module specification

This module explores the changing nature of relationships within and among societies and in the ‘global south’ from a multidisciplinary perspective. It focuses on contemporary approaches to ethical and sustainable development and global and grass-root strategy trends in a variety of cultural and political contexts, including radical critiques of mainstream development studies. Themes include indigenous rights, women and democracy, food and power.

Please note: This module supersedes GI2075/GI2073

This module aims:
- To identify trends and concepts in contemporary global and development ethics
- To demonstrate awareness of the many facets of the concept of development
- To critically analyse development strategies in the ‘south’
- To understand the relationships among grass-roots and local organisations and their relationship with power.
- To develop transferable oral and written employability skills (writing styles, DTP)
- To enhance the ability to work in a team and communicate effectively and in writing;
- To develop self-reflection and competent investigation skills relevant to further study and employment

- Global ethics of development; Dilemmas of democracy and development; Global development and counter-movements; New Technologies and development; Movement of peoples –migration; Women., culture and the Environment; Human rights and social justice; Case studies

Teaching consists of a weekly two-hour lecture and workshop followed by a one-hour seminar. Lectures will be supplemented by audiovisual /documentary material to inform discussion. Seminars will combine a variety of methods including group-work based on pre-set questions. Blended Learning (VLE) will be a key component of the module and present a ‘resource’ of information relative to content and current issues as well as a tool for formative assignments and feedback.

The themes are developed to ensure direct relevance to the future employment aspirations of the students; practical application of ‘real world’ situations will give students the opportunity to work in a team and collate and manipulate information; their oral and writing skills will be geared towards ‘diagnostic’ work, reports and analysis as well as critical writing (article).

Reflective learning will be encouraged in seminar discussions, lectures, and through assessment.  Two activity weeks will also be included to allow further development of subject-specific knowledge and skills.

By the end of this module students should:
• Understand the notions of global and development ethics and how this may be transforming;
• Be able to assess critically contemporary development strategies, in the 21st Century, their causes and implications for people.
• Understand the complexity and facets of power relations in the ‘global south’
• Be able to communicate effectively including the ability to work as a team, orally and writing (diagnostic summary,  report and article);
• Have developed research skills, including the ability to synthesise and analyse arguments, exercise critical judgement and develop informed opinion.
 

Assessment will take the form of formative and summative work. This module assessment focuses on oral and written skills directed towards enhancing employability. Oral work will include collective discussion, debate, as well as individual and group presentations. Written work will emphasise different registers and styles of writing depending on the ‘working’ environment. Practice will include summaries-précis and reports as well as a ‘serious’ article and encompassing publishing skills.

Summative Assessment:
(1) Seminar assessment includes group presentations with a ‘diagnostic’ summary (800 words) in weeks 10-13  and a ‘report’ (800 words)  .
(2) An ‘EarthDem’ Article of approximately 1500 words

The first approach encourages a variety of transferable skills including: information retrieval from a variety of resources, including the internet; analysing and advocating solutions to problems; developing a reasoned argument; exercising critical judgement; and collaborating with others towards a common goal. 

The second will enable students to develop their understanding of expression further, as this will include compiling and contrasting information on a subject area in order to inform opinion. Students will be encouraged to select their own topic of study and will be offered technical support in the use publishing software. The articles will be collated, edited and compiled in a ‘magazine’.
 

Chandra Prabhakar, A.(2010) Globalisation and Development Strategies. The New Dynamics of South-South Cooperation, LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing
Escobar, A.(2011) Encountering Development, PrincetonUniversity Press
Feher, M. (2007) Nongovernmental Politics, MIT Press
Green, D.& Fried, M.(2008) From Poverty to Power: How Active Citizens and Effective States Can Change the World, Oxfam
Goulet, D. (1995) Development ethics: a guide to theory and practice Apex Press, University of Virginia
Hettne, B. (1995) Development Theory and the Three Worlds, Longman Development  Studies
Hutchings, K. (2010) Global Ethics: An Introduction, Cambridge, Polity Press.
Iyer, R.R. (2007) Towards Water Wisdom, Sage Publications
Kothari, U. (2005) A Radical History of Development Studies, Zed Books
Massey, D.S. & Taylor, J.E. (2004) International Migration. Prospects and Policies in a Global Market, OUP
McMichael, P.(2008) Development and Social Change. A Global Perspective, Pine Forge Press
NederveenPieterse, J. (2010) Development Theory. Deconstructions/Reconstructions, Sage Publications
Radcliffe, S. A.(ed) (2006) Culture and Development in a Globalizing World: Geographies,  Actors and Paradigms, Routledge
Sachs, W. (ed) (1992) The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power.  London,  Zed Books .
Sachs, W. (1999), Planet Dialectics: Explorations in Environment and Development. London, Zed Books .
Sachs, W. &Santarius, T (2007) Fair Future: Resource Conflicts, Security and Social Justice, Zed books
Shabbir, Cheema, G. (2005) Building Democratic Institutions. Governance Reform in Developing Countries, Kumarian Press
Shiva, V. (2010) Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development, Longman
Sumner, A.& Tribe, M.(2008) International Development Studies: Theories and Methods in Research and Practice. Sage.
Willis, K.(2005) Theories and Practices of Development, Routledge