This course examines issues related to development and change within the context of a group of diverse societies often referred to as the Third World. In it we will research the impact of colonialism and its legacies on these societies, the changing character and meaning of development, and the nature of relationships between class and race as well as between tradition and modernity. We will also examine the politics of identity and indigenousness, the significance of democracy for developing civil society and human rights, and the role of state institutions in fostering development and change to help draw together these themes and to ensure that we grasp the connections between them. We will derive some of our early examples from Fiji. Its relatively small size will make our study more manageable, although the issues raised remain international in their scope and complex in their depth.
- Lecturer: Gordon Nanau