1GEOG 4712: Political GeographyLecture 15: Geographic Approaches to Uneven Developmenta.n. fischer, 2007outline1) Context2) Keywords3) Approa ches4) Authors5) Arguments6) Measurements7) Pyrotechnics8) Statistic s9) Metrics10) Structures11) HybridsTechnical Progress in Travel TimeE Staley. 1939. World Economy in TransitionNew York: Council on Foreign Relations2Context: space > timeD. Harvey. 1989.The Condition of PostmodernityKeywords1) Poverty2) Inequality3) Income4) Modernization5) Development6) Employment7) Growth8) Globalization9) Regulation10) Neoliberalism11) Standard of Living12) Quality of Lifethe Economist, 20093Approaches + Interpretations:uneven development geographies1) Historicist/diffusionist*innovations defeat “backwardness”2) Constructivist * (under)development as discourse3) Environmentalist* accidents of nature4) Geopolitical* territorial vs. capitalistic logicsauthors + genealogies4Argument I: (neo)classical"The key to ending extreme poverty is to enable the poorest of the poor to gettheir foot on the ladder of development. The ladder of development hoversoverhead, and the poorest of the poor are stuck beneath it. They lack theminimum amount of capital necessary to get a foothold, and therefore need aboost up to the first rung. "Jeffrey D. SachsMeasurements + Visualizations“The wretched dollar” HDI change 1975-20005Pretty PowerPointhttp://www.gapminder.org/videos/gapcasts/gapcast-4-globalization/Just the facts? growththe EconomistAugust, 20086Just the facts? inequality• Aim: Measuring changes in material well-being like incomehelps evaluate effectiveness of policies affecting inequality• Use: Generating data required to use inequality asexplanatory variable in policy analysis is complex• Critique: metrics never neutral but instrument of power• Techniques:– Range --Range Ratio– Coefficient of Variation --The Gini Coefficient --Lorenz CurveDistribution, proportion, comparison, migration7Argument II: criticalStructures“It is a very common device that when anyone has attained asummit of greatness, he kicks away the ladder by which hehas climbed up, in order to deprive others of the means ofclimbing up after him.” (F. List, 1841)8Alternatives: Hybrids. Hierarchies.
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