SOCI 464 - Empires and World Inequality

FC SSCI CD WADV

4 credits
In this course you will learn why some countries are classified as “developed,” “advanced,” “industrialized,” or “affluent,” while others are labeled as “underdeveloped,” “emerging,” “agrarian,” or “poor,” as well as how of this state of affairs came about. We will examine some theories of why some countries are rich and others are not, as well as several historical case studies of how raw materials were commodified and traded from the Global South into the Global North. We will study the ecological degradation, as well as the human exploitation, common to these episodes, as well as possible paths to transcend the asymmetric power relations characterizing the modern world.