Entry requirements

Political Science /Development studies BA level or equivalent education. Students within the Master Programme in Politics and International Studies, the Master Programme in Development Studies or the Master Programme in Political Science, admitted to the third semester, are required to have obtained at least 45 credits within the programme.

Learning outcomes

The goal of the course is to deepen and strengthen knowledge and analytical skills in relaqtion to ”the politics of development”.

The learning objectives:

1. To understand and critically analyse recent research about development, health, and poverty.
2. To understand and critically analyse how this (in point 1) relates to politics, political participation, and political institutions.
3. To understand and critically analyse ”the violences of development” and relate this to the above (in point 1 and 2).

Content

The course deals with political preconditions for development; development seen as ”the enlargement of freedom and people’s capacity to live the life they have reason to value” (Amartya Sen). The course starts with the important and influential study by Anirudh Krishna, where he shows ill health to be a major reason why families fall into poverty. James McGuire’s study follows logically; in which he discusses and compares economic growth and various policy interventions as remedies to problems of health (child mortality) especially in East Asia and Latin America. In the third part of the course we will go more deeply into theoretical and empirical debates and analyses of institutions, bureaucracy, and structural violence (Andrews and Gupta). This part also bridges over to the last two parts of the course, discussing gender, violence, and development.

Instruction

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

Assessment

Students are examined through a written exam, a final paper and active participation in seminars, which include written assignments. Grades are awarded according the scale “failed”, "pass" or "pass with distinction". If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.