Postgraduate Course: Law and Development (LAWS11431)
Course Outline
School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
Summary | What, if anything, is development, and what role does law play in its theories and practices?
To answer these questions, the course will consider the history and evolution of some of the major economic theories of development; their translation into diverse political and social policies; and the traces and legacies they have left behind in today¿s development thinking. It will also consider the ideas about law embedded in these theories and the way they have been put into practice. In particular, the course will explore the role of law and institutions in the creation of markets and the allocation of capital and power. |
Course description |
The course will cover:
- theories of development, and ideas about law implicit in them;
- the intellectual history of development;
- the evolving role of law in that intellectual history.
The course will offer a mix of theoretical and practical reading from a range of disciplines, including economics, political science, anthropology, and law. No background in economic theory or development studies is required.
The course will be delivered through a series of seminars where students will be given a list of readings or research tasks in advance. They will then discuss these in class. Course presentations may also be assigned.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
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Co-requisites | |
Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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Academic year 2023/24, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 22 |
Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
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Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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Additional Information (Assessment) |
Formative Assessment:«br /»
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Students will have the opportunity to provide a three-page outline of their final essay in week 7. Detailed feedback on the structure and content of their argument will be provided. «br /»
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Summative Assessment:«br /»
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The course will be assessed by an essay of 5,000 words, which will count for 100% of the final mark. |
Feedback |
Feedback on the formative assessment may be provided in various formats, for example, to include written, oral, video, face-to-face, whole class, or individual. The course organiser will decide which format is most appropriate in relation to the nature of the assessment.
Feedback on both formative and summative in-course assessed work will be provided in time to be of use in subsequent assessments within the course.
Feedback on the summative assessment will be provided in written form via Learn, the University of Edinburgh's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). |
No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Place economic development policies and institutions in historical perspective.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the way economic and social theory is translated into policy, and then into implementing legal institutions, along with the range of political and social choices embedded in these processes.
- Master complex areas of law and understand how to analyse complex arguments.
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Reading List
Indicative Bibliography
Banerjee A and Duflo E, Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty (Reprint edition, PublicAffairs 2012)
Benton L, Law and Colonial Cultures: Legal Regimes in World History, 1400-1900 (Cambridge University Press 2002)
Cypher J, The Process of Economic Development (4th edition, Routledge 2014)
Haan A de, How the Aid Industry Works: An Introduction to International Development (Kumarian Press 2009)
Kleinfeld R, Advancing the Rule of Law Abroad: Next Generation Reform (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace 2012)
Lewis D and Mosse D (eds), Development Brokers and Translators¿: The Ethnography of Aid and Agencies (Kumarian Press 2006)
North DC, Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance (Cambridge University Press 1990)
Serra N and Stiglitz JE (eds), The Washington Consensus Reconsidered: Towards a New Global Governance (Oxford University Press 2008)
Trubek DM and Santos A (eds), The New Law and Economic Development: A Critical Appraisal (Cambridge University Press 2006) |
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Skills and Abilities in Research and Enquiry
Students will have had the opportunity to master complex areas of law and how to analyse complex arguments.
Skills and Abilities in Personal and Intellectual Autonomy
Critical Analytical skills; comprehension, including the effective prioritization of points in argumentation; writing skills, in particular summarizing information; clear articulation of opinion as well as justification of that opinion
Skills and Abilities in Communication
An ability to master contemporary debates involving the subject-matter of the course. An ability to clearly formulate opinions on complex materials as well as clearly and convincingly articulate their point of view.
Skills and Abilities in Personal Effectiveness
Critical reflection on the moral and political implications of development, including through a group-based role-play that entails sustained teamwork.
Technical/practical skills
Skills in making arguments about desirable legal arrangements in development contexts. |
Keywords | Level 11,Postgraduate,Law,Development,Economics,Economic Theory,Development Studies |
Contacts
Course organiser | Dr Deval Desai
Tel: (0131 6)51 4309
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Chloe Culross
Tel: (0131 6)50 9588
Email: |
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