Development Studies

This course provides an analysis of the politics of contemporary development processes in the South and the global interests that influence them. The course considers development as both practical pursuit and as a series of discourses and representations. Three key themes are covered: key concepts and historical overview (introducing critical approaches to development, and providing an overview of development during the Cold War); securing development in the 21st century (addressing discourses and representations in relation to the security-development nexus, focusing on immigration, disease, drugs, and violence); and doing development in the 21st century (examining development in practice, looking especially at approaches to tackling informality and chronic unemployment, such as microfinance, and universal basic income).

In this course students become familiar with the literature and theoretical concepts dominating the academic debate about green growth, low-carbon development, and social inclusiveness. The course studies examples from China and India, looking at the factors that shape processes of social inclusiveness and of the greening of the economy. Both China and India offer interesting perspectives on how rapidly developing countries, which have displayed high economic growth rates over the last decade, deal with environmental pollution and climate change on the one hand and with social inequality on the other. The seminar imparts the analytical skills needed to effectively research policies and politics related to inclusive low-carbon development. It reflects upon scientific literature on these issues and discusses adequate theoretical starting points for empirical research. Furthermore, students research the key facts and figures and conduct small illustrative case studies in order to identify influential factors in this field.

The course has three themes: introduction to the development discourse; aid and conditionality; and development in practice. In the first theme the book DEVELOPMENT AS FREEDOM by Amartya Sen and several articles introduce students to some of the most important problems and discussions about development. The relationship between development and democracy is studied. In theme two, development and democracy are analyzed in connection with aid based on William Easterly's book THE WHITE MAN'S BURDEN and a number of articles. Within this theme there is a focus on aid policies, and the creation of democracy in development states and specifically on democracy in Africa. The last theme is development in practice; a section planned to study development through specific regional cases that allow us to understand some of the problems and possibilities it faces. It includes specific initiatives aimed to deal with the most pressing problems in the field while discussing the ways in which such challenges and programs can be further analyzed and theorized. The course consists of three themes that are derived from three connected dimensions of the relations between the exercise of state power and various identities and forms of organization in society in different regions in the global south: i) development, ii) democracy, iii) political identities. The first course theme addresses different perspectives on economic and social development and underdevelopment, with special attention paid to the role of the state in shaping these processes. The second theme discusses forms of political rule and introduces different explanations of democracy and authoritarian rule. The theme also discusses theories of how these forms of political rule are related to levels of development. The third theme discusses how different political identities are connected to the organization of political institutions. This theme pays special attention to the question of how national identities are linked to other political identities based on gender, class, ethnicity and religion, how identities affect and are affected by the organization of state institutions, and how this in turn is linked to issues of conflict and stability.

This course introduces the theory and practice of community development (i.e., engagement of communities and becoming empowered agents of social change). The community development models and frameworks discussed include asset-based community development; community capitals framework; networking approach to community development; community empowerment models; sustainable livelihoods models; and radical community development. Students develop competencies in applying qualitative research techniques that can be used to map communities. The course also examines community participation, consensus building and design thinking techniques that can be adopted to generate solutions to community issues. Through community mapping activities, students engage in experiential learning. They are challenged to engage community members and stakeholders, and through these engagements, draw deep insights into various community issues in Singapore.

The lessons, tools and approaches of systems analysis covered in this course can be practically applied across many contexts: peacebuilding and development projects including global public health, security sector reform, anti-radicalization strategies, and many others. Students work on a number of projects where they analyze complex conflict and/or developing systems, the key driving factors, and evaluate a number of peacebuilding/development (including public health) initiatives. The course is designed as a training for students who wish to know more about this recent trend in peacebuilding and development theory and practice of designing, planning, monitoring and evaluating various humanitarian and development (including public health) interventions. The course is not limited to conflict or developing settings but applies the systems approach on examples from developed world (e.g. radicalization and terrorism issues). Furthermore, beside introducing the systems thinking as a practical approach to design peacebuilding/development interventions, the course introduces tools to monitor and evaluate efforts in the complex adaptive systems such as public health systems. The systems thinking is increasingly becoming the main approach to understand a complexity inherent in public health systems and strengthen overall health systems. The course begins with general concepts of “do no harm” and (conflict) sensitivity and trains students to conduct (conflict) systems analysis as the first necessary step in creating durable interventions with minimal unintended consequences and maximal impact. The course introduces a number of recently developed systems tools, such as RPP (reflecting on peace practice) matrix, visual maps for systems analysis, theories of change, systems archetypes and enhancing monitoring through feedback loops. In this course, the students learn how to test their assumptions and reflect upon and evaluate contribution of their peace/development initiative to a so-called PWL (Peace writ large) or overall economic or health systems. The concepts focus on real-life examples from various regions of the world. The course organizes a couple of visit lectures of experts in the field who apply the systems approach in their interventions.

The course gives an introduction to the contemporary geographical perspectives on African development. The course gives an overview of the socio-economic diversity of Africa, putting special efforts on mapping the present situation and lifting up not only the concerns, but also the potentials, of the continent. The course covers issues relating to geography, history, society, politics, and economy. This is done by presenting and reproducing the continent and its history from different perspectives, such as a post-colonial African perspective.

The course studies the socioeconomic impact of disasters on the well-being of people and communities. The focus of the course is on major disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, landslides, fire, terrorism, and nuclear accidents. It provides an analysis of the hazards, risks, and roles and responsibilities of state and private agencies in responding to disasters and recovery work. Topics include early protection by social welfare measures such as social insurance; disaster education and financial planning; emergency center management with a focus on welfare provision; and rehabilitation programs for disaster victims and their communities after an incident.

The course reviews the nature and extent of development theory, practice, and policy over the past 70 years (mid-20th century onwards), with case studies largely focused on the Global South. The course provides a broad awareness and understanding of the key theories and policy debates which inform humanitarian development ideas and practices, as well as the empirical context of different regions of the world.