Required Texts
Kincaid, Jamaica. A Small Place. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2000. ISBN: 9780374527075.
Ballard, J. G. Rushing to Paradise. New York, NY: Picador USA, 1995. ISBN: 9780312131647.
Le Carre, John. The Constant Gardener. New York, NY: Scribner, 2000. ISBN: 9780743215053.
Wa Thiong'o, Ngugi. Petals of Blood. New York, NY: Penguin Classics, 2005. ISBN: 9780143039174.
Fielding, Helen. Cause Celeb. New York, NY: Penguin, 2002. ISBN: 9780670891955.
Mistry, Rohinton. A Fine Balance. New York, NY: Knopf, 1996. ISBN: 9780679446088.
Guide to Close Reading (PDF)
Suggested Additional Reading
Edwards, Michael. "The Irrelevance of Development Studies." Third World Quarterly 11 (1989): 116-135.
Sen, Amartya. "The Ends and the Means of Development." Development As Freedom. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 35-53. ISBN: 9780375406195.
Slaughter, Joseph. "Enabling Fictions and Novel Subjects: The Bildungsroman and International Human Rights Law." PMLA 121, no. 5 (2006).
Roe, Emily. "Development Narratives, Or Making the Best of Blueprint Development." World Development 19, no. 4 (1991): 287-300.
Benjamin, Bret. "Success Stories: NGOs and the Banking Bildungsroman." Invested Interests: Capital, Culture, and the World Bank. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2007, pp. 135-164. ISBN: 9780816648733.
Agamben, Giorgio. "A Brief History of the State of Exception."
———. "Form of Life." Means Without End: Notes on Politics. Translated by Vincenzo Binetti and Cesare Casarino. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2000, pp. 3-14. ISBN: 9780816630356.
———. "Beyond Human Rights." Means Without End: Notes on Politics. Translated by Vincenzo Binetti and Cesare Casarino. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2000, pp. 15-28. ISBN: 9780816630356.
Readings by Session
All readings should be completed prior to their discussion.
| Lec # | TOPICS/READINGS |
|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction |
| 2 | "The Doum Tree of Wad Hamid" |
| 3 | "The Doum Tree of Wad Hamid" (cont.) |
| 4 | Climate change symposium |
| 5 | "The Fortunate Traveller" |
| 6 | "The Fortunate Traveller" (cont.) |
| 7 | A Fine Balance, I-III |
| 8 | Essay workshop |
| 9 |
A Fine Balance (cont.), IV-XI Class meets w/o professor B |
| 10 | A Fine Balance (cont.), XII-end |
| 11 | A Small Place |
| 12 | A Small Place (cont.) / Life and Debt (film) |
| 13 | Rushing to Paradise, to p. 91 |
| 14 | Review session |
| 15 | Rushing to Paradise (cont.), to p. 168 |
| 16 | Rushing to Paradise (cont.), all |
| 17 | The Constant Gardener, pp. 1-135 |
| 18 | The Constant Gardener (cont.), pp. 136-322 |
| 19 | The Constant Gardener (cont.), pp. 323-end |
| 20 | Petals of Blood, part I |
| 21 | Petals of Blood (cont.), parts I-III |
| 22 | Petals of Blood (cont.), all |
| 23 |
World bank and National Geographic narratives Wachera, Becky, and Matthew Meyer. Sole Comfort Dot-Com. Additional ReadingsScofield, John, and Raghubir Singh. "Bombay: The Other India." National Geographic 160 (July 1981): 104-129. Grove, Noel, and Stevel Raymer. "The Caribbean: Sun, Sea and Seething." National Geographic 159 (February 1981): 244-271. Swerdlow, Joel. "Global Culture." National Geographic 196 (August 1999): 2-33. Hines-Smith, Leone M. "The Jamaica Trade Point Story: From Stress To Success." |
| 24 | Cause Celeb, to p. 175 |
| 25 | Cause Celeb (cont.), to end |
| 26 | Wrapping up |