Deck 5: Post-development and Alternatives to Development

Question 1

How does post-development theory differ from other mainstream development theories?

A) It is a critical theory
B) It is a constructive theory
C) It is a destructive theory
D) It is a scientific theory
E) It is post critical theory

Answer 1

C

Question 2

What does Foucault argue defines truth?

A) It is defined by historical, social, and political contexts
B) It is defined through the scientific method of determining causality
C) It is defined by experimentation and direct observation
D) It is defined objectively and interpreted by historians
E) It is defined by the elites in society

Answer 2

A

Question 3

What does a discourse do if understood as a system of representation linked to relations of power?

A) It shapes the words people use to describe something
B) It is a means to determine absolute validity
C) It invalidates truth claims
D) It affects behaviour
E) If tested, discourse can discern truth hood from falsehood

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which of the following represents a key shift in the discourse of development following World War II?

A) The institutionalization of development through the creation of the International Financial Institutions
B) The narrative of inequality between the colonizer and colonized was replaced with the narrative of trading partners in the global economy
C) The narrative of local oppression was replaced with a narrative of universal human rights and the privileging of the UN
D) The institutionalization of power as the causal force of America's foreign policy
E) The revelation of development as a conscious project of global norm building

Question 5

Why did Truman see poverty in the underdeveloped parts of the world as a threat?

A) The threat of national liberation movements to US colonies
B) The need to build new markets for American economic imperialism
C) Poverty is a threat to regional stability
D) Inequality is a threat to hegemonic stability
E) The geopolitics of the Cold War

Question 6

What was most transformative about Truman's Point 4 in his inaugural address?

A) It put an emphasis on reducing global inequality
B) It reconfigured the world into a contested geopolitical space
C) It transformed two billion people into "underdeveloped"
D) It constituted the modern global economic system
E) It recognized the inherent inequality rooted in past colonial practices

Question 7

How did the development discourse argue that the majority of the world was "underdeveloped"?

A) Gross national product and per capita income
B) Human Development Index
C) Indicators of good governance
D) Capital gains
E) Balance of payments shortages

Question 8

Why is the economist view of development arguably problematic?

A) It is composed of too many variables for measurement
B) It contrasts the production of goods for domestic consumption and export
C) It does not differentiate between a lack of cash income and an inability to meet basic needs
D) It puts too much of a focus on subsistence
E) It is rooted in a bottom-up approach to human development

Question 9

How does Arturo Escobar see the field of economics?

A) A science
B) A cultural discourse embedded in a specific historical context
C) An objective take on the human condition
D) A subjective and nuanced exploration of history
E) A record of human progress

Question 10

Which is a prime insight of the post-development movement?

A) The Eurocentric nature of mainstream development theories
B) The necessity of bringing together top-down and bottom-up approaches
C) The distinction between self and other is of little analytical value
D) The recognition of a global class structure
E) The need for more foreign direct investment in the Global South

Question 11

Why are institutional development prescriptions for the most part "apolitical"?

A) The concern of state sovereignty
B) The fear of development actors to be seen as privileging one actor over another
C) The requirement of donor organizations to remain outside politics
D) The recognition of positionality inherent in the development discourse
E) The institutional bias of international development agencies

Question 12

What does the depoliticization of poverty result in?

A) An acknowledgement of elite structures in the Global South
B) The need for western forms of good governance
C) A blindness towards relations of power
D) A need for adopting minimum standards of human security
E) A desire for an objective approach to measure development

Question 13

How does Wolfgang Sachs treat the assumption of the superiority of industrialized countries?

A) An unsustainable model of development due to ecological harm
B) An objective reality to be reproduced in the global south
C) A source of FDI for development projects
D) A questionable position given the rise of the BRICS
E) A source of human capital for development projects

Question 14

What are three things post-development theorists want to reclaim?

A) Agency, structure, and borders
B) Politics, the economy, and knowledge
C) Sustainability, debt, and social welfare
D) Regional integration, regional politics, and regional trade
E) Health care, education, social welfare

Question 15

Which of the following best describes the Ubuntu philosophy?

A) Strength through diversity
B) Unity through multiculturalism
C) Development for one can only happen by development for all
D) Self-reliance
E) A person is a person through other persons

Question 16

What is the principle of subsidiarity?

A) The principle that decision-making should be based on meritocracy
B) The principle that decision-making should be made at the lowest level of governance possible
C) The principle that decision-making should be made by federal governments
D) The principle that decision-making should benefit the whole population
E) The principle that decision-making should be based on expertise

Question 17

Why is it useful to distinguish between the Western model of society and a hegemonic model?

A) There is no one Western model of society but there is a distinct hegemonic model
B) There is a difference between structure and agency
C) The West is a contested space where the hegemon determines its character
D) While the West has a moral culpability, the hegemonic model is a structure and lacks agency
E) There is a causality between the Western model of society and the hegemonic model

Question 18

Which best describes the premise of degrowth?

A) The position that states in the Global South can take both the ownership and benefit of capitalism
B) The position that private equity is the basis of under development
C) The position based on ecological principles and anti-consumerist, anti-capitalist ideas
D) The position that advocates for regional trade over international trade
E) The position that short-term shareholder interests have undermined sustainable development

Question 19

Where can we find a movement in the West that shares the goals of post-development?

A) Nationalist movements
B) The radical left and anarchist movements
C) Regional integration projects like the EU
D) Organized labour
E) Post-modern millennials

Question 20

Which of the following is a critique of post-development theory?

A) It relies too heavily on objective truth
B) It lacks an appreciation for the diverse forms of knowledge in the world
C) It seeks to replace one form of domination for a more localized version
D) It embodies a romantic image of the noble savage
E) It suggests synergy can be found with the developed world

Question 21

How can the post-development criticism of development be applied to post-development itself?

A) Post-development theorists critique the monolithic nature of development but arguably offer a monolithic alternative
B) Both examples are informed by external theorists
C) Post-development is equally coercive to local populations and opposing viewpoints, entrenching local power structures
D) Both schools of thought sacrifice human conditions to ideological rigidity
E) Post-development and development are both a simplification of an overly complex set of human institutions and there is no basis to validate one over the other

Question 22

What is the danger of cultural relativism in the context of post-development theory?

A) It deconstructs the ability to trade
B) It could be used by the Global North to legitimate inequality
C) It removes common understandings which globalization has been built upon
D) It delegitimizes cooperation between states
E) It could legitimate the traditional privileges of the elite in the Global South

Question 23

How do the majority of post-development theories position themselves?

A) As a rhetorical critique of modernity
B) In response to inequity in the global economy
C) Dependent on the variant of post-development theory
D) Between modernity and traditional life
E) As a reactionary movement

Question 24

According to Arturo Escobar, what role has post-development played in conceptualizing the discipline of development?

A) The post-development project was to critically assess and propose a suitable alternative
B) The role of post-development has been to deconstruct and reconstruct the development discourse
C) The role of post-development has been to build a community of scholars to question development
D) The post-development project seeks to break the consensus about "development" as necessary, self-evident, positive, and unquestionable
E) Post-development is about the journey not the destination

Question 25

How does the post-development school react to the dependency school?

A) By introducing dependency theories all together
B) By imposing export tariffs
C) By denying dependency theories all together
D) By engaging in constructive criticism
E) By engaging in destructive instead of constructive criticism

Question 26

What is the main objective of the post-development school?

A) To encourage the idea of development
B) To kill the idea of development
C) To analyze the lineal and historical evolution of development
D) To encourage a liberal development scholarship
E) To denounce inequality

Question 27

What is Ivan Illich's main criticism to Western modernity?

A) The establishment of traditional schools
B) The lack of spiritual development in the developing world
C) It would create a gap in spirituality
D) It would teach people to be dependent
E) It does not comply with new ideas about development

Question 28

What does Ivan Illich's idea of conviviality stand for?

A) Tools and institutions that enhance people's autonomy
B) Tools and institutions that enhance people's spirituality
C) Tools and institutions that enhance people's development
D) Tools and institutions that enhance people's dependence
E) None of the above

Question 29

What was Frantz Fanon's main concern about post-colonialism?

A) The post-development authors
B) The rule of experts
C) New elites emerging out of the anti-colonial movements
D) Africans imitating Europe
E) Europe's crimes

Question 30

What do different thinkers of post-development have in common?

A) An interest in global culture and knowledge
B) The rejection of the entire paradigm of development
C) Subsistence feminism
D) A new way of conceiving international relations
E) Trading partners in a global economy

Question 31

What is one of the main contributions of post-development theories?

A) A new perception of one's own self
B) Basic necessities of life identified with poverty
C) The Tepitans were not willing to be degraded by the supposedly rich Westerner
D) The quest for a good life as the pursuit of material wealth
E) To conceive of "development" as a discourse

Question 32

According to post-development writers, when was the development age inaugurated?

A) In the early 1980s
B) In 1949
C) After the Cold War
D) With the invasion of Poland by Germany
E) Before World War I

Question 33

How do people learn to perceive themselves as poor?

A) By degrading themselves in comparison to the supposedly rich Westerner
B) People can learn to perceive themselves as poor by other stories
C) Through contact with tourists, development experts, and the media
D) By diagnoses based on comparative statistical measurements
E) The lack of money to buy goods and the lack of modern conveniences

Question 34

How does the World Bank continue to measure development?

A) A combination of indicators from different domains
B) Through perplexity
C) With gross domestic product measurements
D) The integrity of public officials
E) Feminist development theories

Question 35

What international index includes the ecological footprint as a development indicator?

A) NASDAQ
B) The Thaba-Tseka project
C) Through Village Development Committees
D) The Happy Planet Index
E) None of the above

Question 36

What is the cause of economism as one of the main views of development?

A) The Cold War
B) Imperialism
C) The conflicts between Global North and Global South
D) Early modernization theories
E) Postmodernism

Question 37

The post-development school has existed as long as development has existed.

Question 38

Post-development calls for an "alternative to development" instead of "alternative development."

Question 39

Post-development argues that "development aid" produces needs that cannot be fulfilled for the majority of the population while neglecting goods and services more suited to their situation.

Question 40

Ivan Illich argues development is harmful because it teaches people to be dependent.

Question 41

Discourse constitutes an objective truth independent of time and place.

Question 42

Post-development conceives of "development" as a discourse.

Question 43

For post-development theory, President Truman's promise of prosperity through development was about containing the USSR in the Cold War.

Question 44

President Truman impoverished two billion people by labelling them "underdeveloped."

Question 45

Post-development argues that much of what the Global North considers "poor" is objectively true.

Question 46

Post-development argues the development era reformulated the quest for a good life as the pursuit of material wealth.

Question 47

If the good life is defined as the pursuit of material wealth, development is defined as GDP growth.

Question 48

The "law of scarcity" posits "man's wants are great while his means are finite but improvable."

Question 49

Post-development theorists concede that economics is a science.

Question 50

Serge Latouche argues the primacy of gross domestic product (GDP) as a measurement of development is a radical form of cultural imperialism.

Question 51

The redefinition of concepts in the development paradigm has led to clarity of mission and process.

Question 52

The more progressive representatives of development discourse reverse the dichotomy between "developed" and "less developed" societies.

Question 53

The development discourse depoliticizes questions of inequality.

Question 54

The failure of the Thaba-Tseka project was due to the sanctions applied to apartheid South Africa.

Question 55

The development discourse interferes in the political and social conflicts and struggles in the Global South.

Question 56

Post-development focuses on empowering the modern state apparatus to achieve progress.

Question 57

The development discourse is synonymous with the modern industrial society.

Question 58

The Zapatistas have maintained autonomy from the Mexican government.

Question 59

Subsistence feminism advocates using agriculture as a means of generating foreign currency.

Question 60

The Global South has emerged as one of the staunchest defenders of the development discourse.

Question 61

Gustavo Esteva reports the history of redefinitions of development beyond the central idea of economic growth, from basic needs to endogenous development.

Question 62

According to post-development, the imperative of economic growth is no longer a constant feature of development.

Question 63

Post-development argues that a feature of development theory is the Eurocentric gaze of the developed Self.

Question 64

In the Thaba-Tseka project, the transfer of resources took place through Village Development Committees.

Question 65

Post-development claims that the era of "development" is ending.

Question 66

Post-development authors claim they merely describe processes that take place in international commissions.

Question 67

The cornerstones of post-development point out to the abandoning of fossil-fueled economies.

Question 68

After the end of the Cold War, the concept of development and the practice of aid ceased.

Question 69

Depoliticization of poverty is not a feature of development discourse in the perspective of post-development.

Question 70

Biases in development discourse can derive from the institutional necessities of development organizations.

Question 71

Progressive representatives of development discourse do not recognize that there are developed and less developed societies.

Question 72

Representatives of development theory and policy combine early modernization theories with economism.

Question 73

What is depoliticization?

Question 74

Explain the idea that, for post-development theorists, power dynamics underlie the production and circulation of knowledge.

Question 75

In what ways has Lesotho been traditionally misrepresented by development discourse?

Question 76

What are some of the criticisms that have been levelled against post-development theory?

Question 77

What unites the post-development school? What is its purpose?

Question 78

Post-development calls for "alternatives to development" instead of "alternative development." Discuss.

Question 79

Why did Ivan Illich critique the institutions of Western industrial modernity?

Question 80

Why is Michel Foucault's concept of discourse useful to understanding the discourse of development?