Hosted on Zoom – Register for link
March 2 – May 4, 2022
Wednesdays
10:00am – 11:30am Eastern Time
Description:
Nation states rich in natural resources and governed by authoritarian regimes are all too frequently rife with corruption. A substantial portion of the literature in the field of political economy argues that economic and fiscal reliance on natural resources helps create and institutionalize kleptocratic political systems. In this seminar, we will examine how resource abundance, especially high dependence on oil income, has a detrimental effect on democracy. Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan will serve as case studies.
This seminar will focus on corruption and kleptocracy in rentier states – states which derive all or a substantial portion of revenue by renting resources to foreign powers. We will outline the various complex and interrelated aspects of natural resource governance, including rentier effects, the centralization of power and wealth, “state capture”, “resource curse”, and “Dutch disease”.
This seminar will explore the major effects of the rentier economy and natural resources on democracy and state building, as well as the role of reform in the prevention of the “resource curse”. During the seminar, participants will analyze corruption and kleptocracy as outcomes of poor governance of natural resources and rentier economies, discuss the concept of “resource nationalism”, and use case studies to analyze the effect of “oil booms” on governance.
More Information:
Participants who attend at least 8 complete seminar sessions will receive a certificate of satisfactory completion from the Dean of The New School for Social Research. In order to obtain the certificate, participants must register and log in with the same email address each week.
Registration will remain open for the duration of the seminar. Registrants will receive a reminder email with the Zoom link each week.
The seminar sessions will be recorded and available to registrants on Vimeo the following week.
Seminar Leaders:
Weekly Sessions:
- March 2, 2022: Political Economy of Rentier States
- March 9, 2022: Political Effects of Natural Resources
- March 16, 2022: Political Economy of Kleptocracy
- March 23, 2022: Corruption in Resource-Rich Countries
- March 30, 2022: Reforms and the “Resource Curse”
- April 6, 2022: Rentier States, a Resource Curse, Corruption and Conflicts
- April 13, 2022: Democracy and Political Corruption in Resource-Rich Countries
- April 20, 2022: Rentier State, Corruption and Implications for Opposition
- April 27, 2022: Illicit Financial Flow (IFF) and Money Laundering in Rentier States
- May 4, 2022: Resource Nationalism, EU Interests and Integration of a Rentier State
Forthcoming: Weekly Reading List
Week 1:
Week 2:
Week 3:
Week 4:
Week 5:
Natural resources do not need to be a curse Part 1
Natural resources do not need to be a curse Part 2
Week 6:
Week 7:
Week 8:
Week 9:
Week 10: