Entry requirements

General entry requirements and English 6, Social Studies 1b/1a1+1a2 or English B, Civics A

Learning outcomes

After completion of Development Studies A the students are expected to:

• be able to describe the most central global development problems
• independently formulate and discuss problems within the area
• have some knowledge of basic theories and concepts, especially regarding:
• development, democracy, and the state
• sustainable development
• an understanding of feminist interventions in development debates and how gender shapes development and how development practice shapes local gendered realities
• be acquainted with some current research and research discussions
• independently and critically analyse and discuss central problems in development
• connect the theoretical studies to a practical reality and a possible future job market

Content

1. Development, Democracy, and Governance, 7.5 credits

Aims

After the course, the students are expected to be able to

• understand basic concepts, facts, discussions and theories on development
• analyse and discuss the role of aid and conditionality
• have gained an increased understanding regarding the relationship between democracy, governance and development
• account for specific development problems and causes in different regions of the world
• understand and discuss some of the current research problems on development

Content of the course

The course has three themes: Introduction to the development discourse, aid and conditionality, and development in practice. In the first theme the well-known book "Development as Freedom" by Amartya Sen and several articles will introduce you to some of the most important problems and discussions about development. The relationship between development and democracy will be particularly studied. In theme two, development and democracy will be analysed in connection with aid based on William Easterly's book "The White Man's Burden” and a number of articles. Within this theme there is a focus on aid policies and on the concept “democracy promotion”. The last theme is development in practice; a section planned to study development through specific regional cases that allow us to understand some of the problems and possibilities it faces. It includes specific initiatives aimed to deal with the most pressing problems in the field while discussing the ways in which such challenges and programs can be further analysed and theorised.

Teaching

The teaching consists of lectures and seminars. The course is taught in English.

Examination

Students are examined through a written exam. Active participation in seminars, which include written assignments, gives credit when doing the written exam. Grades are awarded according the scale “failed”, "pass" or "pass with distinction".

Deepening related to the requirements of degree

The course aims to give students knowledge and understanding about the field and a practice in independent evaluation, critical treatment and discussions of this knowledge.

International Environment and Sustainable Development, 7.5 credits

Learning outcome

The goal of this course is to introduce the student to the multi-dimensional aspects of sustainable development, by looking at the historical roots and dual goals of sustainable development, and then focusing on current topics to understand how they link to development theory and the discussion how sustainable development can be affected on international, national, and local levels.

The learning objectives of this course are that students will:

1. Be exposed to the relevant history of sustainable development and international attempts to address its goals.
2. Understand and critically discuss important topics and concepts that are intricately linked to environment, human well-being, and sustainable development.
3. Be able to discuss and articulate how sustainable development can be affected on international, national, and local levels.

Course Overview

This course focuses on international environmental issues and sustainable development. The concept of sustainable development was established in 1987 when the World Commission on Environment and Development determined that the world was facing an enormous challenge: To make development sustainable and to ensure that the world provided for the needs of both present and future generations. The course covers the current sustainable development discourse and how sustainable development can be affected on international, national, and local levels. In this latter part we pay particular attention to the research discussion on natural resources as “common property resources”.

Teaching

The teaching consists of lectures, seminars, and video film. The course is taught in English.

Grading and Examination

Students are examined through a written exam. Active participation in seminars, which include written assignments, gives credit when doing the written exam,. Grades are awarded according the scale “failed”, "pass" or "pass with distinction".

3. (En)gendering International Development, 7.5 credits

Course Goal and Learning Objectives

• To understand how contemporary development interventions are shaped by historical processes of imperialism and colonialism.
• To achieve a critical understanding of dominant paradigms of development theory, practice and implementation.
• To achieve an understanding of feminist interventions in development theory and practice.
• To understand how gender shapes development and how development practice shapes local gendered realities.
• To develop in-depth understanding on how structural processes impact on everyday lives of people.

Content of the Course

This unit introduces students to the theoretical and conceptual approaches in development theory and its implementation. It critically engages with how gender shapes development theory and how development practice impacts on gender relations and gendered realities. Focusing primarily on the global south, the unit will draw empirical examples from Africa, the Middle East, South/South East Asia and Latin America. The unit will commence with an overview of how ‘orientalism’ serves as an effective discourse for the justification and institutionalisation of (neo)-imperialism globally and the ways in which it shapes debates on development in colonial and post-colonial contexts. We will move on to analyse the collusions and contestations between colonialism and nationalism and the important but often neglected role of ‘domesticity’ as an anti-colonial strategy.

We will then investigate how feminist theoretical models have challenged ma(le)instream development debates and the inherent ‘male bias’. Structural Adjustment programmes were the key development tool of financial giants such as IMF and World Bank, with the aim to bring developing societies ‘on track’ with the developed world. But things went wrong? Why? In addition, one purpose of these programmes was to control ‘population explosion’ in the developing world but which came at a huge cost to individual livelihoods and created gender-imbalances in societies.

As well as considering substantive development issues, the course allows the opportunity to look at the changing role of the state in relation to war and violence. The current explosion of ethnic and civil conflicts are not understood in terms of lack of development, but, problematically, in terms of innate barbarity and backwardness of nation-states. Is this entirely true?

The course will conclude by looking at how development processes, despite their inherent weaknesses, have created pockets of empowerment, which are self-sufficient and self-sustaining and have enabled many societies to recover from debt-led growth.

Teaching

The teaching consists of lectures and seminars. The course is taught in English.

Examination

Students will be examined through a written exam at the end of the course. Each question carries 50 points and you have to attempt 2 questions to make a total of 100 points. Each answer should not exceed 500 words. You are expected to choose two questions out of eight questions. The eight questions will be based on the eight lectures that this course entails. In order to pass the course, the students need to pass the written exam. The maximum number of points is 100. To pass you need 50. To get Väl godkänt you need 75. For the ECTS grades you need: A:90-100, B:75-89, C:61-74, D:55-60, E:50-54 p.

Seminar attendance is mandatory. In order to be eligible for the written exam you should have successfully completed the oral presentation assigned to you during the seminars. The oral presentation does not carry a grade but participation is compulsory. If you fail to give an oral presentation, you will not be eligible for the scheduled written exam. If you miss any seminar (besides your oral presentation) you will have 5% deducted from your final exam. In case of extreme circumstances (such as illness) you can submit an extra assignment as compensation for the missed seminar. No other reason for absence from seminars will be negotiable.

4. Development and Armed Conflict, 7.5 credits

Learning outcomes

The aim of this course is to introduce the students to basic concepts, facts, arguments, and causal theories about the relationship between development and armed conflict. The purpose is also to study and discuss the role of aid, globally and in Sweden, with regard to armed conflict.

Content of the course

The course is organised into three themes: (1) The Conflict-Development Nexus; (2) Conflict Analysis and What to Do; (3) Fusing or separating warfare and aid

(1) The Conflict-Development Nexus

The book Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jarred Diamond provides an explanation for the deep historical roots of today’s unequal world. When we read Diamond’s book we pay particular attention to the origins of societies organised on a larger scale (e.g., chiefdoms, states, empires), and the role of violence therein. We also watch and discuss a documentary made by National Geographic on the basis of this book. Paul Collier’s widely cited book The Bottom Billion provides an overview of findings on how poverty breeds armed conflict, and how armed conflict in turn causes poverty, so that poor countries may end up being caught in a conflict trap. The relationship between peace and economic growth in East Asia is studied with the help of an article by Ethel Solingen. The role of good governance is dealt with through discussion of the relationship between on the one hand corruption and patronage, and on the other hand attempts to capture the state through coups or guerrilla warfare. The link between armed conflict and natural resources (e.g., oil, diamonds) is dealt with in several recent articles from academic journals and The Bottom Billion.

(2) Conflict Analysis and What to Do

This theme opens with methods for conflict analysis, with a special focus on practical applications. The intended and unintended consequences of development and humanitarian work in conflict research is the subject of Mary B. Anderson’s classical book Do No Harm. An important but often overlooked aspect of conflict analysis is gender. Malcolm Potts and Thomas Hayden’s book Sex and War, and several articles, deal with the relationships between gender equality, development and peace. Another central issue in this context is how elections can provoke violent conflict when held in a non-democratic context. Paul Collier’s latest book Wars, Guns, and Votes is the main source when discussing these relationships.

(3) Fusing or separating warfare and aid

We begin this theme with an overview of critical security theory, with special attention to claims about development and conflict. The reading for this part is a thorough review article. Next we deal with arguments and empirical results regarding military interventions and peacekeeping operations. An important issue is the militarisation of aid, and the potential benefits and disadvantages thereof. The readings for this theme consists of articles as well as parts of the books that are read in the two preceding themes of the course.

Teaching

The teaching consists of lectures and seminars. This course is taught in English.

Examination

Grades will be based on a short multiple-choice test, and a written take-home exam. Grades are awarded according to the ECTS scale for foreign exchange students, whereas students in the Swedish system are awarded the grades “fail”, “pass”, or “pass with distinction”.

Instruction

The teaching consists of lectures, seminars, video films, and study visits.

Assessment

The various parts of the course are examined by means of written tests. An opportunity for a re-test is given ca 3-4 weeks after the first exam. The time and place for the written tests is announced in the schedule on the net. Each of the four courses also has seminars. Grades are awarded according the scale “failed”, "pass" or "pass with distinction". To get the grade “pass with distinction” for the whole A course that grade is needed for at least 15 points of the totally 30 points.

Other directives

No prior formal qualification is required except general entrance requirements. To be able to pursue this course in a satisfactory way good knowledge from the courses in social science and history from high school is probably needed. Since most of the course literature is in English a good command of English is required. Note that the courses are taught in English. If you would like to have further information about suitable prior knowledge or experience, please contact the department.