The aim of this module is to introduce students to the study of development, and
to enable students .... The Post-Development Reader (London and New. Jersey ...
MODULE CODE
POC3015
MODULE LEVEL 3
MODULE TITLE
Development In Policy and Practice
LECTURER(S)
Sarah Bulmer
CREDIT VALUE
30.00
PREREQUISITES
None
COREQUISITES
None
ECTS VALUE
15
DURATION OF MODULE
Two semesters
TOTAL STUDENT STUDY TIME
300 hours, made up of 22 seminars (2 hours each) and 256 hours of private study time.
AIMS
The aim of this module is to introduce students to the study of development, and to enable students to critically analyse contemporary development policies and practices. The module is divided into two parts (one semester each). The first part examines the policy and practice of development pursued by Western nations and global institutions such as the United Nations (UN), with a particular focus on the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Students will be introduced to a variety of theoretical approaches in order to analyse the concept of development, critically evaluate the relationship between economic growth and human development, and assess the effectiveness of contemporary development policies and practices. The second part explores a range of issues in development with regional and country specific case studies. Students are encouraged to mobilise critical tools and theories developed in part one of the module to engage with these issues, which include: the role of nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), the power of multi-national corporations, women in development, the role of education and rights for children, development in post-conflict societies and democracy promotion. INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES (ILO’s) On successful completion of this module, students should be able to: Module-specific skills By the end of the course, students should be able to: 1. Discuss, analyse and critically evaluate competing theoretical perspectives of development 2. Understand and evaluate contemporary development policy and practice advocated by Western nations and global institutions, particularly the IMF, the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 3. Have knowledge of, and be able to assess development policies and practices pursued in different global regions and countries
Discipline-specific skills By the end of the course students will have developed the following skills: 4. The ability to understand and apply theoretical approaches and concepts in order to analyse contemporary political practices 5. The ability to critically evaluate different theories and approaches and engage with epistemological issues about knowledge production 6. The ability to adopt a comparative approach to assess the impact of political policies 7. Independent research skills and the ability to engage with a range of sources including official reports and documents, scholarly books and journals, news media, internet sources and audio-visual material in order to develop in-depth knowledge about particular issues and global regions Personal and key skills By the end of the course students will have developed the following skills: 8. Speaking and listening skills in seminar participation and group presentation 9. The ability to work effectively as part of a group (presentation) 10. The ability to articulate and discuss complex theoretical ideas (both written and spoken) 11. The ability to present written material in a clear and organised manner (seminar handout and coursework essays) 12. The ability to undertake independent research, and to share findings with the rest of the group 13. Time management skills, writing essays to deadline and preparing for seminars 14. The ability to use ICT for research and presentation purposes LEARNING/TEACHING METHODS
Details of Learning and Teaching Methods: The module will be taught through weekly tutorials involving group presentations, discussion and other activities. Group presentations will require students to respond to a specific question, and to prepare a handout for the rest of the group. They will receive written and oral feedback about their presentation. There will be three film screenings: Black Gold (2006, directed by Nick Francis and Mark Francis), South of the Border (2009, directed by Oliver Stone) and Moolaadé (2004, directed by Ousmane Sembene). Students will be encouraged to critically engage with these films through discussion. In the second semester students will be appointed as 'regional specialists' and will be required to carry out independent research about their particular area for each seminar (in addition to the general readings for the seminar). At the beginning of each seminar students will share their findings with the rest of the group with the aim of gradually building up a global picture of development policies and practices as the module progresses. Assessment reflects the two part structure of the module. The first essay will require students to assess contemporary development policy and practices using a range of theoretical approaches. The second essay will require students to answer their own question (with guidance from module tutor) about an aspect of development in their particular global region of specialism, drawing on the theoretical approaches discussed in part one.
ASSIGNMENTS & ASSESSMENTS
Formative or % Contribution:
Form of Assessment:
Size of the assessment e.g. duration/length
ILO’s assessed by this assessment:
Feedback method:
30%
Essay
3000 words
1-7, 10-14
Written feedback
50%
Essay
4500 words
1-7,10-14
Written feedback
20%
Group presentation
15-20 minutes (approx 5 mins per student)
1-14
Written and oral feedback and group discussion
SYLLABUS PLAN
Part One: 1. Introductory seminar: What is development? How do we measure it? Why study it? 2. Development as economic growth: Neo-liberal deregulation and structural adjustment implemented by the IMF and World Bank 3. Free trade and development: Successes and failures 4. Documentary film screening followed by critical discussion: Black Gold (2006) 5. Poverty reduction: UNDP and the Millennium Development Goals 6. Human Development Reports 7. Critical approaches to development: Marxist critiques/Dependency theory 8. Critical approaches to development: Postcolonial critiques 9. Critical approaches to development: Feminist critiques Part Two: 10. The role of NGOs 11. Empowering women 12. Film screening: Moolaadé (2004) 13. Post-conflict development (development-security nexus) 14. Democratic governance 15. Technological 'solutions' 16. Resource ownership 17. Documentary film screening followed by critical discussion: South of the Border (2009) 18. HIV/Aids 19. Sustainability, energy and environmental preservation 20. Children (education, child soldiers, child labour) 21. The 21st century: A post-development world? 22. Conclusion: Reflections on the politics of development INDICATIVE LEARNING RESOURCES Indicative basic reading list: Rita Abrahamsen, Disciplining Democracy: Development Discourse and Good Governance in Africa (London: Zed Books, 2000) Ramses Amer , Ashok Swain, Joakim Öjendal (eds.), The Security-Development Nexus: Peace, Conflict and Development (London, New York and Delhi, Anthem Press, 2011)
Gilles Carbonnier (ed.), International Development Policy: Energy and Development (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) Andrea Cornwall, Elizabeth Harrison and Ann Whitehead (eds.), Feminisms in Development: Contradictions, Contestations and Challenges (London and New Jersey, Zed Books, 2006) Anna Dickson, Development and International Relations (Cambridge, Polity,1997) Vandana Desai and Robert B Potter (eds.) The Companion to Development Studies (London, Hodder Education, 2008) Mark Duffield, Development, Security and Unending War (Cambridge, Polity Press, 2007) Arturo Escobar, Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995) James Ferguson, The Anti-Politics Machine: Development, Depoliticization and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho (University of Minnesota Press, 1994) Mike Moore, A World Without Walls: Freedom, Development, Free Trade and Global Governance (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2003) Majid Rahnema and Victoria Bawtree (eds.), The Post-Development Reader (London and New Jersey, Zed Books, 1997) Amaryta Sen, Development as Freedom (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1999) Joseph E. Stiglitz and Andrew Charlton Fair Trade for All: How Trade Can Promote Development (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2007) Nalini Visvanathan, Lynn Duggan, Laurie Nisonoff , Nan Wiegersma (eds.), The Women, Gender and Development Reader (London and New Jersey, Zed Books, 1996) Rob Vos, Who Gains from Free Trade? (Abingdon, Routledge, 2006) United Nations Development Programme, Making Global Trade Work for People (Earthscan Publications, 2003) Indicative web based resources e.g. Webct, ELE Students are encouraged to take advantage of the wealth of information, economic data, policy research and critical commentary found on the following websites: 'United Nations Human Development Programme' http://www.beta.undp.org/undp/en/home.html 'The World Bank' http://www.worldbank.org/ 'The International Monetary Fund' http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm 'The Bretton Woods Project: Critical Voices on the World Bank and IMF' http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/ 'The New Internationalist' http://www.newint.org/ Other resources: DVD library DATE OF LAST REVISION
August 2011
