towards this. 

Some people in Haiti are getting nostalgic for the days of Papa Doc’s dictatorship. 

They had schools, hospitals and people felt safe as a general rule, as the old style paramilitaries had more of a sense of order. 

These new gangs are much more chaotic and unpredictable, and there is a lot of infighting between them. 

Possibly the most miraculous thing is that after two centuries of turmoil, the Haitian people still have hope for a better future! 

Relevance to A-Level Sociology

The history of Haiti is most relevant to several areas within globalisation and global development.

Find out More

To find out more about the chaos of modern gang warfare in Haiti. 

The Week (March 2024) Haiti: Who is Jimmy Cherizier aka Barbecue, gang leader threatening civil war? 

BBC – Haiti Country Profile.

Theories of Development applied to Health

As a genera rule, people in developing countries suffer from poorer health than people in developed countries – with higher rates of deaths from preventable causes resulting in higher child mortality rates and lower life expectancies.

Theories of development aim to explain why this is the case and what the most effective solutions to improving health should be.

Modernisation Theory

Modernization Theorists would expect health patterns of developing countries to follow those of the developed world in the past. They believe that developing countries are entering the ‘epidemiological transition’ associated with economic development and rising GDP

Before the transition, infectious diseases are widespread and are the major causes of death; life expectancy is low and infant mortality high. With Industrialisation, urbanisation and economic growth come improvements in nutrition, hygiene and sanitation which lead to falling death rates from infectious diseases. After the transition, health improves.

It follows that the best way for developing countries to improve the health of the nation is to focus on industrialization, urbanization and economic growth. Improvements in health should follow.

Modernisation Theorists also argue that targeted aid can play a role in improving the health of developing nations

This can mainly be done through ‘Selective biomedical intervention’ – Such as mass immunization against disease, or distributing vitamin supplements to populations, or handing out mosquito nets.  One of the best examples of this is the work of the Bill and Melinda Gate’s Foundation work on combatting Malaria, the reduction of which has been one the great success stories of the last decade.

The eradication of Smallpox is a good example of this strategy working:

One limitation of using selective biomedical intervention is that theexpense means that it is difficult to maintain, and, where the distribution of mosquito nets is concerned, this may lead to choking off local entrepreneurs, as Dambisa Moyo argued in ‘Dead Aid’.

Dependency Theory

Dependency Theory points out that attempts by developing countries to improve health may actually be hindered by the West

Firstly, if you remember, Dependency Theorists point out that it is exploitation by developed countries that keep developing countries poor and they receive very little income from their dealings in world trade which means there is little money left over for investment in health care. 

Secondly, there is the problem of the ‘brain drain’ from the developing to the developed world. At least one in ten doctors in the west has been poached from the developing world – it is obviously much more appealing for people in Africa and Asia to work in Britain where they can receive several times the salary they would in their native country.

Thirdly, Many African companies have had to pay high costs for pharmaceuticals manufactured by Western corporations. This is especially true of AIDS drugs. Western companies are thus accused of exploiting desperate people in Africa.

Finally, some Transnational Corporations have actually contributed to health problems through selling products that would not be regarded as safe in the West, not to mention polluting in the pursuit of profit. 

Relevance to A Level Sociology

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How does Colonialism Shape the World We Live In? (1/5)

This 2019 Live Stream from Al Jazeera is a good resource for students studying the Global Development option in A-level sociology.

They asked the question: how does colonialism shape the world we live in today, and fielded responses from the audience who took part via #BecauseColonialism

Below I summarise part 1 of what is a week long series of discussions around the topic!

Context

By the beginning of the 19th century most regions of the world had been colonised by European powers – with colonialism being an exploitative and extractive process, with some colonising powers introducing slavery and practicing genocide.

Some of the more obvious legacies of colonialism on the colonised regions include language and cultural and religious traditions which were inherited during the colonial period,

Negative consequences include and ethnic divisions which remain to this day, but some argue that governance physical infrastructures benefitted some colonised regions.

Participants/ Structure

The participants in this stream include:

  • Priyamvada Gopal author of Insurgent Empire: Anticolonial Resistance and British Dissent
  • Miguel de Barros, president of the association of history teachers in Portugal.
  • Akin Adesokan, associate professor of Literature, Indiana University.

The starting point for the livestream is a tweet by someone pointing out how they think colonialism currently affects their life – pointing out how they still proudly use English names, how Wikipedia entries tend to have the European conquest date as the starting point, and that most people can’t name 20 things about their Tribe.

Priya states that she wouldn’t be an English lecturer if it were not for colonialism – because the English colonisers (following Lord Macorly’s 1835 Minute) wanted to use education to create a class of Indians who were ‘English in every way but blood or colour’ to act as interpreters for the English rulers to the Indian masses. Her ancestors were part of that class.

Miguel was born in Angola when it was still a Portuguese colony, returning to Portugal in 1975.

He explains how he never questioned anything – the fact that it was only white people living in nice houses in cities and black people as servants and living in their tribes outside of cities – that was just normal to him.

They now take a couple of comments from the livestream audience which picks up on how colonialism still exists in the ‘economic realm’ – with most capital being invested in Europe and only small amounts being invested in ex colonies.

One of the legacies of this is many talented people from poorer countries seek job opportunities abroad because of the lack of them at home.

Akin says although he grew up in Nigeria, an ex-British colony, he doesn’t feel as if he had a classic colonial experience, because Nigeria was independent by the time he was born.

However he thinks that what he calls ‘American cultural imperialism’ is far more significant today – despite being politically independent during his Youth, Nigeria was flooded with American cultural values, and he suggests this is the reason why so many Nigerians aspire to wanting to leave the country (when in reality there’s nothing wrong with traditional Nigerian values, my addition.)

Capitalism is very much tied up with the colonial project and you cannot understand colonialism without understand capitalism – and so in this sense colonialism is not in the past, as we all have to live with a capitalist system today!

Although the mantle of the imperial project has shifted over the years – from Europe to America, but now also to Brazil, India and China who are increasingly becoming involved in land appropriation and resource extraction.

Were there any Positives of Colonialism?

This question is posed 12 minutes in and this video clip from Monty Python’s Life of Brian is used to illustrate one argument:

‘What have the Romans ever given us in return’?

Miguel points out that comparing Roman colonisation with European is unfair because the later was more rapid and brutal and extractive – they simply had more means available to them!

Calls this the ‘India Railways argument – quoting Walter Rodney, the Guyana’n anti-colonialist who reminded use that the colonisers didn’t built railways so Indians could visit their friends, they built them so they could extract resources – they invariably led to the ports!

Miguel also argues that in many Latin American countries, we still need decolonlisation from within – as countries such as Brazil have clear dividing lines between those descended from Europeans and those who were not, with the government of Brazil, for example, tending to side with the former today.

Colonialism and Modernity

One argument raised is that while Colonialism was violent and extractive, it also brought with it modernity – which was a liberalising force – and so while the colonisers might not have been in Africa and India for the benefit of the people – some of the positive, liberal values of modernity filtered down to the people over the decades, which was a positive process, and maybe made de-colonisation inevitable in the end?!?

What would have happened without Colonialism?

We don’t know, ultimately, as there are so few examples of uncolonised regions.

In Africa, Ethiopia was for a very long time the only area to remain uncolonised but eventually even that fell prey to Mussolini.

The idea that mass blood shed and extraction is worth it for a couple of airports and railways is a bit silly!

Colonialism and Corruption

The colonial powers depended on corrupt, self-serving indigenous elites to run the countries for them, and when the European powers eventually pulled out it was those corrupt elites who took over the reigns of power – and colonialism didn’t just come to an end, the European powers maintained huge stakes in the ex colonies and we had neo-colonialism for a long time.

How do you teach colonial history in a country which used to have colonies?

The show wraps up with an interesting point by Miguel who says there is resistance among older Portuguese people to teaching the darker side of colonialism, because they were taught a more positive narrative, but things are changing!

Relevance to A-level sociology

The main use for the above resource is to provide students with an evaluation of Dependency Theory – all three authors seem to be agreeing that there is still a lingering legacy of colonialism, and it’s primarily the colonising powers which have benefited.

Moreover, they seem to agree that aspects of colonialism are still with us today!

Outline and explain two criticisms other theories of development might make of dependency theory (10)

World Systems Theory (WST) criticises dependency theory (DT) because there is evidence that poorer, ex-colonies can develop within the modern world capitalist system.

Dependency theory tended to see the ‘root cause’ of underdevelopment as rich world governments (or nation states) – they believed poor countries remained poor following a history of colonialism where powerful countries such as Britain colonised other areas of the globe, for example India and many African countries and took control of these regions politically and economically, running them for their own benefit.

Dependency theory believed the unequal relationship between the coloniser and colonised (or core and satellite) disadvantaged poor countries to such an extent that they were still in a state of dependency when the colonial powers left in the 1950s and 1960s. The ex colonies were effectively turned into the exporters of low value primary products such as Tea, which kept them poor.

HOWEVER, WST points out that today nation states have lost their power to control poor countries, and that there are ex colonies which have developed by becoming semi-periphery countries, or manufacturing – India and Mexico are good examples.

Another criticism WST makes of DT is that rich ex coloniser countries can go down the development hierarchy because Nation States are no longer the most powerful actors in the modern global system controlled more by TNCs and the WTO.

A second criticism of Dependency Theory comes from People Centred Development.

DT still saw industrialisation as the root to development for poor countries, except that it should be controlled by nation states (socialism).

PCD criticises this as horrific things still happened through socialist development – as in Russia and China, and also point out that the nation state may be too large to take into account the diverse wishes of many local communities.

PCD would rather see much more diverse, localised forms of development, decided on by the people, rather than development imposed by nation states.

 

Dependency Theory – Revision Notes

Dependency Theory claims that Colonialism had a negative impact on the satellite territories in Africa, Asia and Latin America; that neocolonialism keeps the ex colonial master rich and the ex colonies poor, and that in order to develop the ex colonies need to isolate themselves from the capitalist system, protect themselves from the ‘free market’ and develop internally, through socialism for example.

Colonialism made rich countries rich and poor countries poor

  1. Stealing land and resources which decimated local populations through slavery, disease and displacement of local populations.
  2. Increasing ethnic conflict by selecting one ‘pro-European group’ to govern over all other ethnic groups in the territories.
  3. Turning the colonies into mono-crop plantation systems, dependent on low value agricultural exports, which hampered their development post-independence.
  4. MOST IMPORTANTLY (and most difficult to understand and evaluate) – colonialism established a world capitalist system which locked poorer countries into unequal power relations with richer countries – if poor countries wished to develop within the system, they required expensive imports from the industrialised European powers. For this reason, poor countries will always remain poor within this system.

Neo-Colonalism keeps poor countries poor because:

  1. Unfair terms of Trade and unfair trade rules lock poor countries into unequal relationships with the west
  2. Transnational Corporations play a major role in exploiting countries today, not just rich countries
  3. Aid through the World Bank is used by rich countries to promote ‘neoliberal’ policies which make rich countries easier to exploit.

To develop, developing countries need to isolate themselves from the capitalist system (protectionism)

Dependency Theory argued  that developing countries should seek to break away from the world capitalist system and find their own path way to development – mainly through socialism – development through socialism means countries focus on their own development, seeking to produce everything for themselves rather than integrating into a global trade system.

 

Glencore – The World’s Worst Transnational Corporation?

Glencore is one of the world’s largest commodities companies – it operates in 150 countries extracting natural resources such as iron and copper, but also has interests in  coal and oil, as well as numerous agricultural products.

Swiss commodities trader Glencore's logo is seen in front of its headquarters in Baar

Glencore – key facts and stats

  • It is registered in Switzerland
  • Has £128 billion in assets (2015)
  • Had a revenue in 2016 of $150 billion
  • Employs 150 000 people globally
  • The CEO is Ivan Glassenberg, who has a total net worth of around $5 billion.

Glencore revenue
Glencore’s total revenue over the last decade  = around $1.6 trillion

Criticisms of Glencore

Below are some arguments and evidence that Glencore is an example of a Transnational Company which is not really interested in promoting development in poor countries, but really just interested in extracting as much as it can for as cheaply as possible. 

Glencore commodities
Glencore – extracting commodities from 6 continents

Glencore has been widely criticized because it has made staggering profits by extracting huge volumes of natural resources out of poor countries. To put the size of Glencore in perspective, the annual revenue of the company is 10 times greater than the GDP of Zambia.

The 2013 video below documents how the company struck a deal with Zambia to mine its copper in which it extracts around $1 billion of copper per year but pays only 8% tax to the government, and gets free electricity for its mines into the bargain (paid for by the government).

This report from War on Want estimates that a combination of poor trade deals and tax avoidance costs the Zambian government $3 billion/ year, or 10% of its GPP. The report isn’t limited to just Glencore, it focuses on other mining companies such as Vedanta, none of these companies comes off as effectively promoting development in poor countries.

Glencore has also come under heavy criticisms for poor health and safety conditions in many of its mines, its record on environmental pollution and benefitting from child labour in the DRC.

Further Sources

Students might like to use these sources to assess the role of the TNC Glencore in promoting economic and social development in poor countries.

Glencore Wikipedia entry (useful for basic history/ stats)

Glencore’s ‘Supporting Development’ page – have a look at Zambia and the DRC.

Glencore paid £30 000 to compensate for a pollution related death – Guardian article

Criticisms of Glencore in Zambia by Facing Finance 

Glencore denies benefitting from child labour in DRC – Guardian article

 

 

 

The End of Poverty? A Documentary taking a ‘Dependency Theory’ View of Underdevelopment and Development

This 2008 Documentary seeks to answer the question of why there is still so much poverty in the world when there is sufficient wealth to eradicate it.

In order to answer this question, the video goes back to 1492, which marks the start of European colonialism and the beginning of the global capitalist system, making the argument that European wealth was built on the back of a 500 year project of extraction and exploitation of the Americas, and then Asia and Africa.

Using various case studies of countries including Venezula, Bolivia, and Kenya the video charts how brutal colonial policies made the colonies destitute while the wealth extracted led to the establishment of global finance, the industrial revolution, and the foundation of a global capitalist system which locked poor countries into unequal relations with rich countries.

Following Independence, a combination of unfair trade rules  and debt, managed through global institutions such as the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation have effectively kept these unequal relationships between countries in place, meaning wealthy countries have got richer while many ex-colonies have remained destitute.

This video is quite heavy going, and jumps around from continenent to continent a bit too much for my liking, which, combined with a lot of sub-titles (as many of the people interviewed are not English-speakers) does make it quite hard to follow. Nonetheless, this video does offer a systematic account of a Dependency Theory view of underdevelopment and development, including interviews with numerous politicians and activists from development countries as critical thinkers such as Amartya Sen, Joseph Stiglitz and Naomi Klein, among many more.

A Very Brief History of the Democratic Republic of Congo

This year I’m using the DRC as a major case study in underdevelopment (it is last on the UN’s HDI rankings after all) – Here’s my (mainly cut and paste from Wikipedia) very brief history of the DRC – I’ll add in video links, general links, pictures and extracts from numerous books later… 

The Stuff in italics below each heading are the ‘key historical reasons for underdevelopment’

Pre-Colonialism

It was quite nice, suggesting Western Nation States f***ed The Congo Up 

[Pre-Colonialism, tribes in the region were doing pretty well for themselves – Organised into the Kingdom of Luba, according to Wikipedia – Each of these kingdoms became very wealthy due mainly to the region’s mineral wealth, especially in ores. The civilization began to develop and implement iron and copper technology, in addition to trading in ivory and other goods. The Luba established a strong commercial demand for their metal technologies and were able to institute a long-range commercial net (the business connections extended over 1,500 kilometres (930 miles), all the way to the Indian Ocean). By the 16th century, the kingdom had an established strong central government based on chieftainship.’

The African Congo Free State (1877–1908) – Colonialism, Brutalisation and Extraction

History of Colonialism

King Leopold II of Belgium formally acquired rights to the Congo territory at the Conference of Berlin in 1885 and made the land his private property and named it the Congo Free State.Leopold’s regime began various infrastructure projects, such as construction of the railway that ran from the coast to the capital of Leopoldville (now Kinshasa). It took years to complete. Nearly all such projects were aimed at increasing the capital which Leopold and his associates could extract from the colony, leading to exploitation of Africans.

Rubber was the main export from the Congo Free State, used to make tyres for the growing automobile industry, and the sale of rubber made a fortune for Leopold.

Leopold’s colonization of the Congo was incredibly brutal. Thousands of Congolese were forced to work on Leopold’s Rubber plantations, and the practice of cutting off the limbs of the natives as a means of enforcing rubber quotas was widespread. During the period of 1885–1908, millions of Congolese died as a consequence of exploitation and disease. In some areas the population declined dramatically; it has been estimated that sleeping sickness and smallpox killed nearly half the population in the areas surrounding the lower Congo River.

The actions of the Free State’s administration sparked international protests led by British reporter Edmund Dene Morel and British diplomat/Irish rebel Roger Casement, whose 1904 report on the Congo condemned the practice. Famous writers such as Mark Twainand Arthur Conan Doyle also protested.

The Belgian Congo (1908–1960) – Colonialism, Condescension and More Extraction

In 1908, the Belgian parliament took over the Free State from the king. From then on, as a Belgian colony, it was called the Belgian Congo and was under the rule of the elected Belgian government. The governing of the Congo improved significantly and considerable economic and social progress was achieved. The white colonial rulers had, however, generally a condescending, patronizing attitude toward the indigenous peoples, which led to bitter resentment from both sides. During World War II, the Congolese army achieved several victories against the Italians in North Africa.

Independence and Political crisis (1960–1965) – Turmoil and Transition

The Belgian Congo achieved independence on 30 June 1960 under the name ‘The Democratic Republic of Congo’. Just previous to this, in May a growing nationalist movement, led by Patrice Lumumba, had won the parliamentary elections. The party appointed Lumumba as Prime Minister. Shortly after independence, most of the 100,000 Europeans who had remained behind after independence fled the country, opening the way for Congolese to replace the European military and administrative elite.

On 5 September 1960, Kasavubu dismissed Lumumba from office. Lumumba declared Kasavubu’s action unconstitutional and a crisis between the two leaders developed. Lumumba had previously appointed Joseph Mobutu chief of staff of the new Congo army. Taking advantage of the leadership crisis between Kasavubu and Lumumba, Mobutu garnered enough support within the army to create mutiny. With financial support from the United States and Belgium, Mobutu paid his soldiers privately. Mobutu took power in 1965 and in 1971 changed the country’s name to the “Republic of Zaïre”.

Mobutu and Zaire (1965 – 1996) – Dictatorship (propped up by the United States), extreme corruption, yet more extraction and infrastructure deterioration

Corruption, Aid, The United States, Cold War

The new president had the support of the United States because of his staunch opposition to Communism. Western powers appeared to believe this would make him a roadblock to Communist schemes in Africa.

A one-party system was established, and Mobutu declared himself head of state. He periodically held elections in which he was the only candidate. Although relative peace and stability were achieved, Mobutu’s government was guilty of severe human rights violations, political repression, a cult of personality and corruption. By 1984, Mobutu was said to have $4 billion (USD), an amount close to the country’s national debt, deposited in a personal Swiss bank account. International aid, most often in the form of loans, enriched Mobutu while he allowed national infrastructure such as roads to deteriorate to as little as one-quarter of what had existed in 1960.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Mobutu was invited to visit the United States on several occasions, meeting with U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. In June 1989, Mobutu was the first African head of state invited for a state visit with newly elected President Bush. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, however, U.S. relations with Mobutu cooled, as he was no longer deemed necessary as a Cold War ally.

The first and second Congo Wars (1996 – 2003) – Rwanda’s Ethnic conflict heads west while neighbouring nations plough in and extract resources    

End of the Cold War, Ethnic Conflict, Rwanda, Resource Curse

By 1996, following the Rwandan Civil War and genocide and the ascension of a Tutsi-led government, Rwandan Hutu militia forces (Interahamwe) had fled to eastern Zaire and began refugees camps as a basis for incursion against Rwanda. These Hutu militia forces soon allied with the Zairian armed forces to launch a campaign against Congolese ethnic Tutsis in eastern Zaire.

A coalition of Rwandan and Ugandan armies, led by Lawrence Kabila, then invaded Zaire to overthrow the government of Mobutu, launching the First Congo War. By May 1997, Kabila had made it to the capital Kinshasa, named himself president and changed the name of the country back to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mobutu was forced to flee the country.

However, a few months later, President Kabila asked foreign military forces to return back to their countries because he was concerned that the Rwandan military officers who were running his army were plotting a coup against him. Consequently, Rwandan troops in DRC retreated to Goma and launched a new Tutsi led rebel military movement (the RCD) to fight against their former ally, President Kabila, while Uganda instigated the creation of another rebel movement called the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC), led by the Congolese warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba. The two rebel movements, along with Rwandan and Ugandan troops, started the Second Congo War by attacking the DRC army in 1998. Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia became involved militarily on the side of the government.

Kabila was assassinated in 2001 and was succeeded by his son Joseph Kabila, who organised multilateral peace talks which to the signing of a peace accord in which Kabila would share power with former rebels. By June 2003 all foreign armies except those of Rwanda had pulled out of Congo. On 30 July 2006 DRC held its first multi-party elections. Joseph Kabila took 45% of the votes and his opponent, Jean-Pierre Bemba took 20%. On 6 December 2006 Joseph Kabila was sworn in as President.

Contemporary Conflicts in the DRC (2003 – Present Day) – Numerous groups fighting over various things

Ethnic Conflict, Rwanda, learned violence.

There are a number of rebel groups still operating mostly in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. It is widely suspected that Rwanda is funding some of these rebel groups. A lot of the recent conflicts seem to go back to the Hutu-Tutsi conflict from Rwanda.

The FDLR -The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda- Consist almost entirely ethnic Hutus who wish to regain power in Rwanda. The FDLR contains some of the ‘original Hutu genociders’ who carried out the genocide in Rwanda and currently have about 7000 troops still in operation in the DRC. Some of the leaders of the FDLR are facing trial for crimes against humanity in the ICCJ

 

 The CNDP – In 2006, the Congolese military declared that it was stopping operations against the FDLR. This lead to some troops mutinying and the foundation of the CNDP, or  The National Congress for the Defence of the People,  mostly consisting of ethnic Tutsis, whose main aim continued to be the eradication of the Hutu FDLR. The CNDP consisted of approximately 8000 troops and was believed to be backed by Rwanda.

The M23 Rebels – In March 2009, The CNDP signed a peace treaty with the government, in which it agreed to become a political party and its soldiers integrated into the national army in exchange for the release of its imprisoned members. Its leader, Lawrence Nkunda was also arrested and is now facing trial at the United Nations Court for ‘Crimes against humanity’.

However (here we go again) in 2009 Bosco Ntaganda, and troops loyal to him mutinied from this new ‘integrated army’ and formed the rebel military March 23 Movement, claiming a violation of the treaty by the government. M23 claims that some CNDP troops have not received jobs in the military as promised by the government and also want some limited political reforms.

M23 is estimated to have around 1500 – 6000 troops and as recently as November 2012, M23 captured the city of Goma, with a population of over 1 million, and the provincial capital of the Kivu Province in Eastern DRC, with the aim of getting its political demands met.

Rwanda is widely suspected of funding this rebel group as well, although both Rwanda and M23 deny this.

Other Rebel Groups – In addition to the above there is on and off fighting amongst other rebel groups. For example, Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army moved from their original bases in Uganda (where they have fought a 20-year rebellion) and South Sudan to DR Congo in 2005.

 

A Level Sociology: Global Development Module Overview

Globalisation and its consequences

  • There are Economic, Cultural and Political elements of Globalisation
  • Optimist view of Globalisation
  • Pessimist view of Globalisation
  • Transformationalist
  • Traditionalist
  • Also…
  • Does Globalisation mean the decline of the nation state?

The problems of defining and measuring development and underdevelopment

  • How should we define and measure development?
  • The strengths and limitations of Western notions and categories of development – 1st, 2nd and 3rd World, North-South Divide, World Bank economic indicators (High to Low Income Countries)
  • The strengths and Limitations of using Economic indicators – mainly GNP/ GNI but also GDP, and HPI
  • The strengths and limitations of using Social Indicators – HDI, MDGs and others…

Different theories of development, underdevelopment and global inequality

  • Modernisation Theory – Internal cultural barriers to Development// Official Development Aid, Industrialisation, Capitalism
  • Dependency Theory – Colonialism, Exploitation and Extraction by the West// Breaking Away/ Socialism
  • World Systems Theory – Global Capitalist System – Core – Periphery –Semi-Periphery// Core Nations tend to remain dominant
  • Neoliberalism – Too much aid breeds corruption// More Trade – Deregulation, Privatisation, Low Taxation
  • People Centred Development – No Fixed path to development// Sustainability/ Democracy/ Justice
  • Bottom Billion– Four Traps//Aid and Fairer Trade and Peace

Aid, debt and trade and their impact on development

  • The strengths and Limitations of Official Development Aid
  • The strengths and Limitations of Non-Governmental Organisation Aid
  • The strengths and Limitations of Private Aid
  • The strengths and Limitations of ‘Free Trade’
  • Lots of complex stuff in the criticisms of the above – About Trade Rules! (Dumping/ Subsidies etc.)
  • The strengths and Limitations of Fair Trade
  • Also be ready for a question about ‘Debt’ and development

The role of transnational corporations, nongovernmental organisations and international agencies in local and global strategies for development. (This is done as part of the previous 4 topics!)

Development in relation to industrialisation and urbanisation

  • Arguments for Industrialisation AND Urbanisation (Modernisation Theory)
  • Arguments against Industrialisation (PCD/ Sustainable Development/ Dependency Theory
  • Arguments against Urbanisation
  • Slums (case studies!)
  • Theories – Dependency Theory/ Global Pessimism

Work, employment, education and health as aspects of development

  • How are they different in the developing world
  • How does poor education etc. act as barriers to development
  • How might improving them promote development?
  • Why might western models not be appropriate to the developing world
  • What are the limitations of each of these strategies in promoting development
  • How important each of these development goals is compared to other development goals
  • Relate all of this to theories of development

 War and Conflict in relation to development

  • The nature of conflict in the developing world (small scale civil wars, not big scale techno wars)
  • Causes of conflict in the less developed world
  • How conflict prevents development
  • The role of the developed world in conflict

Gender and Development

  • The extent of gender inequality and oppression of women in developing countries
  • How might promoting gender equality lead to development?
  • How might women be disadvantaged in the process of development?
  • Why do global gender inequalities exist? Modernisation Theory/ Dependency Theory/ Radical Feminism

Population and Consumption in relation to development

  • Intro – Higher Birth rates in the developing world and population growth.
  • Malthusian Perspectives on the causes and consequences of population growth
  • Malthus
  • Paul Erlich’s Population Bomb (Neo-Malthusianism)
  • Criticisms of Malthusianism (alternative perspectives on the causes and consequences of population growth)
    • Science and Technology can feed more people
    • Increasing wealth = decreasing birth rates (Hans Rosling ) Population Growth is due to decreasing death rates – demographic transition, an indicator of increasing wealth!)
    • Dependency theory arguments – ‘Overpopulation’ is only a problem because of resource scarcity caused by the wests overconsumption (land grabs and bio fuels).
    • Uncertainty
  • Explanations of why birth rates are higher in developing countries
  • Strategies for reducing birth rates in developing countries
  • Both of the last two – contrast modernisation and dependency theories.

 The Environment and Development

  • Context – Development has been fundamentally linked to the burning of fossil fuels, industrialisation, urbanisation and high levels of consumption
  • As a result we now face environmental problems (e.g. global warming, deforestation, pollution, toxic waste).
  • These primarily affect developing countries and harm development (outline how!)
  • Since the early 1990s – the concept of sustainable development has become big news – There are some limited International agreements – e.g. Kyoto Protocol/ MDG7.
  • Limitations of sustainable development –
  • Economic growth comes first, protecting the environment second
  • No legally binding international agreements limiting the burning of fossil fuels
  • Perspectives on what we should do about environmental problems
  • Technocentric
  • Ecocentric

Global Development Revision Notes

If you like this sort of thing, then you might like my Global Development Revision Notes –

 Global Development Notes Cover53 Pages of revision notes covering the following topics within global development:

  1. Globalisation
  2. Defining and measuring development
  3. Theories of development (Modernisation Theory etc)
  4. Aid, trade and development
  5. The role of organisations in development (TNCs etc)
  6. Industrialisation, urbanisation and development
  7. Employment, education and health as aspects of development
  8. Gender and development
  9. War, conflict and development
  10. Population growth and consumption
  11. The environment and sustainable development

 

Dependency Theory Applied to Gender and Development

Dependency theory and Marxist-Feminists would probably point out that many Transnational Corporations are not interested in helping developing countries. Rather, they simply exploit patriarchal values rather than promoting real equality. They do this through taking advantage of ‘women’s material subordination’ – women put up with worse conditions than men because there is no better alternative other than to return to their roles as mothers and unpaid domestic labourers.

Women’s proportion of global supply chain production workers discloses a range of 65% to 90% women in many global supply chains, most obviously the garment industry, and in some countries it is much higher – in China, 75% of garment workers are women, in Bangladesh the figure is 85%, and it rises to 90% in Cambobdia.

The charity War on Want argues that women workers in ‘sweatshops’ in Bangladesh are exploited by the Corporations that employ them (link), although there is a view that this exploitation is gradually leading to greater emancipation for women (link).

From a Dependency perspective, increased participation in the work force also implies increased hazards for women. Women’s jobs outside the home tend to be the lowest earning, least secure, and most dangerous available in the economy, especially in periods of recession that plague most developing countries.

The following video shows the conditions of women working in Bangladesh. Although they work in hazardous and strenuous conditions, most of these women are willing to work in such environments in order to financially support their families.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wqBRWa0fno

On April 24, 2013, Rana Plaza, a garment factory outside of Dhaka, Bangladesh, collapsed, killing at least 1,127 workers. Over half of the casualties were women. In Bangladesh, the garment industry is the largest employer of women, a majority of whom live in rural areas where employment is scarce. In addition, these women are often supporting large extended families, and working for the garment industry is often the only option other than working as a farm hand. Jobs in the garment industry do much to elevate the status of women, but they are often left powerless in the face of harassment and dangerous working conditions. The Bangladesh factory collapse is a prime example of how women are often required to take jobs in dangerous industries with little to no recourse of their own. (Uddin, 2013) To read more on the Bangladesh factory collapse, visit http://www.globalization101.org/manufacturing-after-the-bangladesh-factory-collapse.

The dearth of labour laws, or ignorance and lack of enforcement of the labour codes in practice, allow for the exploitation of women. In Guatemala, women constitute 80 percent of the textile factory sector, and thousands of mostly indigenous women provide services as domestic servants. In both sectors, women have only a precarious claim on the rights to Guatemala’s legally mandated minimum wage, work-week length, leave time, health care under the national social security system, and privacy protections. Often, they are subject to physical and/or sexual abuse, according to Human Rights Watch (Human Rights Watch, 2012).

Unfortunately, even the global nature of business does not confer universal rights for these women. Many U.S.-based companies, such as Target, The Limited, Wal-Mart, GEAR for Sports, Liz Claiborne, and Lee Jeans, have contracts with Guatemalan factories and continue to honor them even if the factories break explicit company policy, such as physically examining women to determine if they are pregnant and denying health care to employees. According to Human Rights Watch, strengthening legal protection for women labourers and increasing their access to legal recourse might cement increased participation in the work as a positive development for women.

Source: http://www.globalization101.org/uploads/File/Women/Women.pdf