Description
Content: Development defines a space of debate and controversy among different theoretical, ideological and political perspectives. The module encourages critical engagement with the theories and ideas underpinning development interventions and the relationship between theory and realities. It aims to offer in term 1 and part of term 2: (a) an insight of 鈥榙evelopment鈥 as a contested concept and an overview of the intellectual and contextual underpinnings of development debates; (b) an understanding of the emergence of development studies as a discipline in the second half of the 20th century under the influence of 鈥榤odernisers鈥 and 鈥榮tructuralists鈥 who provided a framework for the intellectual contributions of development studies 鈥 particularly with reference to the critical analysis of the core/periphery relations; (c) an understanding of how development studies and their critique in the form of post-development and postcolonial theories 鈥 with a particular focus on issues of gender and race - informed the analysis of new forms of internationalisation and globalisation of the world economy; and (d) a critical overview of globalisation鈥檚 theoretical foundations and its policies and consequences - with a focus on its economic, social, environmental and political challenges. In term 2, from a more applied analytical angle, there will be greater concentration on the evolution of agendas for development goals, their operationalisation through programmes of international aid and the action of international development agencies 鈥 with a particular focus on the challenges of financing development programmes.
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Teaching Delivery: This module is organised according to weekly teaching units, composed of weekly face-to-face encounters on campus (as indicated on the weekly DPU timetable) supported by readings and up to one-hour of asynchronous activities (including but not limited to short pre-recorded lectures) accessible on the module-specific Moodle page. Students are expected to dedicate approximately 150 learning hours per module per term, amounting to around 10-12 hours per week (for full-time students). The asynchronous activities will be released on a weekly basis via Moodle announcement.
Students are expected to participate actively in all module activities. Participants should read at least the core readings (provided electronically via Moodle) and complete all asynchronous activities for each teaching unit. A list of further readings is also provided. All sessions of this module will be 2-hour long and divided in two parts. The first hour will be dedicated to lectures (either face to face or for the discussion of a pre-recorded lecture). The second hour will be driven by group work organised around core readings and any other supporting material provided. The class will be divided into groups, with one group leading the discussion in each session with a presentation of their findings.
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Indicative Unit Topics (based on module content in 2023/24)
Term1
Unit 1
Introduction: Approach, structure, and central arguments of the module followed by a debate with guest lecturer on 鈥楧evelopment鈥: A Contested Concept鈥
Unit 2
鈥楬istorical Perspectives of Development; Colonialism and Imperialism鈥
Unit 3
鈥楾he Emergence of Development Studies; Modernisers and Structuralists鈥
Unit 4
鈥楾heorising Core/Periphery Relations: Dependencies and World System Theory
Unit 5
鈥楪lobalisation and Neoliberalism鈥
Unit 6
鈥楶ost-Colonial Perspectives of Development鈥
Unit 7
鈥楶辞蝉迟-顿别惫别濒辞辫尘别苍迟鈥
Unit 8
鈥楪endered Perspective in Development鈥
Unit 9
鈥楻acial Capitalism in Development鈥
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Term 2
Unit 1
鈥楥apitalism, Globalisation and its Social Challenges: Income Concentration and the Acceleration of Inequality鈥
Unit 2
鈥楨nvironmental Imperative in Development: Anthropocene and the Acceleration of Unsustainability鈥
Unit 3
鈥楥limate Change and Systemic Threats to Development鈥
Unit 4
鈥楾he Evolution of Development Goals and SDGs鈥
Unit 5
鈥楶olitics of Aid and International Development Agencies鈥
Unit 6
鈥極DA Relations in China and Africa鈥
Unit 7
鈥楩inancing Development鈥
Unit 8
听Workshop: 鈥楶artnerships for Innovative Financing of Development Programmes鈥
Unit 9
鈥楪lobal Governance and the Dismantling of the Liberal Order: Nationalisms and De-Globalisation鈥
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Objectives: By the end of this module students should have:
- An in-depth knowledge and a critical understanding of theoretical debates in development including the questions of race, gender, colonialism and how they shape the discourses around development;
- An understanding of how those discourses relate to development strategies and policies;
- An understanding of the relations between various development actors and institutions and how they operate at various scales;
- A critical understanding of the politics of aid and of the social and economic implications of different policy approaches for developing countries, with a particular focus on systems of governance;
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Recommended readings (introductory):
- Hunt, D.(1989). Economic Theories of Development: An Analysis of Competing Paradigms, chapters 4 and 5, Harvester Wheatsheaf, London.
- Hirst, P., and G., Thompson. (2009). 3rd Edition, Globalisation in Question, chapter 1 and 2, Cambridge Polity Press, London.
- Bhambra, G. K. (2014). Postcolonial and decolonial dialogues. Postcolonial studies, 17(2), 115-121
- Ziai, A. (2017). Post-development 25 years after the development dictionary. Third World Quarterly, 38(12), 2547-2558.
- Peet, R., & Hartwick, E. (2015). Theories of development: Contentions, arguments, alternatives. Guilford Publications. Chapter 7
- Papamichail, A. (2023). Reinscribing global hierarchies: COVID鈥19, racial capitalism and the liberal international order. International Affairs, iiad091.
- Chancel, L., T. Piketty, E. Saez & G. Zucman (eds.), 2022, World Inequality Report, Chapter 1, UNDP
- Crutzen, P. (2006), 鈥淭he Anthropocene鈥, in Ehlers, E. & T. Krafft (eds) Earth System Science and the Anthropocene, Springer Berlin, Heidelberg
- Soergel, B., Kriegler, E., Weindl, I. et al. (2021) A sustainable development pathway for climate action within the UN 2030 Agenda. Nat. Clim. Chang. 11, 656鈥664.
- Degnbol-Martinussen, J., and Engberg-Pedersen, P., ( 2003), Aid ; Understanding International Development Cooperation, Zed Books, London, UK
- Kring, W.N. and K.P. Gallagher, 2019, 鈥淪trengthening the foundations? Alternative institutions for finance and development鈥, Development and Change, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 3-23.
- Brown, W., 2018. Neoliberalism's Frankenstein: Authoritarian Freedom in Twenty-First Century 鈥淒emocracies鈥. Critical Times, 1(1), pp.60-79
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Additional costs: None.
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Module Leader: Jorge Fiori
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Module deliveries for 2024/25 academic year
Last updated
This module description was last updated on 19th August 2024.
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