Postgraduate Course: The Political Economy of Modern Africa (PGSP11283)
Course Outline
| School |
School of Social and Political Science |
College |
College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type |
Standard |
Availability |
Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) |
SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits |
20 |
| Home subject area |
Postgrad (School of Social and Political Studies) |
Other subject area |
None |
| Course website |
None
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Taught in Gaelic? |
No |
| Course description |
This course is a replacement for the existing Semester One core course linked to the M.Sc. in African Studies. Whereas the latter has always been team taught, the intention is to provide a greater measure of coherence and continuity by having a single member of staff responsible for the delivery of core teaching. At the same time, the intention is to provide a fully integrated guide to some of the key themes that are essential to understanding contemporary Africa.
Whereas the Semester Two core course is structured around specific debates, this course is intended to offer a more wide-ranging overview of social and political processes. It has been designed with a comparative framework in mind, and it remains explicitly interdisciplinary in focus. It begins with an analysis of colonial legacies and then proceeds to a closer analysis of specific themes in the social and political life of the continent, such as urbanisation and the political consequences of oil extraction. These themes have been selected according to their overall importance and the richness of the supporting literature. The course will cover all of sub-Saharan Africa. Whereas the lectures will draw broadly on comparisons from across the continent, the students will be encouraged to develop a deeper understanding of specific case-study material (always more than one) in project work linked to seminars. The focus will fall not merely on high politics and large structures/processes, but will also introduce students to popular conceptions of power and belonging. The course will be compulsory for students taking the M.Sc. in African Studies, but the intention that it will also be open to other postgraduate students in the School of Social and Political Studies and from other Schools.
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Entry Requirements
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites |
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| Prohibited Combinations |
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Other requirements |
None
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| Additional Costs |
None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? |
No |
Course Delivery Information
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| Delivery period: 2010/11 Semester 1, Available to all students (SV1)
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WebCT enabled: Yes |
Quota: None |
| Location |
Activity |
Description |
Weeks |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
| Central | Lecture | Room 2.14, Appleton Tower | 1-11 | | 14:00 - 15:50 | | | |
| First Class |
First class information not currently available |
| No Exam Information |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
* A good working knowledge of the historical forces that have shaped contemporary Africa
* An enhanced ability to address contemporary issues in a comparative and critical manner
* An enhanced capacity to connect theory with empirical evidence in an independent manner
* An opportunity to improve on oral skills through seminars
* An enhancement of written skills
* An opportunity to engage in collaborative project work in co-operation with other students
* an opportunity to engage in issue-based problem solving through project work
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Assessment Information
| Students will be assessed primarily through a 3,000 word essay delivered at the end of the course. This will be based on comparative work linking larger bodies of literature with case-study material. A range of possible questions will be provided in a course handbook, but students will be permitted to negotiate modifications to these questions in order to take account of their particular interests. In addition, students will be expected to collaborate on project work with at least one other student (the actual number depending on class size), which will count for 10% of the final grade. The tasks that will be set will involve an element of issue-based problem solving, hinging on the ability to generalize from evidence. For example, students may be asked to suggest how an election system could best be designed for a divided country in order to deliver a result that reflected the way people voted, but also minimized the chances of bloc voting along ethno-regional lines. Students will be expected to deliver their findings to the class and present a 1,000 report that will be assessed on the basis of its engagement with evidence from a range of countries and the strength of its overall argumentation. The mark for the project will be attributed to all the students who participated in its design and execution. Students will receive advice on the design of their projects from the course organizer. |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
The course will be delivered through a combination of lectures, which are designed to cover a broad range of phenomena, and student project work. The lecture topics are as follows:
1. The Colonial State and Histories of Extraversion
2. The Post-Colonial State: Bureaucracy, Militaries and Personal Rule
3. Islam and the State: Comparative Perspectives
4. States and Margins: Why Borderlands Matter
5. Oil and Autocracy
6. Revolutions, Utopias, Dystopias
7. Urbanisation and Inequality
8. Popular Culture and Politics from Below
9. Electoral Politics and the Elusiveness of Accountability
10. Citizenship, Ethnicity
11. Greed and Grievance in African Conflicts
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| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords |
Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser |
Prof Paul Nugent
Tel: (0131 6)50 3756
Email: Paul.Nugent@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary |
Miss Madina Howard
Tel:
Email: Madina.Howard@ed.ac.uk |
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copyright 2011 The University of Edinburgh -
13 January 2011 6:34 am
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