Postgraduate Course: Governance, Development and Inequality in Africa (AFRI11011)
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 | African states are often depicted as dysfunctional, corrupt, and failing to deliver public services and to uphold the rule of law. Drawing on academic literature and empirical research from across the continent, this course seeks to provide a more complete and nuanced understanding of governance in Africa. Over the course of the semester, it examines a range of key issues, including the implementation of development policies, approaches to measuring governance, the impacts of colonial legacies, and the role of civil society and non-state actors. The course situates the debates on good governance, development, and poverty alleviation in their historical, social, and political context to enable students to critically engage with development in theory and in practice. Course activities are structured along four main themes. The first part explores what governance means and how governance is represented, conceptualised, and measured in dominant and alternative approaches. The second part considers economic governance, democratization and the role of the state. The third section of the course is devoted to critical actors that often shape the governance landscape, including businesses, civil society, and NGOs. This is followed by a focus on how some of these actors operate within the online information landscape. The final part of course uses the knowledge and concepts from the first three parts of the course to investigate the dynamics of governance around evolving contexts of natural resources, food systems, pandemics, climate change, and AI. |
| Course description |
Week 1: Introduction to the themes of the course
Week 2: The good governance agenda
Week 3: Democracy and civil society
Week 4: Economic liberalisation and inequality
Week 5: Bad governance and corruption
Week 6: Case study I: Democracy and grand corruption in Malawi
Week 7: Case study II: The tuna bond scandal in Mozambique
Week 8: Information and disinformation
Week 9: Alternatives to democracy? Military rulers and autocrats
Week 10: Final discussion, what have we learnt?
Student Learning Experience:
The course encourages you to explore the connections between theory, research, policymaking and the lived experience of 'developers' and 'developed' in Africa. It is a combination of lectures and tutorials with student discussions. The course is cross-disciplinary and draws on social anthropology, African studies, political science and development studies.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 40 |
| 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 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
20% of the course grade will be awarded for a 1,000 word short essay to be submitted electronically.
80% for a 3,000-word long essay on a topic related to the course theme, to be submitted electronically. |
| Feedback |
You will receive summative feedback for both assignments on critical and conceptual analysis, strength and cohesion of argument, use of sources and evidence, structure and organisation, breadth and relevance of reading, clarity of expression, presentation and referencing.
After submitting the short assignment you can submit a self-assessment with action points that you can discuss in light of the summative assessment. In general, the aim of the assessment is to allow you to develop your own ideas and topics, demonstrate your ability to analyse relevant issues and draw on and synthesise relevant evidence. The ability to present your ideas and analysis in a clear and concise manner is crucial in this regard.
The summative assessment of the short assignment also has a formative function as you will receive feedback for the short assessment before submitting the long academic essay thus enabling you to draw on lessons learnt from the feedback of the short assignment.
For the long academic essay the course convenor will provide a number of essay questions.
Formative assessment: You are encouraged to discuss your plans for the short and the long assignment with the course convenor. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Familiarity with academic and policy debates about governance and the postcolonial state in the context of development in Africa.
- Ability to contextualise these theories against the historical background and debates about contemporary Africa and its place in the world.
- Understanding of the importance of academic analyses of development and inequality in Africa for work in international development.
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Reading List
| Two or three essential readings are provided each week. These are referred to in the lecture, and are the basis of the seminar discussion. Additional readings covering all the references made in each lecture are also provided through a link on the Resource List. |
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 | Ms Celia Atherton
Tel:
Email: cathert2@ed.ac.uk |
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