GS C10a midterm

Milton Friedman

Believed that an ideal society should prioritize economic freedom over political freedom by minimizing government intervention and allowing individual self-sufficiency in free markets.

Walter Rodney

Stated that Europe prevents Africa from developing by exploiting its resources, or in other words, underdeveloping it, in his work, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. 

Stuart Hall

critiques how the West represents itself as civilized, whilst categorizing other areas as exotic or in need of advancement.

Franz Fanon

expresses stark disapproval for the European model and colonization because colonization results in subjective new personhood of colonized subjects, in which people must decide how to conceptualize their own identities in a new way.

Amartya Sen

published Development as Freedom, and in it, he wrote that having extended freedoms contributed to making development possible.

Sun Yat Sen

Named the Father of the Xinhai Revolution, he proposed a development plan with industrialization, land reform, improved infrastructure, and better state management.

Global Studies

The study of global connections and issues to better understand international forces like globalization.

International Relations

Focuses on interactions between nations, diplomacy, politics, and foreign policy.

Industrial Revolution

An eighteenth-century technological innovation transformation that replaced labor with capital and energy.

Capital

Wealth in motion, such as money, tools, machines, and resources.

Energy

The fuel for industrialization, with coal being the leading source in Britain.

Labor

Human work exchanged for wages.

Material

Inputs used to make products, e.g., cotton and coffee beans.

Infrastructure

Basic structures improving societal living conditions, e.g., aqueducts and railroads.

Innovation

Transformation of ideas into inventions needed by society.

Policy

Government actions shifting Britain from mercantilism to a freer market system.

British Empire

A vast empire with colonies that supplied markets, raw materials, and contributed to its growth.

Factor proportions

Relative availability of factors of production and proportional amounts of resources available in a nation for production.

Development

The advancement of society based on how people cultivate their natural environment. He also states that individual skills, freedom, and responsibility cannot contribute to development without societal interactions between different groups of people. Amartya Sen defines it as increasing the amount of freedoms people can exercise. 

Underdevelopment

a state in which valuable resources are extracted and exploited to benefit Imperialist colonial powers to develop their own economy.

Base

Represents the economic system and means of productions. Anything economic for the means of production, tech, tools ,etc.

Unfavorable Integration

When a nation's integration into the global economy serves only external resource extraction.

Dependency

Resources flow from underdeveloped countries to developed countries, perpetuating inequality.

Development paradox

A situation where resource-rich countries experience instability instead of proportional economic growth.

Export of surplus

When profits from resources are sent abroad rather than benefiting the nation itself.

The 'west'

A concept developed in Europe that contrasts developed regions (“the west”) with less developed ones (“the other”).

False homogeneity

Assumptions made about non-Western countries that ignore their diversity.

Haitian Revolution

The uprising that led Haiti to independence and the banning of slavery.

Toussaint L'Overture

Leader of the Haitian Revolution known for his guerrilla warfare strategies.

Haitian political economy

Negatively impacted by debt and reliance on imports, affecting domestic development.

Debt

Money that is borrowed and not yet repaid; Haiti is a relevant example.

International Aid and Trade policy

High-interest loans given to Haiti by France that impaired its economy.

Inequality

The disparity between France and Haiti reinforced by debt and power dynamics.

State failure in Haiti

The assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse led to weakened government control and rampant gang violence (state failure) because Moïse had formed a peace deal with gangs.       

Freedom

Friedman believes it is exercised with minimal government intervention, and he believes economic freedom makes political freedom possible. Amartya Sen believes it is the advancements that make development possible, like education, public facilities/infrastructure, and legal and civil rights.

The Chicago Boys

Chilean economists trained under Friedman who implemented neoliberal reforms in Chile.

Friedman’s playbook

Advocates for limited government intervention and freedom of individual exchange.

Pinochet

Replaced Allende in Chile to implement neoliberal policies and counteract communism.

Neoliberalism

Liberalism applied to the economy focusing on free markets and privatization.

Imperialism

The process by which developed nations (typically Western( colonize and exploit other nations.

Cobalt supply chain

The process by which Congo's cobalt is extracted and reaches global markets.

Artisanal miners

Small-scale miners selling cobalt ore to intermediaries.

Battery Manufacturers

Companies that use cobalt to produce rechargeable batteries.

Four pests campaign

Mao Zedong's initiative to eliminate pests that unintentionally worsened famine.

Development indicators

Measures of a nation's development like GDP & GDP per capita, Life expectancy, Literacy, and Inequality; primarily economic.

Liberalism

Aims to pursue freedom and individualism with unregulated economies.

The scramble for Africa

The competition among European powers to colonize African nations.

Opium Wars

Wars between Britain and China over the opium trade, resulting in coerced trade agreements.

Imperial China

Historically advanced nation that created early innovations like the first movable type printing press and paper money.

Deng Xiao Ping economic reforms

Reforms initiated to revitalize China's economy that invited foreign investment, created special economic zones, and gained inspiration from domestic and foreign philosophers/economists that contrasted Mao and USSR’s failing method

Agency

The ability of individuals to act and make independent decisions.

Silver trade

When trading with the Chinese, Europeans often lacked goods that the Chinese wanted, so they had to pay with silver bullion. This caused a silver shortage in Europe.

Superstructure

Not related to production forces; includes cultural and legal elements that support the base. Society created by base