Exam Questions | The Critical Political Economy Of – Ch.4

CHAPTER 4

The Critical Political Economy of Development

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Marx-inspired critiques of political economy argue that persistent inequalities exist between ____________.
   1. multinational corporations
   2. countries
   3. social groups
   4. Both B & C
   5. All of the above
2. Praxis is ____________________.
   1. the idea that practice makes perfect
   2. the idea that in order to become an expert you must practice at least 10,000 hours
   3. the idea that theory and practice cannot be separated
   4. the idea that happiness comes from development
   5. None of the above
3. Critical political economy focuses on questions such as_____________.
   1. what is wrong with being poor?
   2. what is wrong with excessive wealth and privilege?
   3. how is wealth created and distributed?
   4. Both B & C
   5. All of the above
4. Which historical factor(s) help to explain the rise of “the development project”?
   1. The Marshall Plan
   2. Cold War ideology
   3. A push to gain independence from colonial rule
   4. All of the above
   5. None of the above
5. Before the advent of capitalism, most land in England was held in common. This meant that ____________.
   1. the king owned all the land, but people could live wherever they wanted
   2. land was owned by communities and people had the right to farm the land as well as extract resources like firewood *
   3. no one owned the land
   4. you could own land simply be living on it – a version of squatter’s rights
6. According to Marx, “exploitation” is _____________.
   1. the same thing as slavery
   2. a form of heavy taxation on the poor
   3. when surplus value is extracted from labour during the labour process
   4. when a worker no longer creates value for themselves, but rather for their boss
   5. Both C & D
7. Statistics presented by organisations such as the United Nations and the World Bank purport to represent class, but this should be more accurately labelled “socio-economic status” because __________________.
   1. this measure does not tell us how wealth is being created and by whom
   2. it is really a measure of how successful big businesses are
   3. these organizations cannot access data on labour conditions
   4. they reference the process of exploitation
   5. None of the above
8. Which of the people in the following scenarios would be considered traditional capitalists?
   1. A life-long employee of University X who owns their own home and has investments in the stock market
   2. A street vendor in Zimbabwe with no investments
   3. The owner of a factory in China that produces cell phones
   4. All of the above
   5. Both A & C
9. Trade unions _______________.
   1. were developed to counterbalance capitalists’ desire to increase production and drive down wages
   2. were developed to protect workers’ rights and working conditions
   3. have been known to be militant in new areas of capitalist accumulation
   4. work to ensure workers gain a greater share of the profit they produce
   5. All of the above
10. China has notably increased wealth since 2000, thus catching up with the rest of the world. Political theorists argue this is problematic because _____________.
    1. the world really did not want Asian countries to catch up
    2. the increase in wealth in China has led to an increase in socio-economic inequality
    3. the rapid increase in wealth has led to rapid environmental degradation
    4. Both B & C
    5. All of the above
11. According to Marxist theory, imperialism and colonialism __________.
    1. are related as imperialism is the idea, and colonialism is the practice
    2. are related as imperialism and colonialism are the same thing
    3. are related as imperialism occurs when a country is ruled by royalty, but colonialism is when it is ruled by a democratic power
    4. are not related to one another
    5. None of the above
12. Walter Rodney used a “balance sheet of colonialism” to posit that ____________.
    1. the underdevelopment of Africa slowed down capitalism in African countries
    2. the capitalist exploits of Europe in the form of colonialism led to the underdevelopment of Africa countries
    3. capitalism in Europe on the whole benefited African countries
    4. colonialism brought infrastructure, economic growth, and sociological modernity to African countries
    5. None of the above
13. Neo-colonialism is similar to older forms of colonialism except ___________.
    1. there is less military intervention
    2. there is less direct rule of a colony by the colonial power
    3. neo-colonialism is more control by markets than by men
    4. it is less costly
    5. All of the above
14. The concept of race in what is now the United States emerged ____________.
    1. in the early days everyone in the colonies was white
    2. people were more religious in the early colonies
    3. after indentured forms of labour performed by descendants of European settlers disappeared only the slaves of African descent were left unfree and race was used as a way of justifying this forced labour
    4. Black people also owned slaves
15. Critical race theorists talk about “racialization” and “racialized” peoples rather than race because _____________.
    1. there is an acknowledgement that race is often a spectrum
    2. race is a social construct and does not really exist in any quantifiable way
    3. racialization is a continuing process and is not strictly related to skin colour
    4. in the early days of colonialism everyone was racist
    5. racism disappeared after the abolition of slavery in the 1800s
16. Ellen Meiksins Wood argues that ___________.
    1. we need to only understand what is happening in the imperialist countries to understand the form that colonialism takes
    2. we must understand what is happening in the imperialist countries to understand the form that colonialism takes
    3. colonialism only takes one form, simply in different geographical locations
    4. there was no difference in French and English colonial policy in North America
    5. None of the above
17. Self-determination, in the context of Indigenous peoples, means ___________.
    1. a return to hunter-gatherer modes of living
    2. full independence including having their own military and economy
    3. the right to establish and run their own political, economic, social, cultural, and religious systems
    4. All of the above
    5. None of the above
18. The “white-man’s burden” refers to ____________.
    1. a justification for colonialism that re-imagines colonialism as a mission to bring progress and civilization to non-Europeans
    2. early attempts at independence in British colonies
    3. the gradual loss if interest that European countries showed in the colonies after World War II
    4. the realization that to be successful, Europeans would have to live in their colonies and not govern from abroad
    5. the leading theoretical underpinning of present-day development projects
19. Socialist feminists argue that _______________.
    1. legal rights should be enjoyed by all women
    2. decommodifiying basic services such as health care, water and sanitation, housing, and childcare is integral to achieving equality
    3. relations of oppression and exploitation relate to each other and cannot be separated in our experiences
    4. All of the above
    5. Both A & C
20. The International Women’s Strike was born out of____________.
    1. local struggles in South America, specifically Argentina
    2. local struggles in Europe, specifically Poland
    3. opposing gender-based violence
    4. opposing the criminalization of abortions
    5. All of the above
21. Chile has been touted as the neoliberal success story of Latin America. However, _____________.
    1. it has not seen significant increases in its GDP over the past three decades
    2. the benefits of this success have not been shared equally
    3. there are great economic disparities between elites and the masses
    4. Both B & C
    5. All of the above
22. Leon Trotsky argued that capitalism is uneven and combined. By this he meant ____________.
    1. people will benefit from capitalism at different rates depending on the culture and the context
    2. the rich get richer and the poor get poorer
    3. capitalism can only work in combination with liberal democracy
    4. capitalism requires a free press to be successful
    5. None of the above
23. The BRIC countries refer to _________________.
    1. Botswana, Rwanda, India, and China
    2. Brazil, Russia, India, and China
    3. Bahrain, Russia, Indonesia, and Canada
    4. Belgium, Romania, Italy, and Czech Republic
    5. Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, and Cambodia
24. Anti-imperialist fervour after World War I resulted in the dissolution of the following political empires ___________.
    1. Mongol, Qing, and Russian
    2. Austro-Hungarian, German, and Ottoman
    3. Spanish, French, and Prussian
    4. German, British, and American
    5. None of the above
25. The dependency school of thought ______________.
    1. emphasizes that developing nations are dependent on their former colonial masters
    2. emphasizes that developing nations and their former colonial masters are dependent on each other
    3. are a number of theories developed in the Global South in reaction to modernization theory
    4. is a unified body of theory that emerged in the Global South as a reaction to neo-liberal theory
    5. None of the above
26. The concept of unequal exchange was first introduced ___________.
    1. to explain the concealed exploitation in international trade between developed and developing nations
    2. to explain the exchange of information between developed and developing nations
    3. to explain how different financial exchange rates can skew measures of development
    4. to explain balance of trade deficits
    5. All of the above
27. “Declining terms of trade” means ______________.
    1. that most of the value-added commodities are produced in poor countries
    2. that most of the value-added commodities are produced in the rich countries that industrialized first
    3. that most of the value-added commodities are produced in middle-income countries
    4. that most of the value-added commodities are produced in China
    5. that developing nations benefit more from international trade
28. Import substitution industrialization was seen as a solution to the problem(s) of ____________.
    1. inferior goods produced locally
    2. poorly trained local labour
    3. inequitable terms of trade
    4. All of the above
    5. None of the above
29. Delinking refers to _____________.
    1. when a country intentionally separates their economy from the global economy
    2. when a country becomes a failed state
    3. when a country chooses to implement isolationist policies like North Korea after the Korean War
    4. when a country allows self-determination of its Indigenous peoples
30. When Cuba “delinked” from the United States they were supported by ____________.
    1. Canada
    2. China
    3. the Soviet Union
    4. Spain
    5. the United Kingdom
31. Cuba is an interesting case study in political economy because _____________.
    1. it managed to delink itself from a superpower (USA) and thrive in certain contexts
    2. it demonstrated that the state does have a role to play in development
    3. it has developed a world class health care and education system without traditional capitalism
    4. it demonstrated that there is no perfect model of development
    5. All of the above
32. The dependency tradition of political economy declined because ________________.
    1. the collapse of the dualist tradition of dependency
    2. the rise of the Newly Industrializing Countries
    3. the rise of neoliberalism
    4. the fall of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc
    5. All of the above
33. “Social reproduction” is a term that describes ________________.
    1. how colonial social cultures are reproduced in other countries – how many African countries have adopted the British culture around tea for example
    2. how the success of capitalism is reliant on unpaid work in the form of home care, health care, and taking care of the young and elderly
    3. how developing countries’ social cultures are coopted by the colonizers – how Britain counts Indian curry as a British food for example
    4. None of the above
    5. All of the above

True or False Questions

1. According to Karl Marx, the capitalist system is based on inherent contradictions that cannot be overcome because it is a system focused on production for profit rather than for human need.
2. Critical political economy practitioners are concerned with how wealth is created and shared between countries but not how wealth is shared within countries.
3. Jeffery Sachs argues that the development gap is due to large differential growth rates between developing and developed countries.
4. Critical development theories inspired by Marxism focus on how colonialism and imperialism have been shaped by capitalism.
5. In order to be considered a true capitalist, you must exert control over others’ labour in order to make a profit.
6. Trade unions helped end authoritarian rule in the 1980s in Brazil and struggled against apartheid in South Africa.
7. Colonialism is the practice of domination and control by one nation over another.
8. Imperialism is the same things as colonialism.
9. According to the class relational view, capitalism predates colonialism because colonialism could not exist without capitalism.
10. Class is not a thing; it must be understood as a social relation.
11. Contemporary concepts of race and racism are not trans-historical phenomena.
12. Vladimir Lenin believed that imperialism was an unavoidable stage in the evolution of capitalism.
13. In many white settler states such as Canada and Australia, racialized women face disproportionate levels of poverty and economic insecurity, which can be connected to the combination of gender inequality and racial wealth divisions.
14. Critical development theories are another way of describing capitalism.
15. The political philosophy of Karl Marx has had a great deal of influence on economics and politics for the past century.
16. Karl Marx argued that the capitalist system protects the working class better than other economic systems.
17. Adam Smith argued that the state should intervene in economic development.
18. Colonial powers used solely economic justifications for empire and development.
19. Rosa Luxemburg argued that imperialism was the lowest stage of capitalism.
20. The mainstream, modern notion of development was heavily influenced by Cold War ideology.
21. Immanuel Wallerstein conceptualized the “world systems” school of dependency thinking that was characterized by a tripartite system composed of the core, periphery, and the semi-periphery.
22. Critical development theories inspired by Marxism focus on how capitalism has been shaped by colonialism and imperialism.
23. Class relationships are inherently conflictual.
24. Modern political theorists study holistic tools that inform the practice of international development.
25. Praxis is the idea that practice makes perfect.
26. The statement “The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it” is attributed to Karl Marx.
27. Marxists and their modern counterparts argue that capitalism is sustainable over the long term.
28. Marxism argues that capitalism, colonialism, and imperialism intersect with other forms of oppression.
29. Toward the end of his life, Marx questioned the way his work was being interpreted by other theorists and practitioners.
30. Wealthy women are better able to find success in the workforce because they can afford to hire people, most often other women, to help with domestic duties like child and home care.
31. Chile has been touted as a neoliberal success story because it has experienced significant increases in its GDP.
32. Modern political economic theorists are particularly concerned about the neoliberal process of privatization, which entails the sale of government assets at very low (or zero) cost to private interests and then used for profit.
33. Modern Marxist scholars argue that power in organizations like trade unions are not centralized enough to be effective and we need new social movements along the lines of the World Social Forums.
34. Robert Brenner argued that scholars of the dualist approach to dependency did not understand the social relations of capitalism correctly, simply focusing on the way that commodities circulate (through international trade) rather than how they are produced.

Short Answer Questions

1. How do critical political economy approaches to development regard global inequalities?
2. How do critical political economy approaches view alternatives to the capitalist system and development?
3. How do critical political economy approaches view the origins of the concept of “development”?
4. How did Karl Marx view the enclosure of the commons and the invention of private property?

1. Briefly compare and contrast the theories espoused by Karl Marx and Adam Smith.
2. Define and describe the Marxist concept of “exploitation.”
3. Explain why Karl Marx observed that the market was never neutral.
4. Define and describe “class” with examples.
5. Describe Ellen Meiksins Wood’s argument that we must understand what is happening in the imperialist countries in order to understand the form that colonialism takes through a historical example.

1. Describe Walter Rodney’s argument that European colonialism underdeveloped African countries.
2. How do colonialism and neo-colonialism differ from one another?
3. Define and describe the “white man’s burden.”
4. Compare and contrast Vladimir Lenin and Rosa Luxemburg’s views about the stages of capitalism in relation to imperialism.
5. Define and describe Raul Prebish’s concept of unequal exchange.
6. What is Jeffery Sachs’ argument around the development gap? How do critical development theories see this gap?
7. Define and describe Immanuel Wallerstein’s concept of the “world systems.”
8. Define the concept of “privatization,” and describe David Harvey’s concerns about this process.
9. Define and describe the concept of “social reproduction.”
10. What are socialist feminists’ concerns with the mainstream concept of intersectionality?
11. Define and describe the difference between colonialism and imperialism in the Marxist view. How do these concepts relate to capitalism?
12. Why do critical race theorists talk about “racialization” and “racialized” peoples?
13. Define and describe Arthur Manuel’s conceptualization of “self-determination.”

Essay Questions

1. Explain the economic process of “delinking” and provide an example.
2. Explain the decline of the dependency school of thought.
3. What were three historical factors or events that led to the modern, mainstream concept of development?
4. Examine the theoretical underpinnings of critical political economy of development theorists in relation to the interplay between gender, class, and race.
5. Explain the dependency school of thought and describe the two main bodies of thought that emerged from it.