Clark University - Clarknews spring 2004
Knowledge meets activism
By Judith Jaeger
A new book by Professor Richard Peet and his students puts classroom learning to work on global economic challenges
Spend a few minutes with geographer Richard Peet, and you just may catch his enthusiasm for teaching, research and creating positive change in the world. His commitment to all three is certainly evident in his latest book, "Unholy Trinity: The IMF, World Bank and WTO."
"I hope everybody who reads it is transformed politically, economically and in their conscience," says Peet, who describes himself as "an old '60s guy who still believes in changing the world."
The book's unusual byline also illustrates Peet's ability to inspire his students. He is the senior author, and 17 undergraduate and graduate students are the junior authors.
The idea for the book surfaced three years ago in Peet's Theory of Development course. The class of undergraduate and graduate students was discussing the World Trade Organization (WTO) protests in Seattle, Peet recalls, when someone suggested writing a book about issues of globalization. The students wrote the book proposal, which Peet says the commissioning editor at Zed Press in London described as "the best formulated and most interesting" proposal he'd seen in years.
All members of the class researched and wrote four chapters of the book, and Peet wrote the introduction and final chapter and handled the editing. The book was released by Zed in September 2003, and the first run sold out by January 2004. Peet adds that "Unholy Trinity" has received more interest from the press and other institutions than any other book he's written.
All about neoliberalism
"Unholy Trinity" offers a critical analysis of the policies of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and WTO and the consequences of those policies for the developing world. Specifically, Peet and the students examine the neoliberal agenda of these three institutions.
Neoliberalism, Peet explains, refers to a revival of 19th-century British free-trade liberalism that calls for the production and exportation of goods with no state regulation or intervention. Neoliberalism also promotes the privatization of state-owned industries and services, such as water and electricity, and deregulation, meaning the withdrawl of state regulations on privately run businesses.
Peet and his students were concerned about how these neoliberal policies impact the many Third World countries that depend on the IMF, World Bank and WTO for economic aid. For example, in order to receive aid or debt relief from these institutions, Third World countries must adopt free-trade regimes. This seems beneficial on the surface, says Peet, who then gives the example of this policy's impact on Mexico. If Mexico accepts such aid, it must open its borders to American corn exports. Since American corn is subsidized, it sells at a much lower price in Mexico, which undercuts Mexican corn production and causes unemployment.
"Free trade is painted as beneficial to everyone, but it's actually always beneficial to the most powerful country," Peet says.
Privatization of utilities and services, which is also part of the neoliberal agenda of the IMF, World Bank and WTO, has a similar impact on developing countries, he adds. In privatizing utilities, they are often sold to a corporation from a developed country, and prices rise significantly. In South Africa, for instance, water was privatized and became so expensive people couldn't afford it. Riots broke out, Peet says, and the African National Congress (ANC) had police open fire on the rioters, many of whom had been staunch ANC supporters during apartheid.
The IMF, World Bank and WTO also demand that countries set up export economies, which means countries aren't producing anything to meet their own needs, and that countries end government-sponsored services for the poor.
"Overall, the process of privatization, deregulation and export orientation benefits the elite and is bad for the poor," Peet says. In the final chapter of the book, Peet and his students argue that these policies originate on Wall Street and are designed to ease the way for global corporations to establish themselves in Third World countries.
"In essence, we're saying ‘big capitalists behind global governance.' That's where the controversy is, and that's why people protest."
Learning through action
In recent years, issues of globalization have hit a nerve among college students. Whether it's protesting a WTO meeting, holding forums on campus, or conducting a research project, college students are raising their voices against the practices of the IMF, World Bank and WTO. Clark students are no exception. Peet cites a recent forum on globalization at Clark titled "The Washington Consensus," which was attended by approximately 250 students.
"The present generation of college students has both a global consciousness and a global conscience," says Peet, who adds that they also know they are privileged and want to create change. He strives to give his students the theoretical background to understand these issues. They come to Clark with a lot of awareness, he says, but not as much knowledge.
"They're dying to understand it. They want theory."
Peet adds that the process of writing "Unholy Trinity" served as an excellent teaching tool. It is also a prime example of Clark's active-learning approach to higher education.
"This is a continuing example of scholarship that many alumni will remember Clark for," he says.
An exhilarating experience
Junior author Josie Shagwert '02 describes the process of writing the book as "exhilarating and stressful." Prior to Peet's class, Shagwert was involved in different academic and cocurricular activities focused on a critique of "globalization from above." The class and writing the book gave Shagwert the theory to back those activities.
"Professor Peet's class—the project, the readings and the discussions—honed my critique and gave me a powerful analytical framework for my ideas about how globalization should and shouldn't work," she says. "Since the class, I place a higher value on thoroughly researching the things I'm passionate about, in order to better argue that another world is possible."
Peet found that the students had a higher level of commitment and dedication to understanding their subject matter, because this type of project makes learning real. Junior author Matthew Feinstein '03 agrees.
"The goal of having such a concrete outcome for our research was an amazing motivating force," Feinstein says. "I learned more and felt more productive working on that project than many other semesters filled with smaller projects."
For graduate student and junior author Kendra Fehrer '03, writing "Unholy Trinity," along with other work undertaken with Peet, fortified her commitment to studying global political-economy and social movements. Fehrer is currently in Argentina, with the support of a David L. Boren Graduate Fellowship, studying how women's groups in Argentina react to hardships imposed by economic globalization.
"Whether or not I continue with a career in academia, the writing skills I learned through ‘Unholy Trinity' are a valuable contribution to any project I'm involved in—from neighborhood organizing in Worcester, to policy lobbying in Washington, D.C., to solidarity building in Argentina," she says.
Junior author Mazen Labban, who is earning a Ph.D. in geography at Clark, enjoyed the mutual learning experience among undergraduate and graduate students in writing "Unholy Trinity."
"We all shared our knowledge and contributed to each other's research," Labban says. "We read, discussed and criticized each other's work, inside and outside class. Working on such a project made us all an active part in what we were learning."
Labban notes that hardly any student in the class specialized in the topic of globalization or had deep knowledge of it. In working on the book after learning the theoretical basics, he says, "we were already teaching ourselves and learning from each other."
The joy of a job well done
For Peet, the "Unholy Trinity" project also had the side benefit of putting a finished book in his students' hands.
"I'm sure they revel in it—I know I do," he says. "I can't pick up this book without a feeling of happiness and joy."
Anyone who talks with Peet about "Unholy Trinity," his students and his teaching and research at Clark can't help but feel some of that joy, too.
"Unholy Trinity: The IMF, World Bank and WTO" was written by geographer Richard Peet and the graduate and undergraduate students in his spring 2001 Development Theory course. The students, designated as junior authors, include: graduate student Beate Born '02, Mia Davis '01, M.A. '03, graduate student Kendra Fehrer '03, Matthew Feinstein '03, Steve Feldman*, Sahar Rahman Khan '02, M.A. '03, graduate student Mazen Labban, graduate student Kristin McArdle '02, Ciro Marcano M.A. '01, Lisa Meierotto M.A. '02, graduate student Daniel Niles, graduate student Thomas Ponniah, Marion C. Schmidt x'04, graduate student Guido Schwarz, graduate student Josephine Shagwert '02, graduate student Michael P. Staton '02 and graduate student Samuel Stratton '01.
* Steve Feldman is a pseudonym.
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