“What Does It Mean to Study International Development:A Conversation among Undergraduates in the Field”: Read the Summary
Editors’ Note: This virtual forum at the Miami Institute for the Social Sciences, curated by University of Toronto (U of T) Scarborough undergraduate Arushi Dahiya, took place on Friday, September 30th, 2022. It brought together fellow U of T Scarborough undergraduates Amrith David, Amber McNeil, Kate Forrest, Kibati Femi-Johnson and Afshana Miah for a discussion on what it means to study international development. Below, Dahiya shares with us her summary of the discussion. To watch the virtual discussion, please follow this link.
For me, wanting to study International Development came from questioning “Why do we live such different lives based on our geographic location?” and “What can I do to make it better for people that don't get to enjoy the same privileges others from so-called “developed” nations do?” Being born and raised in two very different countries—India and South Africa—I grew up experiencing life through a unique perspective that continually fueled this curiosity. Secondly, and encouraged by the critical thinking cultivated in the International Development Studies (IDS) program at the University of Toronto (U of T), I came to other questions, such as:. “Why don’t universities in the global South have programs that teach Development Studies?” Despite its postcolonial grounding, the development field itself appears to be gatekept or “reserved” for the Global North. “Is this too behind perpetuating how the field operates?” “How do we change this?”
These thoughts and ideas led me to propose a virtual forum at the Miami Institute for the Social Sciences, and to invite a group of fellow undergraduates at U of T to take part. Below, I summarize the group’s first deliberation on their experiences as undergraduates studying international development:
What does it mean from your positionality to study International Development? Knowing what you know about the field, how do we break the cycle of global North institutions seemingly leading the development agenda and instilling ideas on what the global South “should do”?
To this, undergraduate student Kate Forrest reflected on the idea of “converging in our positionalities.” As a White woman who has grown up a few hours outside of Toronto, Canada, Forrest confessed fearing that her role in this field could only be colonial or end in casting inappropriate ideas on the rest of the world. However, as someone who is interested and wants to pursue a career in International Development in the future, Forrest believes in continuously challenging what one brings to the table and one’s own understanding of those around them. She encourages people to be as anti-racist, progressive, and uplifting of other communities as possible. Forrest admits that her settler identity on indigenous land is something she carries and that being anti-racist is something she will have to work on for the rest of her career. She concludes with the idea that she likes that it is challenging, going as far as calling studying and working in this field “a labor of love.” For Forrest, it is not about definitions, it is not black and white, but rather, it is about constantly challenging how one thinks.
For undergraduate student Amber McNeil, development practitioners need to have a constant state of reflection and awareness of their positionality. McNeil reflected on how the first two years of her undergraduate degree were spent unlearning previous thoughts on development, the UN, and political systems around the world. McNeil believes that as a field, the only way to pursue development so that it is not a recreation of imperialistic practices, is by working on elevating and supporting communities.
Undergraduate student Amrith David stated that as students in Global Development, it is imperative to recognize that in order to move forward we must have these kinds of conversations, criticize systems, think of alternatives, and become allies. For David, being born in Sri Lanka and living through the civil war, brought an understanding of how the term International Development itself is problematic. This is because it embodies how the U.S. historically provided foreign aid to the EU after WWII and until today, the term continues to guide the idea of using foreign aid for development. However, when David worked in Puerto Rico for a month over the summer, he came to see how their construction of development was completely different. There, the focus was very much on grassroot mobilization, community development, and bottom-up approaches to development. David believes in using these ideas to move forward in the field. He credits the program at U of T for helping with critically identifying these kinds of problems.
Undergraduate student Afshana Miah, a first-generation immigrant from Bangladesh, acknowledged that sometimes she still feels like an outsider in Canada. She cited that studying International Development has allowed her to critically understand the historical, political, and economic factors that caused her to come to Canada in the first place.
For undergraduate Kibati Femi-Johnson, choosing to study International Development started in high-school wherein history, international relations that existed during WWI, and the consequent alliances which could lead to greater good, all sparked curiosity within him. Furthermore, the dynamics of global interactions, being able to learn new perspectives (including the work of the social economy), and challenging the idea that governments and foreign aid are the only way for nations to develop—are all things Femi-Johnson cites as critical lessons from IDS at U of T.
How do we challenge the structures that are responsible for perpetuating historically problematic ideologies?
A key theme Femi-Johnson reiterated was that there is “no one answer and no correct answer.” He stated that while the World Bank has succeeded in its development efforts, it is also responsible for things like the Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) which were a major disaster. However, Femi-Johnson illustrates that even failures like the SAPs created ripple effects. For example, Ghana was able to create a whole other kind of economy because structural adjustment programs didn't work there. Femi-Johnson stressed that it is important to acknowledge that “there is no one solution for development for any one country.” According to him, global structures will remain in play, but it is important to introduce more grassroots and agency that is less focused on improvement, but rather, more focused on empowerment. Miah echoed this by adding that microcredit and grassroots strategies are deeply important and deserve more limelight. For Miah, it is also critical to be cognizant of the difference between intention and impact. Similarly, David requests that we “give credit to people that are not recognized but perform democratically to promote our communities.” He encourages students to challenge and combat U of T’s colonial history, concluding that “as long as there are people who are willing to put themselves in positions of social responsibility, there is going to be an impact.”
How do you envision the development landscape 5 or 10 years from now? What would you like to see in the field? What is the kind of work you would like to be doing?
Dahiya stated wanting to see Global Development in the global South that doesn’t equate development to capitalistic economic metrics. She asserted that global South organizations must be supported and that there is a need for “more power to the people in the global South in terms of amplifying the work that they are already doing.” David agreed, adding that “we need to let people have a voice to decide what they want to do.” He concluded with the importance of realizing how we must criticize our institutions and systems if we are to move forward.
Femi-Johnson expressed wanting to see greater accountability on issues like the climate crisis. Furthermore, he iterated that economic goals should not hold greater value than the environment as it is something we all need and depend on. McNeil stated that having greater interdisciplinary policies can help simultaneously elevate communities, spark economic growth, and social progress, in tandem with practical solutions to climate change. McNeil emphasized that the interdisciplinary nature of development is especially important to recognize and utilize as “it enables us to come up with solutions that aim to help everyone as opposed to top-bottom solutions that are directionally driven and thus, less advantageous.” Miah stated wanting to see less brain drain that negatively impacts health systems. Meanwhile, Forrest concluded that “development is a concept shared by more groups than those that work in it.” Development for Forrest is beyond a cluster of academic papers, and it is important for the conversation surrounding development to become more mainstream.
All in all, this forum created an environment for deep reflection, deliberation, and idea generation for this group of undergraduates. With concluding resounding messages of coming together, supporting each other, and using your agency, we hope you feel inspired and take away something new with regards to the field of International Development, what it means to be a part of this field, and it’s future.
-Arushi Dahiya
Arushi Dahiya is in her 4th year of undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, where she is pursuing a Specialist Co-operative in International Development Studies and Political Science. With a passion for learning how to alleviate global inequalities embedded within our economic systems, she is excited to spark conversations on what youth can do to dismantle the structures that perpetuate the present north-south divide.
