Current Research
I am
currently writing a book tentatively entitled Rethinking Development
Alternatives. My aim is to return to some of the grand themes of
development studies, but now in the context of a growing and
interrelated triple crisis of climate change, vast inequalities
and political turmoil. Specifically, I explore this question: how
can societies organize themselves in a rational, fair and
ecologically sustainable manner to meet these overriding challenges
while expanding freedom? The analysis draws heavily upon case
studies drawn from all regions of the global South.
Summary
of Research Contributions since 1980
My
research between 1980 and 2000 integrated the study of national
development strategies with the literature in international
political economy on the nature and impact of dependency and/or
globalization, mainly with reference to Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Politics of Basic Needs (1982) dealt with the feasibility
of various development strategies that would advance the goal
of satisfying basic human needs within dependent economies;
at the time, basic needs was a major intellectual framework
for discussions of poverty alleviation. In The Politics of
Africa's Economic Stagnation (1985) and The Politics of Africa's
Economic Recovery (1993), I explored, first, the political
origins of economic crisis and, secondly, the political economy
of the dominant neoliberal strategy for dealing with this
crisis. Closing the Circle: Democratization and Development
in Africa (2000) focused on national regimes in a context
of global integration. More specifically, it examined the
potential for a "virtuous" circle of democracy,
economic growth, and state-building within the developing
market systems of Africa. Although closing this circle requires
African democrats to overcome massive domestic constraints,
I argued that it also entails reform of the global economy.
Globalization directly occupied my research energies during
2000-2002. I edited and contributed to Civilizing Globalization:
A Survival Guide (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2003),
which is inspired by a vision of a social-democratic globalization
that contrasts with the dominant neoliberal vision.
This
book presents the following case:
- unfettered global markets harbour destructive tendencies;
- the solution is not to abandon markets but to regulate
them in a way that subordinates market forces to social
and ecological needs;
- such a program entails a complementary transformation
in global governance and North-South resource transfers;
- civilizing globalization in this manner depends upon
the growing influence of a transnational, non-violent
protest movement.
Between 2002 and 2007, I focused on two projects. One explored
the link between globalization and political violence. I argue
that internal and external market liberalization creates conditions
conducive to political violence by heightening the insecurity
and uncertainty of certain sectors of the population - defined
by class, region, ethnicity and/or gender. The rapidity of
economic and cultural change, the entanglement of virtually
everyone in market relations, and the swelling numbers of
volatile young men without prospects magnify the human impact
of market forces in the current global restructuring. An article
with David Roman in Third World Quarterly (see the Publications
section) reported on this research.
The second project, Social Democracy in the Global Periphery,
was a collaborative project with Marc Edelman, Patrick Heller,
and Judith Teichman that appeared as a book in 2007 (Cambridge
University Press). It focuses on social-democratic regimes
in the developing world that have, to varying degrees, reconciled
the needs of achieving growth through globalized markets with
extensions of political, social and economic rights. We show
that opportunities exist to achieve significant social progress,
despite a global economic order that favours core industrial
countries. The findings derive from a comparative analysis
of four exemplary cases: Kerala (India), Costa Rica, Mauritius
and Chile (since 1990). Though unusual, the social and political
conditions from which these developing-world social democracies
arose are not unique, we contend; indeed, pragmatic and proactive
social-democratic movements helped create these favourable
conditions. The four exemplars have preserved or even improved
their social achievements since neoliberalism emerged hegemonic
in the 1980s. This demonstrates that certain social-democratic
policies and practices – guided by a democratic developmental
state – can enhance a national economy's global competitiveness.
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July18, 2005
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