International Development Studies

Surendra J. Patel (1923-2006) was one of India's most distinguished economists. In his rich and varied career, he was senior advisor at the World Institute of Development Economics Research (WIDER), Visiting Professor at the Institute of Development Studies, a staff member of the UN-ECE, UN-ECA, and UNESCAP regional commissions, and was for many years Director of the Technology Division of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). In his capacity as Director of UNCTAD-TD he was responsible for major initiatives such as the Code of Conduct on the International Transfer of Technology, the Revision of the Paris Convention, and Compensation for the Reverse Transfer of Technology. He was born and educated in India and was a prolific author, both alone and with colleagues, of important books on the technological transformation of the South. Dr. Patel joined the Saint Mary's University International Development Studies faculty as Distinguished Visiting Professor in the early 19990s, and was reappointed DVP a number of times as his relationship with SMU-IDS became closer through joint publications, teaching and research. Dr. Patel was also an Adjunct Faculty member of SMU-IDS up until his passing away in India in 2006.

Besides being a first-class researcher, a prolific author, and an excellent teacher, Dr. Patel will be remembered for his graciousness, dignity, and warmth. The International Development Studies Program at Saint Mary's University has sought to honour his memory with the Surendra Patel Memorial Lecture, presented each year by a distinguished person in the area of development studies. The first three lectures were given by Dr. Paul Bowles, Dr. Osvaldo Sunkel, and Dr. Norman Girvan, respectively. This year's Patel Memorial lecturer will be Dr. Kari Levitt, Professor Emeritus in Economics at McGill University. For further details, click here.

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Saint Mary's University
IDS VISITING SPEAKERS PROGRAM
McNally Main Building Room 208
Friday Noon

Winter 2010

Jan. 15	Politics of Knowledge for Development Alex Borda-Rodriquez, Research Associate Fellow, Saint Mary’s University; Post-doctoral Fellow, Technoscience and Regulation Unit, Dalhousie University

Jan. 22	The Invention of Information in Paraguay: Reimagining Bureaucracy in the Post-Cold War Kregg Hetherington, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, Dalhousie University

Jan. 29	Living from the Sea: Coastal Fishers, Politics and Development Challenges Sherry Mae Pictou, Bear River First Nation & World Forum of Fisher Peoples Tony Charles, Professor of Business and Environmental Studies, Saint Mary’s University

Feb. 5	Note: This talk is being held in Loyola 297. A Political Economy of the Food Riot Raj Patel, Fellow, Food First

Feb. 12	TBA

Feb. 17	Note: This is a Wednesday. Time: 5:30 p.m. Location: MM 208 Our Ecological Hoofprint: Global Livestock Production and the Food Crisis Tony Weis, Department of Geography, The University of Western Ontario

Feb. 26	February Break. No Seminar.

Mar. 5	Translating Land Rights in Africa: Heuristic Tools and Empirical Questions Blair Rutherford, Director, Institute of African Studies and Professor of Sociology & Anthropology, Carleton University

Mar. 12	Towards an ‘Agricultural Revolution in Reverse’? Ecology, Neoliberalism, and the Agrarian Question in World-Historical Perspective Jason W. Moore, Department of Human Geography, Lund University; Department of Historical Studies, Umeå University

Mar. 19	Development as Gift?: 'Comfortable Housing' and Sovereignty in Tibet Emily Yeh, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, University of Colorado

Mar. 26	From Structural Adjustment to Poverty Reduction: Recent Transformations in World Bank Policy Arne Ruckert, Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Political Studies and Centre for International Policy Studies (CIPS), University of Ottawa

Apr. 2	Good Friday. No Seminar.

Fall 2009

Sept. 18	Development Planning in Bolivia in the Context a Plurinational State (Bolivia) Juan Tellez, Special Advisor to the Minister of Planning, La Paz, Bolivia
Sept. 25	The Kerala Model of Development in the ‘New’ World Order M.A. Oomen, Malcolm Adiseshiah Chair in Development Economics, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi
Oct. 2	Caribbean Development in an Era of Neoliberal Globalization Norman Girvan, Professorial Fellow, IIR, University of the West Indies; Former Director of the UN Centre for Transnational Corporations (UNCTC); Chief Technical Director of the National Planning Agency of the Government of Jamaica; Secretary-General of the Association of Caribbean States (2001-2004)
Oct. 9	Ethnicity, Race and Development from a United Nations Perspective Krishna Ahoojapatel, Former Deputy Director, UN Institute for the Advancement of Research for Women (INSTRAW); President (2001-2004) and UN Representative (2005-) of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and (WILPF); President, NGO Committee on the Status of Women, Geneva; Distinguished Visiting Professor (1996-2003) and Adjunct professor in IDS (2004-10)
Oct. 15	This will be held in Sobey 401 (Secunda Marine Boardroom) at 5pm. Sustainable Rural Livelihoods Approaches: Origins, Current Conditions, and Future Trajectories Ian Scoones, Professorial Fellow, Institute for Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex, UK Discussant: Ben White, Professor of Rural Sociology, International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The Hague
Oct. 16	The Politics of Agrofuels: A View from Below Diamantino Nhampossa, UNAC Mozambique)/Via Campesina-Africa The Priceless Nature of Agrofuels Phil McMichael, Professor of Development Sociology; director of the Polson Institute for Global Development, Cornell University
Oct. 23	This week's seminar will be held in Sobey 401 (Secunda Marine Boardroom). Latin America’s Twenty-First Century Socialism in Historical Perspective James Petras, Professor Emeritus in Sociology, Binghamton University; Adjunct professor IDS, SMU

Oct. 30	Postponed until November 19th.
Nov. 6	Live or Let Die? Rural Dispossession and Protection of a Surplus Population Tania Li, Senior Canada Research Chair in the Political-Economy and Culture of Asia-Pacific; Acting Director of the Asian Institute (2007-8), University of Toronto
Nov. 13	The Global South: On the Road to Autonomy Kari Levitt, Professor Emeritus, McGill University
Nov. 19	Please note: this is a Thursday. This week's seminar will begin at noon per usual and will be held in the McNally Boardroom - across from the President's Office. On the Politics of Development:Doing Progressive Politics in a Conservative Setting Walden Bello, Executive Director, Focus on the Global South, Bangkok; 2007-2008 & 2009-2010 Distinguished Visiting Professor, International Development Studies, Saint Mary’s University

Nov. 27	This will be held in Loyola 171. Turkey Today: From Development Challenges to extending Development Assistance Dr. Rafet Akgünay, Turkish Ambassador to Canada