IDSC10 Rural Livelihoods and Globalization
Summer 2022
Global Development Studies | University of Toronto Scarborough
Mondays 11:00-13:00 | Online synchronous
Instructor
Lazar Konforti. lazar.konforti@mail.utoronto.ca
Office Hours. Tuesdays 10:00-12:00, online (see Quercus for Zoom link)
Teaching Assistant
Juan Manuel Vélez Villegas juma.velez@mail.utoronto.ca
Course description
Poverty at a global scale remains concentrated in rural areas. While agriculture has historically
been the primary rural industry, and remains a very important one to this day, globalisation is
transforming rural areas in various and sometimes unexpected ways. In this course, we will learn
how people in rural areas make a living and how they have had to adapt to globalisation. During
the first portion of the course, we will critically examine the “sustainable rural livelihoods”
framework, a popular lens for understanding rural development. We will then take a closer look,
each week, at a different industry transforming livelihoods in rural areas: small-scale farming,
plantations, manufacturing, mining, tourism, and conservation. This course will be delivered online
and synchronously.
Objectives
▪ Gain working knowledge of the sustainable rural livelihoods approach
▪ Familiarise oneself with emerging industries important to rural development
▪ Understand how globalisation, political institutions, and social movements are shaping
rural livelihoods and development
▪ Develop critical reading skills through close engagement with academic texts.
▪ Hone research skills by conducting a literature review
Evaluation
Due Dates
Midterm exam (take home) 20%. 15 June 9:00 – 17 June 17:00
Short Essay 1 20%. 24 June 17:00 – 29 July 17:00*
Short Essay 2 20%. 24 June 17:00 – 29 July 17:00*
Final Assessment. 40%. 12 August 17:00
*Due dates will vary depending on the topic chosen by students. See below for details.
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Midterm exam (20%)
Students will write a take-home open-book midterm during Week 5 of course. The mid-term will
consist of four short-answer questions (1 paragraph) covering material from Weeks 1 through 5,
inclusive. The midterm is designed to take two hours to complete but students will have a three-
day period to complete the exam; that is, questions will be made available on Wednesday 15
June 9:00 and will be due on Friday 17 June 17:00. As this is an exam, no late submissions will
be accepted. If you require more time to complete the midterm, please make arrangements via
AccessAbility Services.
Short essays (40%)
In the weeks following the midterm, students will have to submit two short essays (maximum 800
words each, excluding bibliography) about a rural development topic in a specific country of their
choosing. Students must pick two topics (one for each essay) from the list of topics covered from
20 June to 25 July: farming, plantations, manufacturing, mining, tourism, climate mitigation.
Students may pick any country but must use the same country in both essays and in the final
assessment (see below). In the essays, students will summarise an academic article about their
chosen topic in their chosen country and compare it with one of the assigned readings about that
topic. The essays are due at the end of the week in which the topic is covered. For example, if
you choose to write about manufacturing, which we cover in class on Monday, 4 July, your essay
is due on Friday, 8 July at the end of the day. Detailed instructions, including evaluation criteria,
will be provided in due time.
Final assessment (40%)
Students will have to write a literature review (maximum 2000 words, excluding bibliography)
about globalisation and rural livelihoods in a specific country of their choosing. The literature
review is due on 12 August 17:00. Detailed instructions, including paper structure and evaluation
criteria, will be provided in due time.
Course design
Class meetings
Our class meetings will take place on Mondays, 11:00–13:00, online. A Zoom link is available on
the front page of the course website (Quercus). Our class meetings will introduce concepts and
examples not necessarily covered in the readings and help students interpret the readings in
broader context. Attending class is thus not a substitute for doing the readings, nor is doing the
readings a substitute for attending class. Please note that class meetings will not be recorded.
Required readings
The reading list is included in the course schedule at the end of this syllabus. Students are
expected to have read the assigned readings before attending class in order to be able to
effectively participate in discussions. Required readings include journal articles, book chapters,
and non-academic web resources. Journal articles can be accessed using the search function in
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on the UofT Libraries main page. Scans of book chapters will be uploaded to the Library Reading
List service integrated into Quercus. Finally, hyperlinks to web resources included in the Course
Schedule below. The Course Instructor reserves the right to make minor changes to the reading
list. Students will be notified of any changes at least one week in advance and the syllabus will
be updated on Quercus. If you have downloaded this file, please check Quercus for updates.
Course Website (Quercus)
All course materials will be posted on the course website for students’ convenience. These include
slides, assignment instructions, Zoom links for class meetings and office hours, as well as links
to useful resources. Important announcements (e.g., unexpected changes to office hours) will be
made through Quercus’ announcement feature. Students are therefore required to check your
Quercus inbox and UofT e-mail regularly.
Course policies
E-mail communication
All e-mails sent to the teaching staff must include “IDSC10” in the subject heading. This will ensure
that your message gets past the instructor’s spam filters. In accordance with university policy,
only emails from UToronto accounts will be returned. E-mail communication should be reserved
for simple questions that can be answered in one or two sentences. For more substantive
discussion, please reach out to the instructor at the end of class meetings or during office hours.
Please review available course materials before contacting the instructor. The answers to the
most frequently asked questions (e.g. “When is the essay due?”) can be found there. The
instructor endeavours to respond to all emails in a timely manner but is your responsibility to send
your email with enough time to allow for a response. Please observe proper netiquette.
Assignments and late policy
Detailed instructions and a grading rubric will be provided for the country profile, paper proposal,
and final paper. These assignments will be submitted and returned through Quercus. Late
submissions will receive a 5% penalty (i.e. 1 point out of 20 for short essays, 2 points out of 40
for the term paper) per workday (i.e. weekends and holidays don’t count). Assignments may not
be submitted more than ten workdays late. No submissions will be accepted beyond this point.
Extensions will be granted on a case-by-case basis. Students must make arrangements with the
instructor before the due date. No retroactive extensions will be granted barring medical
emergencies.
Contesting a grade
Students have two weeks from the day the marked assignment is returned to request a re-grade.
However, you must allow for a 24-hour “cooling-off” period before writing to the Course Instructor.
To formally request a re-grade, you must e-mail the Course Instructor a brief letter (2-3
paragraphs, but not more than a page) in which you explain why you feel the assignment deserves
a re-read, making direct reference to the assignment requirements, grading rubric, and comments
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received. If the request is accepted, the item will be re-graded by the Course Instructor as a new
piece of work, which means that the mark can stay the same, go up, or go down.
Accessibility
Please consult with Accessibility Services (AS) if you require accommodations, are experiencing
circumstances that prevent you from completing your course work, or if you have any accessibility
concerns about the course: https://www.studentlife.utoronto.ca/as. For matters related to mental
health, please consult the Student Mental Health website: https://mentalhealth.utoronto.ca/
Academic integrity
Students must comply with the university’s policies on plagiarism and academic honesty. As a
student at UofT, you are expected to understand and follow these policies:
https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/vpdean/academic-integrity-matters

Normally, students will be required to submit their course essays to the University’s plagiarism
detection tool for a review of textual similarity and detection of possible plagiarism. In doing so,
students will allow their essays to be included as source documents in the tool’s reference
database, where they will be used solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. The terms that
apply to the University’s use of this tool are described on the Centre for Teaching Support &
Innovation web site (https://uoft.me/pdt-faq).
Writing support
To learn more about writing support resources available at the University of Toronto and how to
access them, visit www.writing.utoronto.ca or, for resources specific to Scarborough campus, visit
www.utsc.utoronto.ca/ctl/writing-support. Some specific useful links:
▪ UTSC Writing Centre produced a series of handouts about “The Writing Process”,
available here (via Quercus). The handouts are meant for writers of all levels, even
advanced writers. We recommend the following handouts in particular: “Thesis
statements”, “Introductions and conclusions”, “Should I paraphrase or summarise?”,
“Critical reading”, “Critical thinking”, “Constructing a logical argument”, “Reverse outline”,
and “How to take notes from research reading”.
▪ The Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) has also produced more than 60 Advice files on
all aspects of academic writing. These are available here. We recommend the following:
➢ How not to plagiarise (link)
➢ How to write good paragraphs (link)
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Course schedule
9 May. Introduction: The New Ruralities
Key concepts. Globalisation, new ruralities
Required readings. Syllabus
Recommended Kay, C. (2008). Reflections on Latin American Rural Studies in the Neoliberal
Globalization Period: A New Rurality? Development and Change 39(6): 915–43.

16 May Livelihoods analysis
Key concepts. Sustainable rural livelihoods
Required readings. Scoones, I (2009). Livelihoods Perspectives and Rural Development. Journal of
Peasant Studies 36(1): 171–96.
O’Laughlin, B. (2004). Book Reviews. Development & Change 35(2): 385–92, link.
Recommended Bebbington, A. (1999). “Capitals and Capabilities: A Framework for Analyzing Peasant
Viability, Rural Livelihoods and Poverty.” World Development 27(12): 2021–44.
May, C., G. Brown, N. Cooper, and L. Brill (2009). The Sustainable Livelihoods
Handbook: An Asset Based Approach to Poverty. Manchester: Church Action on
Poverty & Oxfam GB, link.

23 May Civic holiday, no class

30 May. Political economy of rural livelihoods & globalisation
Key concepts. Political economy haiku, agrarian transition
Required readings. Bernstein, H. (2010). Class Dynamics of Agrarian Change. Halifax, N.S.; Sterling, VA:
Fernwood Publishing; Kumarian Press, Introduction & Ch. 1, pp. 1–24.
Bernstein, H. (2009). “Agrarian questions from transition to globalization.” In Akram-
Lodhi, A. H. and C. Kay (eds), Peasants and Globalization: Political Economy,
Rural Transformation and the Agrarian Question. New York & London:
Routledge, 239–61. Only pp. 247-256 (i.e. from the “Globalization: the agrarian
question of capital resolved” heading until the “Conclusion” heading)
Recommended Akram-Lodhi, A.H. and C. Kay (2010). “Surveying the Agrarian Question (Part 2):
Current Debates and Beyond.” Journal of Peasant Studies 37(2): 255–84, only
pp. 255–64 (up until the “Seven Agrarian Questions?” section, exclusive).

6 June. Institutions
Key concepts. Private property, territorial turn, political space
Required readings. Carney, J., and M. Watts (1991). Disciplining Women? Rice, Mechanization, and the
Evolution of Mandinka Gender Relations in Senegambia. Signs: Journal of
Women in Culture and Society 16(4): 651–81.
Mollett, S. (2011). Racial Narratives: Miskito and Colono Land Struggles in the
Honduran Mosquitia. Cultural Geographies 18(1): 43–62.
Recommended Bebbington, A. (2000). “Reencountering Development: Livelihood Transitions and
Place Transformations in the Andes.” Annals of the Association of American
Geographers 90(3): 495–520.

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13 June Contestation
Key concepts. Class politics, identity politics, politics of place, redistribution, recognition,
decommodification, repertoires of contention
Required readings. Edelman, M. and S.M. Borras (2016). Political Dynamics of Transnational Agrarian
Movements. Black Point NS: Fernwood. Ch.2, “Internally Differentiated TAMs:
Competing Class, Identity, and Ideological Interests”, pp. 37-60.
Levien, M. (2013). The Politics of Dispossession: Theorizing India’s ‘Land Wars’.
Politics & Society 41(3): 351–94.
Recommended Kerkvliet, B.J.T. (2009). “Everyday Politics in Peasant Societies (and Ours).” Journal
of Peasant Studies 36(1): 227–43.

14 June Midterm questions released, 9:00
17 June Midterm answers due, 17:00

20 June. Farming
Key themes. Contract farming, depeasantisation, green revolution
Required readings. Bernstein, H. (2010). Class Dynamics of Agrarian Change. Halifax, N.S.; Sterling, VA:
Fernwood Publishing; Kumarian Press. Chapters 5 & 6, pp.79-100.
Vicol, M. (2019). “Potatoes, Petty Commodity Producers and Livelihoods: Contract
Farming and Agrarian Change in Maharashtra, India.” Journal of Agrarian
Change 19(1): 135–61.
Recommended Sigei, J. (2022). AGRA’s Green Revolution Has Failed, Critics Say. The Elephant,
January 22, link.
24 June Short essay on farming due, 17:00 (if applicable)

27 June Plantations
Key themes. Land grabbing, surplus labour, functional dualism
Required readings. Konforti, L. (2022) “The Moral Economy of Defence of Territory and the Political
Economy of Extractivism in the Polochic Valley, Guatemala.” Journal of Agrarian
Change, online.
Konforti, L. (2018). “Ungovernable? Indigenous Campesino Resistance to Land
Grabbing in Guatemala’s Polochic Valley.” Latin American Perspectives, online.
Recommended Abbott, J. and S. Cuffe. 2019. Palm Oil Industry Expansion Spurs Guatemala
Indigenous Migration. Al Jazeera, February 6, link.
30 June Short essay on plantations due, 17:00 (if applicable)

4 July Manufacturing
Key themes. Rural non-farm economy, diversification, SEZs
Required readings. Bordoloi, S. (2017). “The Rural Nonfarm Sector in Flexible Capitalism: The Coir
Industry in Kerala, India.” Human Geography 10(1): 50–66.
Levien, M. (2011) “Special Economic Zones and Accumulation by Dispossession in
India.” Journal of Agrarian Change 11(4): 454–83. Note: Read the introduction
and then skip to p.434 (“Pre-SEZ Agrarian Social Structure” subheading onward).
Recommended Gunnupuri, A. 2017. The Horror of Modern-Day Slavery in India’s Brick Kilns. Equal
Times, March 10, link.
8 July Short essay on manufacturing due, 17:00 (if applicable)

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11 July Mining
Key themes. Extractivism, artisanal small-scale mining
Required readings. Bebbington, A., D.H. Bebbington, J. Bury, J. Lingan, J.P. Muñoz, and M. Scurrah
(2008). Mining and Social Movements: Struggles Over Livelihood and Rural
Territorial Development in the Andes. World Development 36(12): 2888–2905.
Pokorny, B., C. von Lübke, S.D. Dayamba, and H. Dickow (2019). All the Gold for
Nothing? Impacts of Mining on Rural Livelihoods in Northern Burkina Faso. World
Development 119: 23–39.
Recommended Radley, B. 2022. Small-Scale Gold Miners in DRC Challenge the View That They Can’t
Cut It. The Conversation, February 23, link.
15 July Short essay on mining due, 17:00 (if applicable)

18 July Climate mitigation
Key themes. Clean development mechanism, REDD+, commodification of nature
Required readings. Lyons, K. and P. Westoby (2014). Carbon Colonialism and the New Land Grab:
Plantation Forestry in Uganda and Its Livelihood Impacts. Journal of Rural
Studies 36: 13–21.
Poudel, M., R. Thwaites, D. Race, and G. Ram Dahal. (2015) “Social Equity and
Livelihood Implications of REDD+ in Rural Communities — a Case Study from
Nepal.” International Journal of the Commons 9(1): 177–208.
Recommended WRM, 2022. Conservation Concessions as Neo-Colonization: The African Parks
Network. World Rainforest Movement, March 23, link.
22 July Short essay on climate mitigation due, 17:00 (if applicable)

25 July Tourism
Key themes. Commodification of place, geographic imaginaries
Required readings. Devine, J.A. (2017). Colonizing Space and Commodifying Place: Tourism’s Violent
Geographies. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 25(5): 634–50.
Münster, D. and U. Münster. (2012) “Consuming the Forest in an Environment of
Crisis: Nature Tourism, Forest Conservation and Neoliberal Agriculture in South
India.” Development and Change 43(1): 205–27.
Recommended Los Despojados, 2015. Canadian Porn King on Trial for Tourism Projects in Honduras.
YouTube, link.
29 July Short essay on tourism due, 17:00 (if applicable)
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1 August Civic holiday, no class

8 August Course re-cap
Key concepts All of them!
Required readings. All of them!

12 August Final assessment (literature review) due, 17:00