Postgraduate Course: Interpreting Development: Institutions and Practices (PGSP11296)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course develops a foundation for the critical analysis of institutions and practices in the field of international development drawing on case studies from across the world. It examines the tensions and contradictions arising out of the interaction between institutions and practices. Practices implementing, contesting and resisting development interventions are shaped by institutions (i.e. organisations and rules of the game) but they also influence these institutions in turn. The course examines the practices of various key actors ranging from bilateral and multilateral development agencies to civil society groups, NGOs and individuals. Engaging anthropological and sociological studies, the course tracks how the meaning of development is constantly interpreted, contested and negotiated in often unforeseen ways. |
| Course description |
Course Outline:
Week 1: Institutions and practices: Introduction
Week 2: Key concepts
Week 3: Practitioners and academics: Uneasy relationships
Week 4: Ideologies and practices: Multilateral and bilateral development agencies
Week 5: NGOS and the place of civil society in development
Week 6: Flexible Learning Week
Week 7: The state as object and agent of development
Week 8: Shadow aid? Local people, volunteers and refugees
Week 9: Faith-based organisations
Week 10: Global health crises and international development
Week 11: The promise of big data for international development
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2020/21, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: 130 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 10,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Interpreting Development Short Essay/Blog: 25% of your grade will be awarded on the basis of a 1,000-word essay/blog. The question for this assignment will be released in Week 2. The feedback for this assessment will be given before the deadline for your essay.
Interpreting Development Long Essay: 75% of your grade will be awarded on the basis of a 3,000-word essay, chosen from a list that will be released in Week 5. |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Show a robust knowledge of diverse organisations involved in international development, their evolving mandates, policies and practice.
- Have a critical, analytical understanding of how knowledge is created and contested by a variety of organisations in international development.
- Possess an interdisciplinary understanding of how principles, ideals and ideas shape development practice, and are shaped by it.
|
Reading List
Indicative readings:
Arce, A. and N. Long. 2000. Anthropology, Development and Modernities: Exploring Discourses, Counter Tendencies and Violence. London: Routledge.
Lewis, D. and D. Mosse, eds. 2006. Development Brokers and Translators: The Ethnography of Aid and Agencies. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press.
Long, N. 2001. Development Sociology: Actor Perspectives. London: Routledge.
Mosse, D. ed. 2011. Adventures in Aidland: The Anthropology of Professionals in International Development. New York: Berghahn Books.
Mosse, D. and D. Lewis, eds. 2005. The Aid Effect: Giving and Governing in International Development. London: Pluto Press.
Murray Li, T. 2007. The Will to Improve: Governmentality, development and the Practice of Politics. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Gerhard Anders
Tel: (0131 6)51 3178
Email: Gerhard.Anders@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Casey Behringer
Tel: (0131 6)50 2456
Email: Casey.behringer@ed.ac.uk |
|
|
University Homepage