Undergraduate Course: Contemporary Issues in International Development (AFRI10004)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Contemporary Issues in International Development takes a recent topic, one emerging in the news, policy debates or in the academic literature, and provides students with the tools to situate it within the larger academic literature, the political context and methods of analysis. |
| Course description |
The purpose of this course is to provide students with the opportunity of strengthening their understanding of the multidisciplinary study of international development at honours level. The course will draw on multidisciplinary expertise within the Centre of African Studies on international development. The course will be taught in a way that is accessible and open to honours students across SPS. The course will therefore meet a growing demand from students for option courses related to international development.
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 permanent and postdoctoral staff. For example, around a UN development agenda or a comparative perspective on an issue covering a particular set of countries or regions, or on a theme that has attracted activism.
In each case, students will learn substantive information about the topic itself but perhaps more importantly they will acquire the generic skills to analyse any phenomenon: how to place it 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.
26-27 Topic Details:
Theme:
The Violence of Development
Description
This year, we will explore the different ways in which ¿development¿, as a meta narrative, as an act of power and as an experience, can be violent. The conventional wisdom is that violence is an obstacle to development and there is a sense in which this is borne out by the evidence. But what if we frame development itself as the violence? To do this, we would have to read the other side of material transformation more closely. For instance, we would have to take into account how rapid urban transformation is displacing the poor, how major health interventions are creating new concerns about rights and how the renewable energy shift is simultaneously creating real environmental harm in lithium mining areas across the world. This approach to studying international development invites us to recognize the contentious nature of human progress and to think through the role that violence plays in it. In this course, we will learn how to think about change through the perspectives of those most excluded from its benefits. With real life examples drawn from across the world, topics to be covered include:
CSR and development
Urbanisation and development
The environment and development
Making development: bureaucracies and governance
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Students who have not taken courses in social science subjects should contact the Course Organizer to confirm if they are eligible to take this course. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 4 Social Sciences courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses.
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| 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: None |
| 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
40 %,
Coursework
50 %,
Practical Exam
10 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Participation: 10%
Essay: 50% 2500words
Exam: 40%
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| Feedback |
Students will be offered advice and feedback on their workplans/outlines in preparation for the group presentation, essay and exam, which they may obtain on request. This feedback and guidance will be provided during the course convener's weekly office hours and by appointment. In particular, students will have received written feedback on the essay before they are required to sit the exam. Feedback on tutorial participation will be provided through an individual Tutorial Participation feedback sheet, which will be given to the students after the final tutorial |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate comprehensive understanding of contemporary debates on the chosen event, from both a theoretical and empirical perspective.
- apply specialist in-depth knowledge of specific areas and issues in relation to the chosen event.
- critically engage with key explanatory theories, concepts, institutions and issues in the study of the chosen event.
- deploy effective communications skills, both written and verbal, to provide clear and concise analysis of the topic at hand.
- engage in critical thinking, reflection and debate for academic and non-academic consumption.
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Reading List
Balcázar M¿, R., & Argento, M. (2026). From socio-environmental conflict to responsible lithium mining: understanding the Governance of Dispossession from the salt flats of Chile and Argentina. The Extractive Industries and Society, 25, Article 101724. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2025.101724
Bowman B, Matzopoulos R, Butchart A, Mercy JA. The impact of violence on development in low- to middle-income countries. Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot. 2008 Dec;15(4):209-19. doi: 10.1080/17457300802417911. PMID: 19051084.
Harcourt, W. (2022). Reflections on the Violence of Development. Development (Society for International Development), 65(2¿4), 116¿119. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41301-022-00344-1
Iwilade, A. (2022). Manufacturing consent in Africa? Multinationals, NGOs and the (re)invention of resistance in the Niger Delta¿s oilscapes., Third World Quarterly 2023, Vol. 44, No. 1, 39¿5
Kothari, S., & Harcourt, W. (2022). Introduction: The Violence of Development. Development (Society for International Development), 65(2¿4), 120¿123. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41301-022-00346-z
Mowforth, M. (2014). The Violence of Development: Resource Depletion, Environmental Crises and Human Rights Rights. Pluto Press.
Other sources of information:
Journal of Religion and Development
Journal of Religion and Sexuality
Journal of Religion in Africa
Critical African Studies
African Affairs
Journal of Modern African Studies
Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE)
Wold Development
Journal of International Development
Development and Change
The Conversation
BBC Africa |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Critical thinking and analysis
Team work
Effective written and verbal communication
Effective research and analytical skills |
| Keywords | religion,morality,values,international development,faith-based organisations |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Samuel Iwilade
Tel:
Email: a.iwilade@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Brodie Hamilton
Tel: (0131 6)51 3139
Email: Brodie.Hamilton@ed.ac.uk |
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