Postgraduate Course: Contemporary Inequality Issues in the Global South (Online) (EFIE11452)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh Futures Institute |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course invites student to take a Global South perspective on burning inequality issues. It proposes a deep dive into a current inequality issue, focusing on the development of core research (which data, how to find it) and analytical skills - and often breaking with some of the dominant Western narratives on inequalities. We will explore concrete policies and projects affecting social, political, and economic inequality through the critical examination of texts, speeches, cases, and datasets. |
| Course description |
The substantive content of the course will change each year depending on topical issues and will be taught by experts on the issue itself or on particular approaches/methods from amongst staff. In the last academic year, for example, the course focussed on the politics of natural resource extraction in the Global South.
Students will learn substantive information about the topic itself, but more importantly, they will acquire and develop key skills to analyse inequalities from a different perspective: how to place an inequality case within a larger context, where to look for information about context, the types of variables (whether social, economic, cultural, or political) to consider when analysing the phenomenon, how to identify wider theories and concepts to analyse the phenomenon and how to acquire evidence that would support one theoretical interpretation over another.
Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI) - Online Hybrid Course Delivery Information:
The Edinburgh Futures Institute will teach this course in a way that enables online and on-campus students to study together. To enable this, the course will use technologies to record and live-stream student and staff participation during their teaching and learning activities. Students should note that their interactions may be recorded and live-streamed. There will, however, be options to control whether or not your video and audio are enabled.
You will need access to a personal computing device for this course. Most activities will take place in a web browser, unless otherwise stated. We recommend using a device with a screen, physical keyboard, and internet access.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2026/27, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 10,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 6,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 4,
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) |
The course will be assessed by means of the following assessment components:
1) Group Presentation (30%)
Team analysis of given theme, using course material and data gathered by the group - and delivered during the teaching sessions. Group presentations will be assessed based on ability to integrate across and think critically about course readings and other material, quality of application to given theme, presentation skills, and teamwork skills.
Learning Outcomes Assessed by Component: 1, 4
2) Individual Assessment (70%)
Written assessment comprising an Individual artefact (e.g. op-ed, roleplay/game, video presentation/ animation, policy brief, etc.) applying the course's insights and concepts. 2,500-3,000 words.
Learning Outcomes Assessed by Component: 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| Feedback |
Feedback on any formative assessment may be provided in various formats, for example, to include written, oral, video, face-to-face, whole class, or individual. The Course Organiser will decide which format is most appropriate in relation to the nature of the assessment.
Feedback on both formative and summative in-course assessed work will be provided in time to be of use in subsequent assessments within the course.
Feedback on the summative assessment(s) will be provided in written form via Learn, the University of Edinburgh's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).
Formative Feedback Opportunity:
Formative feedback is ongoing feedback which monitors learning and is intended to improve performance in the same course, in future courses, and also beyond study.
Students will have the opportunity to share their understanding of some of the core material on an online space in the first phase (week 1) of the course, feedback will be provided by their peers and tutors during this phase, by tutors and course convenors after teaching has ended.
In the second phase (week 2-5), group work will be another chance for the course conveners to provide feedback and guidance to the students before they engage with the practitioner.
Students will have a chance to share their artefact idea with the course conveners. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Critical awareness and extensive knowledge of key concepts and debates surrounding multiple facets of inequality in society, and in particular in the Global South.
- In-depth understanding of the power relationships, socio-structural features, and lived experiences that underpin inequality and exclusion in micro and macro contexts, and how these intersect (and in particular the way in which they fit into Global North-Global South dynamics).
- Ability to identify how different forms of data represent different aspects of inequality, the ways in which data is harnessed to portray inequality in particular ways, and the role of data in deepening or challenging inequalities.
- Ability to mobilise a critical conceptual toolkit to analyse systematically any societal question or challenge.
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Reading List
Essential Reading:
Ragnedda, Massimo, and Anna Gladkova, eds. Digital inequalities in the Global South. London, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020.
Tosam, M. J., Chi, P. C., Munung, N. S., Oukem-Boyer, O. O. M., & Tangwa, G. B. (2018). Global health inequalities and the need for solidarity: a view from the Global South. Developing World Bioethics, 18(3), 241-249.
Mohanty, M. (2018). Inequality from the Perspective of the Global South. The Oxford handbook of global studies, 211.
McFarlane, C. (2010). Infrastructure, interruption, and inequality: Urban life in the Global South. Disrupted cities: When infrastructure fails, 131-144.
Østby, Gudrun, Ragnhild Nordås, and Jan Ketil Rød. 'Regional inequalities and civil conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa.' International Studies Quarterly 53.2 (2009): 301-324. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Inequalities,Global South,Africa,Power Distribution |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Thabani Mutambasere
Tel:
Email: t.mutambasere@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr David Murphy
Tel:
Email: dmurphy7@ed.ac.uk |
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