HON351, American Ideals in Global Perspective
Fall Semesster 2008
Study Guide
Ideology and Misconceptions Regarding Globalization
Reading Assignment:
Steger, chs. 6
Willliam Easterly, "The Ideology of Development," Foreign Policy, Vol. 161, July/August 2007, pp. 31-35 (electronic reserves)
Other articles (optional):
Fortune Magazine, "The World's Richest People," March 2008
"US Income Gap is Widening Significantly, Data Shows," New York Times, March 29, 2007
"Richest 2 Pecent Own 'Half of the Wealth,'" BBC Worl d Service, December 5, 2006
Questions to consider while reading Steger, chapter 6
1. What distinction does Steger draw between globalization and globalism?
2. By whom and how has globalization been sold as an ideology?
3. What claims about globalization does Steger challenge?
Questions to consider while reading the Easterly article:
1. What does the author mean by the "ideology of development"? Who are the advocates of "developmentalism," or what he calls "development's politburo"?
2. What parallels does the author see between developmentalism and Marxism?
3. What countries, or regions, are notable failures of developmentalism? In particular where there has been a backlash against it?
4. To what does the author attribute the failures of developmentalism?
5. What alternative path to development does the author advocate?