Juliana Morais de Goés
December 13, 2019
... /decolonial critiques to the concept of development. More specifically, it focuses on the following questions
This activity consists of an introduction to how post/decolonial scholars approach development
Apply the post/decolonial critique to the United States’ and Cuba’s indicators of development.
to development to the Unites States and Cuba using statistics from the Human Development Reports for the United
the ‘developing’ ones in all aspects. I asked you to work with the wrong data, previously, to highlight these stereotypes.”
Finally, students may be curious about how Cuba improved its statistics. Thus, the instructor may be interested in the following material:
· Chomsky, A., Carr, B., Prieto, A., & Smorkaloff, P. M. (Eds.) (2019). The Cuba reader: history, culture, politics. Duke University Press.
· Salazar, L. S. (Ed.) (2019). Cuba en revolución: miradas em torno a su sessenta aniversario. CLACLSO.
Assessment
After the activity, ask the students to write one/two paragraphs answering the question: What are the post/decolonial critiques to hegemonic ideas on development? Apply these critiques comparing the Unites States and Cuba. Give to the students the table 2 to help with their answers.
A model answer should (i) mention that there are many definitions of the development; (ii) explain that, according to post/decolonial theories, the imposition of one concept of development can promote colonialism and imperialism; and (iii) apply these critiques debating why Cuba is considered a developing country even though has better indicators in some areas than the United States.
Key words: Theory; Development; Decolonialism; Postcolonialism
If you are using this TRAILS resource, please include a clear and legible citation.
Appendix:
Cuban Human Development Indicators: http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/CUB
American Cuban Human Development Indicators: http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/USA
Human Development Index: http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-index-hdi What is development? An introduction to the post/decolonial critique (part one)
Analyze the table and answer the questions below:
Table 1: Comparation between Cuba and United States
Cuba
United States
Life expectancy at birth (years)
79.5
79.9
Literacy rate, adult (% ages 15 and older)
82*
99.8
Share of seats in parliament (% held by women)
19.7
48.9
Unemployment, total (% of labour force)
4.4
2.6
Homicide rate (per 100,000 people)
5.4
5.0
Prison population (per 100,000 people)
698
510
Suicide rate, female (per 100,000 people)
5.8
4.2
Suicide rate, male (per 100,000 people)
19.5
17.0
*The Human Development Report don’t have the literacy rate for this country. Nevertheless, its government provides the present statistical in the following website: https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/piaac/results/summary.aspx.
1. Do the statistics represent development?
2. If yes, what do you think is the cause of the underdevelopment of the country with the worse numbers?
3. Should the country with the better numbers intervene to help the other one?
What is development? An introduction to the post/decolonial critique (part two)
Analyze the table and answer the question below:
Table 2: Comparation between Cuba and United States – Real data
Cuba
United States
Life expectancy at birth (years)
79.9
79.5
Literacy rate, adult (% ages 15 and older)
99.8
82*
Share of seats in parliament (% held by women)
48.9
19.7
Unemployment, total (% of labour force)
2.6
4.4
Homicide rate (per 100,000 people)
5.0
5.4
Prison population (per 100,000 people)
510
698
Suicide rate, female (per 100,000 people)
4.2
5.8
Suicide rate, male (per 100,000 people)
17.0
19.5
*The Human Development Report don’t have the literacy rate for this country. Nevertheless, its government provides the present statistical in the following website: https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/piaac/results/summary.aspx.
1. Do you think your previous answers continue to apply? Why?
Analyze the Human Development Index and answer the questions below:
Figure 1: Human Development Index
Source: http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-index-hdi
1. Why aren’t most of the previous statistics part of the index? Should race and gender equality, incarceration, homicide, unemployment and other indicators be part of the index?
2. Who defines which indicators better capture what development is?
3. Should any country intervene in the politics and/or economics of another country based on the idea of development? ..."
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Subject Area(s):
- Development
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Resource Type(s):
- Class Activity
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Class Level(s):
- Any Level
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Class Size(s):
- Small
- Abstract:
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This activity, based in experiences with popular education, is an introduction to the post/decolonial critiques to the concept of development. More specifically, it focuses on the following questions: What is development? Who defines what is a developed and a...