Application deadline

Type of course

The course can be taken as a singular course.

Theoretical course.

Admission requirements

Bachelor degree in a social science subject is required as a general rule.

The minimum average grade requirement is:

• C - for bachelor¿s degree or equivalent issued in Europe, Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand
• B - for bachelor¿s degree or equivalent issued in all other countries

The course requires solid competence in reading and writing English.

Application code: 9371.

Course content

The course focuses on the major conceptualisations of development and globalization, and on the effects of the changing international political and economic relationships between the multilateral institutions, the state and the civil society.

The thematic issues, which will serve as points of departure for the lectures/seminars, - include: global governance institutions - IMF, World Bank and WTO; trade - liberalization, rural development; NGOs role in empowerment and microcredit versus micro-finance; gender perspectives on livelihood strategies and the informal economy. Illustrative cases will be drawn from both the South and the North.

Among the questions highlighted are; what have been the predominant development pathways in different regions and sub-regions? Who have mostly influenced the global discourses on development, economic growth and human rights in the late 20th century? What are the economic macro policies, and modern technologies that have facilitated trade, financial investments and migration across national borders? Why has the distribution of the benefits from these global developments been uneven between regions, nations and social groups within nations?

Objectives of the course

Students who have successfully completed the course should have achieved the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

• A basic qualitative and quantitative knowledge about contemporary debates about economic globalization and its assumptions; the shifting relations between multilateral institutions, states and civil society; emerging geo-political global and regional inequalities; human rights as a form of cultural globalization; and finally the role of NGOs as the third global sector and their roles in poverty reduction.

Analytical understanding

• Abilities to make sense of current social science and popular debates about economic globalization, of key features of the new geo-economy and the human rights regime and of the role of multilaterals, NGOs and the private sector in reducing poverty.

Skills and competences

• Competent application of key theoretical and analytical concepts and of relevant statistics to the relevant areas of policy making and planning.

Language of instruction and examination

Teaching methods

The course consists of 10 double lectures and 10 single hour seminars.

Quality control of the course

The course will be evaluated at the end of the semester.

Assessment

Coursework requirement:

Obligatory attendance in 75 percent of the lectures must be documented.

The assessment method will consist of a 6 hour school exam.

The Grade-scale goes from A (tope score) to E (pass) and F (fail). The mark F opens for new exam.

Recommended reading/syllabus

Obligatory readings

Ritzer, G. 2011: Globalization. The Essentials. Willy-Blackwell: Oxford (316 p), ISBN: 978-0-470-645561-0

Jacques M. 2012 (Second Edition): When China Rules the World: London: Penguin Books, Part 2 The Age of China: chapters 6,7,8, pp. 169-341 (172p)

Benaria, L. 2003. On Development, Gender, and Economics, in Benaria, L. (ed.) Gender, Development and Globalization: Economics as if All People Mattered. New York: Routledge, pp 1-29 (29 p), ISBN: 415927064

Freeman, M. 2002. (Chapter six) Universality, Diversity and Difference: Culture and Human Rights, in Freeman, M. (ed.) Human Rights. Cambridge: Polity Press pp. 101-166 (29 p), ISBN: 0-7456-2356-5

Freeman, M. 2002. (Chapter eight) Development and Globalization: Economics and Human Rights, in Freeman, M. (ed.) Human Rights. Cambridge: Polity Press pp 148-166 (18p), ISBN: 0-7456-2356-5

Kapferer, B. 2005. Introduction. Oligarchic Corporations and New State Formations, in Kapferer. B (ed.), Oligarchs and Oligopolies. New forms of Global Power. Oxford: Berghahn Books, pp 1-23 (23p), ISBN: 0155977X

Benaria, L. 2003. On Development, Gender, and Economics, in Benaria, L. (ed.) Gender, Development and Globalization: Economics as if All People Mattered. New York: Routledge, pp 1-29 (29 p), ISBN: 415927064

Ciccanel P. and Smith D.A. 2009. Rethinking global commodity chains: Integrating extraction, transport and manufacturing. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 50, (3-4), pp 361-383 (22p) - downloadable

Hough, P. A. 2011. Disarticulation and commodity chains: cattle, cocoa, and commodity accumulation along Columbia's agricultural frontier. Environment and Planning, 2011, Vol. 43, pp 1016-1034 (18p) - downloadable

Bjørklund, I. 2013. Industrial impacts and indigenous representation: Some fallacies in the Sami quest for autonomy. Etudes Inuit Studies, pp 1-13 (12p) - downloadable

Ponte, S. 2002. The "Latte Revolution"? Regulation, markets and consumption in the global coffee chain. World Development, Vol.30, No 7, pp. 1099-1122 (23 p) - downloadable

Jentoft, S. and Midre, G. 2011. (chapter four) The Meaning of Poverty: Conceptual Issues in Small-Scale Fisheries Research, in Jentoft, S. and Eide, A. (eds.), Poverty Mosaics: Realities and Prospects in Small Scale Fisheries. Dordrecht: Springer, pp 43-67 (14p), ISBN: 978-0076-1581-3

Pogge, T.2010. (chapter three) The first UN Millenium Development Goal: A Cause for Celebration?, in Pogge, T (ed.) Politics as Usual. What Lies Behind the Pro-Poor Rhetoric. Polity Press: Cambridge, pp 57-74 (17pp), ISBN: 9-78075E+12

Sumner, A. 2007. Meaning versus measurement: why do `economic ` indicators of poverty still predominate? Development in Practice, Vol. 17, 1, pp 4-17 (11 p)- downloadable

Browne S. and T. G. Weiss. 2014. The Future of the UN development agenda: contrasting vision, contrasting operations. Third World Quarterly, Vol 34, No. 7 pp 1326-1340 (14 p) - downloadable

Taylor, C. 2004. (Chapter two) What is a social Imaginary, in Taylor, C. (ed.) Modern Social Imaginaries. London: Duke University Press, pp22-30 (8p), ISBN: 822332558

Taylor, C. 2004. (Chapter five) The Economy as Objectified Reality, in Taylor,C. (ed.) Modern Social Imaginaries. London: Duke University Press, pp69-82 (13p), ISNB: 822332558

Total: 750 p

Students should buy or loan two following two textbooks: George Ritzer¿s Globalization: The essentials and Martin Jacques: When China Rules the World

Students are responsible for downloading all articles marked here in bold.

The remaining articles will be available in a compendium for sale at the University Bookstore.