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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2026/2027

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

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Postgraduate Course: Contemporary Inequality Issues in the Global South (fusion online) (EFIE11299)

Course Outline
SchoolEdinburgh Futures Institute CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate)
Course typeOnline Distance Learning AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryThis course invites student to take a Global South perspective on burning inequality issues. It proposes a deep dive into a current inequality issue, focussing 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 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 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 Fusion Course Delivery Information:

The Edinburgh Futures Institute will teach this course in a way that enables online and on-campus students to study together. This approach (our 'fusion' teaching model) offers students flexible and inclusive ways to study, and the ability to choose whether to be on-campus or online at the level of the individual course. It also opens up ways for diverse groups of students to study together regardless of geographical location. 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.

As part of your course, you will need access to a personal computing device. Unless otherwise stated activities will be web browser based and as a minimum we recommend a device with a physical keyboard and screen that can access the internet.

As part of your course, you will need access to a personal computing device. Unless otherwise stated activities will be web browser based and as a minimum we recommend a device with a physical keyboard and screen that can access the internet.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Critical awareness and extensive knowledge of key concepts and debates surrounding multiple facets of inequality in society, and in particular in the Global South.
  2. 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).
  3. 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.
  4. Ability to mobilise a critical conceptual toolkit to analyse systematically any societal question or challenge.
Reading List
Indicative 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 Knowledge and Understanding:
- A critical understanding of a range of specialised theories, concepts and principles.
- Extensive, detailed and critical knowledge and understanding in one or more specialisms, much of which is at, or informed by, developments at the forefront.
- A critical awareness of current issues in a subject/discipline/sector and one or more specialisms.

Applied Knowledge, Skills and Understanding:
- Ability to use a significant range of the principal professional skills, techniques, practices and/or materials associated with the subject/discipline/sector.
- Ability to plan and execute a significant project of research, investigation or development.
- Ability to demonstrate originality and/or creativity, including in practice.

Generic Cognitive Skills:
- Development of original and creative responses to problems and issues.
- Capacity to critically review, consolidate and extend knowledge, skills, practices and thinking across disciplines, subjects, and sectors.
- Ability to deal with complex issues and make informed judgements in situations in the absence of complete or consistent data/information.

Communication, ICT, and Numeracy Skills:
- Communication, using appropriate methods, to a range of audiences with different levels of knowledge/expertise.
- Communication with peers, more senior colleagues and specialists.
- Use of a wide range of ICT applications to support and enhance work at this level and adjust features to suit purpose.
- Critical evaluation of a wide range of textual, numerical and graphical data.

Autonomy, Accountability, and Working with Others:
- Responsibility for own work and/or significant responsibility for group work.
- Demonstration of leadership and/or initiative and make an identifiable contribution to change and development and/or new thinking.
- Practice in ways which draw on critical reflection on own and others' roles and responsibilities.
- Management of complex ethical and professional issues and informed judgement on issues not addressed by current professional and/or ethical codes or practices.
KeywordsInequalities,Global South,Africa,Power Distribution,EFI,Level 11,PG
Contacts
Course organiserDr Thabani Mutambasere
Tel:
Email: t.mutambasere@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMr David Murphy
Tel:
Email: dmurphy7@ed.ac.uk
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