Entry requirements

General entry requirements

Learning outcomes

This course is an introduction to Development Studies as a subject, including the discipline's central debates. The course introduces major trends and changes in development theory and their bearings on development policy and practice, critically discussing concepts of development and the emergence and evolution of paradigms in development thinking. Exploring development trajectories in a comparative perspective, the course discusses the role of states and markets in development (and under-development) and the political economy of development aid interventions. Further, the course examines challenges and critiques posed to dominant development theory and practice, presented for example by feminist theory, problems of climate change and environmental sustainability and patterns of global inequalities.

Learning outcomes

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

• Understand and account for different basic perspectives (both orally and in written form), concepts, discussions, and theories about development
• Understand and account för different perspectives on the role of the state and the market for economic and social development (both orally and in written form)
• Discuss and reason about implications of different theoretical perspectives for development policy in practice, including the role and purpose of aid
• Show basic knowledge of development problems and opportunities in the areas of democracy and governance, sustainable development, economic development and gender equality in different geographical regions of the world
• Account for the Sustainable Development Goals and discuss in what way they signify a paradigm shift in development policy (both orally and in written form)

Content

The course has three themes. The first theme introduces central debates about the contested concept "development" - what it is and what it should be. It presents dominant development theories and critique against these as well as a historical overview of how development theory and practice have changed over time. The second theme focuses on economic and social development trajectories with special attention paid to the role of the state and markets in shaping development processes The third theme addresses the issue of aid and how theory/research and practice/aid affect each other. A historical overview of aid and development cooperation is presented to illustrate changes over time. The theme also discusses the organization of development cooperation and the present focus on sustainable development and measurable goals, including a discussion of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Instruction

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

Assessment

Examination is based on active participation in seminars, shorter written assignments in connection to seminars, and a written final exam. 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.

Other regulations

Further instructions will be given at the start of the course.