Maquilapolis

Thanks for that excellent post about the MSN, they've become really active and are an inspiring organization.

Here is a link to a film entitled "Maquilapolis", which sounds many of the themes of the film on Ciudad Juarez/El Paso, but is about Tijuana/San Diego. It connects a number of issues, from toxic chemical leaks during rainstorms into workers' pueblos neighborhoods, the insane monotony of factory-assembly work, women's labor organizing, globalization, and the list continues.

http://www.maquilapolis.com/

Maquiladora Solidarity Network

Just in case anyone has become especially interested in the maquila situation in Tijuana, I thought I'd share some resources about it. There is a group called the San Diego Maquiladora Workers’ Solidarity Network that does work with trying to bridge the struggles of factory workers in Tijuana with people in San Diego. They do a tour, its called a Human Rights Tour, I think, about once a month. I've been on it, and while I have my criticisms of it, I think it can be a really good thing to experience and the folks doing it are good connections to have if you plan on doing any work concerning the maquilas. The website is http://sdmaquila.org/ and you can sign up for the tour there. Also, for another class I read pieces of a text called Beautiful Flowers of the Maquiladora: Life Histories of Women Workers in Tijuana. Its a very good look at the issue, from a very human perspective.
All of this is so near to us, I think it's important to know about.
peace

Sad but very true reality of globalization

Students:

Your work on the midterm was truly outstanding, the average was in the B+ range, and I was so happy with the answers on the essays in particular. I think people could have engaged better with the Davis and Herzog texts, but overall I felt the vast majority of the class had learned and begun to master the course material. Well done.

Here is a link to a sobering article from a TV program I caught last night. It really hits all aspects of our class, and I was amazed at how economic globalization, world-wide climate change, rural-to-urban migration patterns, and the literal erasure of centuries-old patterns of life are combined in this story.

Here's the article about changes in Algerian nomads in the Sahara Desert, but I encourage you to try and find the broadcast, it's damn depressing, but it's all happening...

Worldwide, more than one billion people have no access to clean drinking water. The shortage of water in the world's deserts is making life for many nomads increasingly difficult. The Tuareg in Algeria, for example, are struggling to locate enough water to live. When digging wells, the nomads now have to dig up to 40 metres to find water. They blame the industrialized countries for producing climate change, which has decreased levels of rain and made temperatures climb...Abdou Hmais says: "Without water, we would be forced to sell our animals or kill them. But what would we do then? We could only work as beggars in the city. We're nomads, and we want to carry on living our lives like before."

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3491275,00.html

Final Presentations

Students:

USP 2 Final oral presentations in class.

Reminder: All students are expected to make a short 10 minute oral presentation in class during the last week. Presentations can be made using Power Point slides or on posterboard.
The schedule is:
July 28: last name begins with Li- Z
July 30, last name begins with A-Le

All students must attend both classes July 28, 30. Final papers due on or before July 30 at 5pm. No late papers accepted.

Rio de Janeiro

For any of you working on Rio, here is a link to a Google Scholar page of a book that looks interesting. The page is actually to the list of publications that cite this book by R. Gay, Popular Organization and Democracy in Rio De Janeiro: A Tale of Two Favelas.

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?num=50&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&cites=9503728749714088796

Other Research Resources

Thank you Justin for the helpful post, that's an excellent resource.

Also, here are some other ideas:

Go to "Databases A-Z" on the UCSD Libraries page and do a search for "urban"

Use jstor.org or scholar.google.com
--either of these databases are excellent research tools to get sources and complete your investigations.

Possible Research Paper Resource

For those continuing to research about your city, I had come across an interesting subscription resource called Sage Journals Online. Fortunately, UCSD is a subscriber to Sage Journals Online, providing us with free articles from various journals that have been published. One of the most important topics they focus on is urban development and planning. If you try a search for your city in their database, chances are you will be able to find an article that will provide valuable information that is relevant to your city.

You can access the Sage Journals Online database at http://online.sagepub.com.

Review Recap

Students:

Thanks for the good questions last night, and remember that I need any further questions by class on Monday to reply to them.

Just to recap:

Midterm format: 10 Definitions at 4 points each. I'm expecting you to be able to define the term, and then explain its significance. This should take 3-5 sentences, but if you write long sentences it could be done in 2. I'm also expecting you to cite a source in these definintions, as they are drawn from course readings and films, but you can also cite lecture for a few. I think a good batch of definitions will have 6 or more DIFFERENT SOURCES. This is either the name of a film [when possible] or the author's last name of a book. No need for Book titles, years, page numbers, etc.

3 Essays, 20 points each. These essays are drawn primarily from the readings, so be sure to read up, especially the Davis, Short & Kim, and Herzog texts. Try not to get lost in the details, but have summaries for each chapter, to organize your thoughts.
**Remember I prioritize having a thesis statement, which is your argument, to open an essay. Pretty writing is far less important than making a clear, unique argument in a timed essay. Taking 5 minutes to think of a good argument and briefly outline your answer will greatly help you write a top response.

Midterm Review

I just wanted to remind everyone that there will be a review for the midterm after class this evening. YOU MUST BRING QUESTIONS FOR THIS REVIEW, AS I WILL ONLY BE PREPARING PRACTICE DEFINITION AND ESSAY QUESTIONS.

Also, thanks for the post about the World Bank and IMF, I'll be sure to cover those this evening as they will be a part of the exam.

Planet of Slums

Having just finished reading "Planet of Slums", I can't help but be both depressed and grateful at the same time. Some of the facts in the book made me sick to my stomach, ashamed to be living in a world where things like this are allowed to happen, and made me see that the little inconveniences that I complain about are incomparable to what the rest of the world lives and breathes on a daily basis. There was one thing that was unclear upon finishing that hopefully someone can clarify for me: How do the IMF and World Bank work and what exactly is a Structural Adjustment Plan? It is clear that Davis feels both of the orgs have negatively impacts slums throughout the Third World despite their apparent roles as helpers, but I just don't understand how they function and what they have done. In lamence economics terms please, if possible. Thanks!

Informal Housing in San Diego County

Students:

Here is an article brought to my attention by Randall Stevens that relates to our topics on migration, informal housing situations, and responses by the state [aka the government]. Lest we think these things happen 'somewhere else,' keep in mind that our region very much is part of larger transnational routes of human and economic globalization:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/justfixit/20080709-9999-lz1m9fixit.html

Blogging

Students:

So far there has not been much enthusiasm for posting, which I understand. But I wanted to quickly suggest some of the types of things to consider posting, especially as the class progresses.

• Comments or questions related to class readings or lectures
• Questions about the midterm. Obviously I can't say what will be on it but feel free to send in your questions as you are preparing for the exam.
  
• Experiences in the research project. One thing I'd especially like to see are some of your experiences in the field doing research so that your colleagues can benefit from your successes and frustrations. Any of the following could be valuable to someone else, either as things to emulate or failures to avoid:
• Research sources--online, journals, books, news media, etc
• Sources for visual materials--atlases, encyclopedia, etc
  
• How to relate your topic to the class' themes
• Putting together a PowerPoint presentation of your findings

And remember, even if you don't feel like posting to this space, you can send me an email and we can discuss.

Good luck

Proposal Reminder

Students:

Again to reiterate some points made in lecture today about your proposals, and your projects generally:

First, you probably already know this, but the more you put into this effort the more you will get out of it. And almost inevitably [although it might not seem like it at the time] your grade will rise with the amount of time spent as well.

Secondly, we are absolutely looking for the most focused project you are able to produce. As you are reading class and outside materials and thinking of your topic, try to make a list of all the things that are interesting to you about Mexico City, for example. From there, hierarchize them so you can fit in other ideas into one, coherent thesis.

• So if you're interested in housing, but also environmental issues, choose one to be your theme. But of course tell us how these are inter-related as well, such as how we saw the rainforest being destroyed on the edges of Rio de Janeiro by favela sprawl [and probably elites' golf courses in other areas as well...].
  

So a quick and dirty proposal must have: city chosen, theme picked, and sources listed. A quality proposal will go much more deeply into these topics; as Professor Herzog suggested, the more specific you are, the more helpful we can be.

Also, feel free to type out questions or brainstorms you're having below your proposal. These can often be very helpful to key me into your larger thought process, as I realize you haven't had much time to think about this project yet.

Keep reading, and I thought I'd add a link to an interview by Mike Davis about Planet of Slums to help you on your way. Even if you read the first bit of this, you get a sense of how fantastic this man is and how he truly has a knack for cities and how to study them.

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/82655/tomdispatch_interview_mike_davis_turning_a_planet_into_a_slum

Projects

Students:
Remember that next Wednesday July 9th your proposals are due.

I'll be looking for:
--which city you're going to investigate
--what sources you're going to use [at least 2 or so as a start]
--what topic you're going to focus in on--poverty, housing, transportation, globalization, squatting, public health, etc are all acceptable topics. Of course you can touch on more than one, but the more focused you can be, the better for producing a quality paper.
--please feel free to include any pictures or maps as well, visual data will be crucial to an effective presentation of your final work, so if you already have any they are welcome.


As always, feel free to send me an email. I won't be checking over the holiday, but in general I will reply within 24 hours.

Best-
ac

Globalization and the City

Students:

First of all for those of you who have not taken a summer course before please be prepared to keep up with the reading, which will seem like a lot if you do not stay on top of it.

Secondly, I'd like to offer a couple of thoughts about the first week's topic of globalization. I urge you to think about the quote from Waters on the page 3 of Short & Kim (1999):

"The concept of globalization is an obvious object for ideological suspicion because, like modernization, an earlier and related concept, it appears to justify the spread of Western culture and of capitalist society by suggesting that there are forces operating beyond human control that are transforming the world"

One of the most important things to keep in mind about globalization is that however powerful its many aspects may appear, it is NOT INEVITABLE and there are alternatives. So when the authors talk about "metanarratives," they mean that just the idea or the story we tell ourselves about 'globalization' can take the place of what's really happening, why things happen the way they do, and the fact that people are always making the decisions responsible for what is called globalization.

Hopefully that sinks in, because one of the things we are bombarded with is that "there is no alternative" to globalization, which makes it a slippery subject to critically think through.

But, I also encourage you to look over yesterday's lecture, which highlighted many of the topics covered in the Short and Kim book. Here are some ideas to keep in mind:

--globalization is not one thing but many trends suggesting the transnational, interconnected nature of the contemporary world. These include trade, finance capital [money & investments], communications, culture, working bodies [immigration], and many others.
--globalization is often centered in cities [i.e. Tokyo p28] but it affects cities as well, encouraging incredibly vast, uneven growth in cities across the world, but also producing hierarchies between cities, as the book nicely details.

There are two ways in which you will be evaluated in this course, the midterm and the project. So when you read these books, keep in mind that of course we cannot test you on every aspect of every text. What you should be doing is looking for the important themes the authors suggest, as I have started to do for you above. This will help you keep going through the readings. But secondly, look for interesting themes and ideas the authors put forward that you will be able to delve into more deeply for your project. Even if the example is about Tokyo, you could really be interested in this idea of a "command center" and want to explore it regarding Sao Paulo, for instance.

I hope this helps you get off on the right foot, and feel free to post questions, thoughts, and other relevant issues to this space--
AC

Greetings and Missing Power Supply

Students:

Welcome to USP2. Please use this space to communicate with me, and get in the habit of checking it at least once a week as I will be posting class updates, helpful thoughts about the readings, and ideas about successfully executing your projects.

Remember you are authors of this blog too! So feel free to post interesting articles you come across, and things of that nature.

And please use this instead of email whenever appropriate--if you have a question I can guarantee you someone else does as well.

Finally, a student left aToshiba laptop power supply in the class yesterday. Did anyone see it or pick it up?

Again welcome=
Andrew