The celebrations surrounding the demise of the slave trade also make a 
useful underpinning for this; there is a plethora of literature connecting 
the developing wealth of Europe and particularly Great Britain in the 17th 
through to 19th centuries on control of the slave trade and the drugs trade. 
The massive wealth derived from both of these trades (and looted from the 
target countries) served as a foundation for imperial ambitions in GB for 
hundreds of years, and there is also literature pointing out the similarity 
between the 'old' drugs trade and the 'new' one, making the point that such 
iconic processes have a geo-political instrumentality far outweighing the 
avowed moral considerations involved in their control.

Just as ending the slave trade and vowing to fight it gave the Royal Navy 
the power to act effectively as a transnational police force, stopping, 
searching and controlling the mercantile fleets of rival trading powers, so 
the 'war on drugs' gives the US the pretence it needs for military bases, 
political interference, preferential aid regimes etc. In the meantime, it is 
the very criminalization of the drugs trade that makes it so profitable and 
indispensable to millions of the poorest the world over. Thus the 'war on 
drugs' is self-reflexive and symbiotic; it is itself that thing of which it 
purports to be the cure and the very international regimes set up to 
'combat' it guarantee its survival and prosperity...

Jon Cloke


From: "P.M. Howell" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: "P.M. Howell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: School Geography Text book on 'Development'
Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2007 11:17:26 +0100

This is an excellent question for school students, and should be a vital 
part of a more engaging and constructive curriculum. It has a major 
historical geographical component that should be emphasised, one that is 
challenging and politically relevant today. The basic question 'why are some 
places richer than others' is raised by the likes of David Landes in The 
Wealth and Poverty of Nations, only for the old western and Eurocentric 
answer that stresses the environmental, cultural and political failures of 
other regions and countries; Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel gives a 
less strenuously ideological answer, but still deeply flawed. In particular, 
the environmental argument is often emphasised as a 'geographical' factor; 
but this is used to excuse European and Western complicity in 
underdevelopment of the rest of the world. These books, and many variants, 
are critiqued in the likes of James Blaut's The Coloniser's Model of the 
World, and in his Eight Eurocentric Historians. More substantially, better 
answers to the question, ones that more accurately trace Europe and the 
West's relation with the rest of the world, can increasingly be found; these 
stress - though they are not necessarily consistent with each other - 
Europe's relative backwardness until recently, the vitality and development 
of other regions and politics (notably China and the Indian states), the 
impact of European colonialism for developing Europe's resource base, and 
later destabilising rival regions. A very good, relatively brief review, is 
Robert Marks, The Origins of the Modern World: A Global and Ecological 
Narrative. In addition, many US institutions run world or global history 
units, and have developed teaching resources accordingly.

Phil Howell


On Aug 27 2007, Daniel Raven-Ellison wrote:

>I've been asked to write a geography text book for KS3 geography students 
>(11-14) for the 'development' unit of the national curriculum, but I will 
>be focusing on the question 'why are some places richer than others'?
>
>After listening to many academic debates about school geography I am hoping
>that some readers might be willing to pass on some thoughts... what would
>you want to see (in terms of content, case studies, skills) in a text book
>on this subject? Just as much, what might you not want to see?
>
>I am also keen to learn of anything jobs professional geographers do that
>students might be asked to do withint the activities.
>
>Any thoughts are very welcome. You can email me at
>[log in to unmask] or call me at home on 01635 8622962.
>
>Many thanks!
>
>Daniel Raven-Ellison
>