Postgraduate Course: Governance, Development and Poverty in Africa (PGSP11327)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Postgrad (School of Social and Political Studies) |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | African states are often characterized as dysfunctional or failing to deliver public services and uphold the rule of law. Drawing on the academic literature and empirical research the course examines key issues linked to governance including the implementation of development policies, food security, corruption and the expansion of criminal networks in Africa. The course situates the debates on good governance, development and poverty alleviation in their historical, social and political context to enable students to critically engage with development in theory and practice. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | No |
Course Delivery Information
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| Delivery period: 2013/14 Semester 2, Available to all students (SV1)
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Learn enabled: Yes |
Quota: None |
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Web Timetable |
Web Timetable |
| Course Start Date |
13/01/2014 |
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Please contact the School directly for a breakdown of Learning and Teaching Activities |
| Additional Notes |
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| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) |
Please contact the School directly for a breakdown of Assessment Methods
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| No Exam Information |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
Familiarity with academic and policy debates about poverty and development in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Understanding of theories on the nexus between poverty, underdevelopment and governance in Africa.
Ability to contextualise these theories against the historical background and debates about contemporary Africa and its place in the world.
Understanding of the importance of academic analyses of development and poverty in Africa (political science, economics, social anthropology, development studies) for work in international development. |
Assessment Information
| One essay of 4,000 words. |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Not entered |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Ake, C. 1996. 'The Development Paradigm and its Politics', in Democracy and Development in Africa, pp. 1-17.
Finnemore, M. 1997. 'Redefining Development at the World Bank', in F. Cooper and R. Packard, eds. International Development and the Social Sciences: Essays on the History and Politics of Knowledge, pp. 203-227.
Ferguson, J. 2006. 'Introduction: Global Shadows: Africa and the World', in Global Shadows: Africa in the Neoliberal World Order, pp. 1-24.
Ferguson, J. 1999. 'Global Disconnect: Abjection and the Aftermath of Modernism', in Expectations of Modernity: Myths and Meanings of Urban Life on the Zambian Copperbelt, pp. 234-254.
Bush, R. 2007. 'Commissioning Africa for Globalization: Blair and the G 8's Project for the World's Poor', in Poverty and Neoliberalism: Persistence and Reproduction in the Global South, pp. 25-48.
Craig, D., D. Porter. 2002. 'Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers: A New Convergence', World Development 31(1): 53-69.
Sachs, J. D. 2005. The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities of Our Time, pp. 51-89.
Austin, G. 2008. 'Resources, Techniques, and Strategies South of the Sahara: Revising the Factor Endowments Perspective on African Economic Development, 1500-2000', Economic History Review 61(3): 587-624.
Bayly, C. 2008. Indigenous and Colonial Origins of Comparative Economic Development: The Case of Colonial India and Africa. Policy Research Paper 4474, The World Bank Development Research Group, Poverty Team.
Mamdani, M. 1996. 'Chapter 2: Decentralized Despotism', in Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism, pp. 37-61.
Nugent, P. 2004. 'Chapter 1: African Independence: Poisoned Chalice or Cup of Plenty?','Chapter 2: A Profile of Africa at Independence', 'Chapter 8: Invasion of the Acronyms: SAPs, AIDS and the NGO Takeover', in Africa Since Independence, pp. 1-70, 326-367.
Austin, G. 2007. 'Reciprocal Comparison and African History: Tackling Conceptual Eurocentrism in the Study of Africa's Economic Past', African Studies Review 50(3): 1-28.
Bush, R. 2007. 'Securing food and famine', in Poverty and Neoliberalism: Persistence and Reproduction in the Global South, pp. 145-177.
Devereux, S. 2000. Famine in the Twentieth Century. IDS Working Paper 105.
Devereux, S. 2002. State of Disaster: Causes, Consequences and Policy Lessons from Malawi. A Report Commissioned by ActionAid Malawi, June 2002.
Scott, J. 1998. Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed, pp. 9-52, 76-83, 223-261.
Ferguson, J. 1994. 'Conceptual Apparatus: The Constitution of the Object of 'Development' - Lesotho as 'Less Developed Country'', in The Anti-Politics Machine. 'Development', Depoliticization, and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho, pp. 25-73.
Jones, B. G. 2008. The Global Political Economy of Social Crisis: Towards a Critique of the 'Failed State Ideology', Review of International Political Economy 15(2): 180-205.
Reno, W. 2002. 'The Politics of Insurgency in Collapsing States', Development and Change 33(5): 837-858.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. 2008. Drug Trafficking as a Security Threat in West Africa.
Sen, A. 2009. 'Introduction: An Approach to Justice', in The Idea of Justice, pp. 1-27.
Fraser, N. 2009. 'Reframing Justice in a Globalizing World', in Scales of Justice: Reimagining Political Space in a Globalized World, pp. 12-29.
Ferguson, J. 1994. 'Epilogue', in The Anti-Politics Machine. 'Development', Depoliticization, and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho, pp. 279-288.
Rist, G. 2002. 'Some Thoughts on What is to be Done', in The History of Development: From Western Origins to Global Faith, pp. 238-248.
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| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Gerhard Anders
Tel: (0131 6)51 3178
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Lindsay Hunter
Tel: (0131 6)51 1659
Email: |
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