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The Green Revolution
Definition: A 1960s agricultural modernization initiative developed by the Rockefeller Foundation that introduced high-yield crops, fertilizers, and mechanization to increase food production, particularly in developing countries.
Explain why this term/name is significant to the course and its central themes:
Short-term gains, long-term harm – Boosted food supply but caused environmental damage & farmer debt.
Highlights the unintended consequences of Western-led development initiatives on poverty and inequality.
Enclosure
Definition: Historical process in England (17th–19th centuries) where common land was privatized, forcing peasants off communal farmland and into wage labor. The Enclosure Acts legalized this shift, creating a landless working class.
Significance:
Key driver of capitalism – Forced people into factories as cheap labor.
Ties into global poverty by showing how structural forces displace people and force dependency on capitalist markets.
Milton Friedman
Definition: Milton Friedman was an influential American economist strong advocate for free-market capitalism and minimal government intervention in the economy
Significance:
His ideas influenced Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs), which forced developing countries to adopt market-driven policies in exchange for IMF/World Bank loans.
A key figure in neoliberal economics, advocating for free markets, privatization, and reduced government intervention
Tribalism
Definition: refers to strong loyalty to one’s own social or ethnic group, often at the expense of broader cooperation. It is sometimes used to explain political conflicts or economic underdevelopment.
Significance:
Ties into global poverty by influencing post-colonial nation-building and conflicts that disrupt economic stability.
Often used to describe ethnic or cultural divisions in developing nations, but can be a colonial construct used to justify external intervention.
The Opium Wars
Definition: The Opium Wars (1839–1860) were conflicts between Britain and China, where Britain forced China to accept opium trade despite its harmful effects. China resisted but was defeated, leading to unequal treaties and British control over Hong Kong.
Significance:
Ties into themes of economic sovereignty, development, and neocolonialism in modern trade policies.
Demonstrates how global capitalism has historically been built through coercion, war, and exploitation.
The Monroe Doctrine
Definition: A U.S. foreign policy doctrine (1823) stating that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign powers is a potentially hostile act against the United States
Significance:
Justified U.S. imperialism – Allowed interventions in Latin America.
Highlights neocolonial control over developing economies through political and economic dominance.
Doing Business Report
Definition: Annual World Bank publication ranking countries on their business-friendliness, based on ease of starting businesses, regulations, and labor laws. Discontinued in 2021 following data manipulation scandals.
Significance:
Promotes neoliberalism – Encourages deregulation and privatization.
Reflects global economic governance and how international institutions influence development policies in ways that may worsen inequality.
Hides human costs – Favors corporate profits over worker rights.
The Reserve System
Definition: A colonial policy that forcibly confined indigenous people to small, controlled areas (reservations), restricting their movement and economic activity.
Significance:
Tied to land dispossession – Enclosure for indigenous people.
Maintains inequality – Reserves keep indigenous people in poverty and dependency.
Highlights how colonialism created lasting economic disadvantages that persist today.
John Locke
Definition: John Locke was an Enlightenment philosopher who argued for private property rights and the idea that land ownership comes from labor. He also justified colonialism by claiming unused land could be rightfully taken.
Significance:
Justified land dispossession – Used to rationalize taking land from indigenous people.
Influenced capitalism – His emphasis on private property is foundational to today’s economic system.
His work laid ideological foundations for modern economic liberalism, influencing global inequality.
