Part I
Dependency theory is the notion that resources flow from a periphery of poor and underdeveloped states to a "core" of wealthy states, enriching the latter at the expense of the former. It is a central contention of dependency theory that poor states are impoverished and rich ones enriched by the way poor states are integrated into the world system.
There are three common features to these definitions which most dependency theorists share. First, dependency characterizes the international system as comprised of two sets of states, variously described as dominant/dependent, center/periphery or metropolitan/satellite. The dominant states are the advanced industrial nations in the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The dependent states are those states of Latin America, Asia, and Africa which have low per capita GNPs and which rely heavily on the export of a single commodity for foreign exchange earnings.
Free-market environmentalism is the political position that argues that the free market, property rights, and tort law provide the best means of preserving the environment, internalising pollution costs, and conserving resources. While environmental problems may be viewed as market failures, free market environmentalists argue that environmental problems arise because:
The state encodes, provides and enforces laws which override or obscure property rights and thus fail to protect them adequately. Laws governing class or individual tort claims provide polluters with immunity from tort claims, or interfere with those claims in such a way as to make it difficult to legally sustain them.
The informal sector is largely characterized by several qualities: easy entry, meaning anyone who wishes to join the sector can find some sort of work which will result in cash earnings, a lack of stable employer-employee relationships, a small scale of operations, and skills gained outside of a formal education. Workers who participate in the informal economy are typically classified as employed. The type of work that makes up the informal economy is diverse, particularly in terms of capital invested, technology used, and income generated
Part II
As citizens of the global North there are instances that occur in the world where we must take action and provide assistance. The environmental and social peril is seen in both examples from the slum episodes “risky business” and “storm rising. The slums are an overcrowded, urban district inhabited by very poor people. In these slums people are faced with problems each day whether it is finding food, finding work, or providing enough money for education. The two videos pinpointed some of the environmental degradation that occurs in these areas as well. This occurs because the only thing that these people have to live off of is the land around them. They build shacks are not able to stand the test of time and they eventually are destroyed by natural causes or from man made causes. In addition a high percentage of the slums population have to become scavengers.
There are specific instances where the people of these villages had to rely on themselves to create homes. This occurs because there is no regulation on these properties; essentially they build these communities out of desperation. Rapid urbanization and lack of opportunity lead to these villages. In addition there is a sense that the US is to blame for some of these conditions. Whether if it’s the flow of money or the lack of help, the thought of us not providing aid has a long lasting effect on these people. As stated earlier the highlight of the slums are shown in the episodes storm rising and risky business.
The episode storms rising highlights the livelihoods of a couple individuals living in the slum in the district of Tondo. Some families in the episode rely on the charcoal pits. These unsanitary conditions occur without any regulation from the government. The area in which they conduct business and live is sandwiched between a highway and a polluted harbor. By seeing this area I realized that we can’t turn a blind eye to the living conditions of these people. Kids work in this polluted area because of necessity. I can’t imagine how many people suffer from respiratory disease. A major issue that we must tackle is the fact that major storms come through this area every year, because of sea level rising’s the storms are getting stronger. In the video over 6,000 people died and thousands lost their homes due to a typhoon. This might have a direct correlation with climate changing effects caused by the Global North. This area shows that there is a lot of work that must be done to combat the fate of these people, but how do we do this. Some things that I thought might work would be the revision of the flow of capital. A lot of the currency is transferred from the global south to the global north through trade and extraction of resources in order to make finished products. I the global south can create there own products rather than relying on the global north to make them we might be able to create more sanitary jobs. Providing food aid and contraceptives is another way that we could combat these conditions. In addition solving climate change effects would also help the people of the area who are affected by global warming impacts. These are all ways that the US should be obligated to help these people.
In the risky business episode the people are going through some of the same issues as the people in Tondo. Diving in polluted waters to receive some sort of material to sell to feed the family. Some slum children are not able to receive education. Some of the environmentally destructive practices that occur in this area is the burning of plastics to receive the copper inside. Child labor laws do not exist so doing these jobs have a long lasting effect on the children's health. The global north should see this and want to do something about these conditions from a moral standpoint. It is not sanitary and environmentally sound to let these people to continue to live under these conditions.
Part III
Africa has some of the most fertile lands in the world because of the soil fertility companies are clamoring to get a piece of this resource. China and US based companies often present major agricultural projects in order to take advantage of the soil fertility in African regions. One of these projects that have been proposed is the SoSuMar project. The SoSuMar project is a 600 million dollar industrial agricultural project that has an idea of exporting a raw commodity of sugar. In order for this project to gain ground there are a lot of loopholes and hurdles they must achieve in order to get everyone on board. In the video we learned of many stakeholders that could benefit from the project. The people that could potentially benefit from this project ranged from international communities, governmental institutions, all the way down to local populations. By seeing all of these stakeholders one could understand why it took 10 years for the project to gain traction.
For starters the project would be based in the Malian region. The Malian Government presented the notion of this potential project to Mima and his Louisiana consulting firm. These two major stakeholders of this project have been devising a plan in order for the project to get started. Some of the people that where involved within the government consisted of the Minister of agriculture, Minister of Industry, and the parliament these are only a few individuals within the government that where to gain from the project. The Minister of agriculture spoke on the famine that took place and the inability of the government to feed the country. This project wouldn’t be producing food people could eat but it would open up trade and increase the companies GDP. It would benefit the department of Industry in the same way by creating more jobs, which could also be a resolution in increasing the countries GDP. If done correctly this project would present major benefits for the Mali economy. Even with all of the benefits presented there are still disagreements between parties. During the filming of the movie the project is taking too long to complete, at the moment Mima and his organization are paying out of pocket and the rising costs have accumulated o 16.8 million dollars. Eventually Mima will decide that it is costing too much and eventually pull out or the project will continue to stall and never come to fruition, which hurt both stakeholders.
On an International level 17 different lenders are backing this project. Some of these stakeholders include the African development bank, Saudi based Islamic Finance Corporation, Elova Sugar a South African based company. These lenders would like less risk and more reward. As stated before the project is stalled if there aren’t any movement or progress seen that could present a problem for Mima because some lenders might pull out or discontinue to fund the project. This project could influence the trade on a global scale that’s why the lenders decided to jump on board but they cant wait forever. The government of Mali has the power to either agree and continue the project or decide not to continue the project. There are many things that must go on in order for the project to get running but it’s in Mali’s communities’ hands. It was said that SoSuMar project wasn’t the only project proposed to the Malian people. China is also a major stakeholder in Malian agriculture they are a competitor involved in the same market as the SoSuMar project. This could be another main reason that the SoSuMar project is still in infancy. The disagreements of land on international bases can have an effect on a particular project gaining steam.
Lastly one of the most important stakeholders of this project are the people of Mali. On local level different villages have different values. Some of the village leaders see the SoSuMar project as a means of providing jobs. In a particular village the women wanted to have a job in order to help towards the household income. In hindsight the SoSuMar project would take the land from the people in that region but also provide them with jobs. A disagreement that people have been having is that currency is only temporary but the land that they live can sustain life for much longer. Although some women see the benefits of having a more jobs others do not want there Shea trees cut down because it provides them with an essential material for benefit rather than hurt their local economy. Some environmentalist disagree with this project as well they see it as a hindrance and unsustainable. They believe that society being displaced causes civil wars and will eventually lead to a massive amount of casualties. The disagreement here is the most important if Mima can't convince the people he shouldn’t start the project from a moral standpoint.
This project is very interesting because it involves a large portion of the population of Mali mixed with international organizations. It becomes interesting to see how people disagree and agree on certain points essentially what is best for you won't be best for me mentality of all the stakeholders. The massive amount of effort in order to get everyone on board is what makes it fun to watch. 10 years of battling would cause one to go crazy but it helps lower the risk of failure. On a sustainable development side we must see if this agricultural project would be able to pull through. Most major industrial farms don’t think about the future costs of their actions. In the end I wonder if this project failed or succeeded in their struggle for legitimacy. their product. Mima must convince the people of this region that this project will