This semester, we’ll be reading Behind the Beautiful Forevers, a detailed account of how one community–the Annawadi slum in Mumbai, India–tried to deal with modernization. As a result of the changes to their city, the people of Annawadi face nearly constant poverty, violence, and heartbreak, but they also cling to faint hopes that modernization–in particular, employment at one of the luxury high-rise hotels just over the wall that segregates them from the rest of the city–can give their children more comfortable lives if they work hard and catch a few breaks.
For the final project, I want you to consider whether the changes that we study over the course of the semester have been a net positive or negative for the world. For us the answer might be obvious–we have pizza delivery, Netflix, air conditioning, and antibiotics, which together make for a more comfortable life than most people in the past enjoyed. That’s where Behind the Beautiful Forevers comes in–when we see modern life from the perspective of Annawadi, where people are being exploited and mired in poverty, it might not look so great. There’s no right or wrong answer, just be sure to support your thoughts using material from the book and class (see below).
So, you’ll do three things:
One, describe the lives of the people in Annawadi. What is their living situation, and how is it connected to the prosperity of modern Mumbai? What problems do they face, and what opportunities do they see? (It’s a depressing book, but there are small glimmers of hope and opportunity). Be specific-use particular examples and vivid quotes!
Two, describe another example from the course that raises similar questions about the benefits and drawbacks of the modern world. It could be a positive example (like modern medicine), a negative one (like World War I), or one that is more ambiguous (plenty of those to choose from).
Three, conclude by exploring how these examples help us understand how the world’s peoples have experienced modernity. In general, what have the positives and negatives been, and how has that calculation differed for different groups of people?
