Assignment Details: Write an essay of approx. 8 (maximum 10) pages, double-spaced, centring on an exploration of one of the following topics (listed below). Most successful papers will reference at least 5-7 different external sources (most of which should be in addition to course texts), be well organized, use a consistent reference style, and draw on concepts from the course wherever appropriate. Choose ONE of the four following topics on which to write your essay: • Subsidiarity Subsidiarity refers to the principle that “all decisions should be made at the lowest level of governing authority competent to deal with them” (Cavanaugh and Mander, 2004). All ‘upper’ (regional, national, global) levels of governance should be set up to protect and enhance local decision making about development. Increasingly, within dominant development, global trade rules, agreements, and related policies advance corporate-driven decision-making at the expense of local people, health and the environment. Examine how the principle of subsidiarity is enhanced and/or hindered in relation to a critical issue in Northern Ontario or elsewhere in Canada through exploring a community organizational effort, relevant development policies and/or identified project initiative. • How is local decision-making actually, or potentially, undermined by global trade rules, or corporate/accumulation-centred regional or national policies? • How do the efforts of an alternative development initiative promote the principle and practices of subsidiarity? OR • Alternative Operating Systems Advanced community development practice involves a critique of dominant development along with the planning and implementation of alternative operating systems. Alternative systems draw on many if not all of the ten principles of sustainability discussed in class and contest accumulation-centred (capitalist) relations. Explore an example of an alternative operating system in Northern Ontario or elsewhere in Canada, drawing on course concepts, materials and readings and other academic and community sources. Do not “list” the ten principles of sustainability, but rather you should integrate them into your exploration/critique of the alternative community development project you have chosen. You may wish to consider the following questions to guide your paper: • How does the initiative foster alternative ownership, production, consumption and/or distribution? • How does the initiative contribute to advancing a more progressive “standard of measurement” for development than the Gross Domestic Product? • How does the initiative challenge or subvert dominant development paradigms for how people engage with the environment? OR • Contesting Dispossession in Northern Ontario Write an essay that explores creative and critically informed alternatives to dispossession in Northern Ontario, drawing on course concepts, issues and materials. Propose a topic area and check in with the instructor for approval. Essay Format: Approximately 8 pages typed, double spaced and double sided. Please use standard 12pt Times New Roman, Calibri, Helvetica or Arial font with 1-inch margins, with correct references adhering to APA style guidelines. Wishart library has a number of manuals on correct referencing using various styles.

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