Postgraduate Course: Development and Economics (PGSP11345)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This optional course introduces students to macro and microeconomic theories and debates in development. The course is aimed at students with little previous exposure to or background in economics and sets out to offer a critical understanding of principals in neo-classical economics as they have been applied to the project of development in the Global South. The course will review key elements of economic theory, in relation to globalisation, poverty, microfinance and social enterprise. Through case studies of specific policies and programmes students will be introduced to debates about economic models and paradigms, including their claims to truth, their ideological underpinnings, and their role in reproducing inequality and injustice. |
| Course description |
Students are expected to attend one lecture and one tutorial each week. Each lecture will last one hour and will be followed by a one seminar for structured discussion and debate, to explore key issues and draws on that week's readings issues. The lectures will be delivered by the course convenor, and may include guest talks from in-house and visiting experts, with the convenor attending each week and responsible for overall course coherence.
Week One: Putting the economics into development
Week Two: The Economics of Development and the Development of Economics
Week Three: The Growth Fetish
Week Four: Freedom
Week Five: Industrial Futures
Week Six: No Classes
Deadline for Submission of 1000 word, mid semester paper
Week Seven: Getting the Measure of Poverty
Week Eight: The Economic Lives of the Poor
Week Nine: The Informal Economy
Week Ten: Bankers to the Poor
Week Eleven: Poverty Means Business
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course students will have an advanced knowledge and understanding of key concepts in development economics and the tools to think critically about them. In particular, they will:
- Have an understanding of key ideas in neo-classical economics and how the history of their application in development policy and programme.
- Have an understanding of the history and debates surrounding these ideas and those of influential critics.
- Understand the role of macro and micro economic theory in development and practice.
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Reading List
Week One: Putting the economics into development
Key Readings
Wolfgang Sachs, (2010) Introduction to The Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power
Ha Joon Chang (2004) Introduction in Rethinking Development Economics
Week Two: The Economics of Development and the Development of Economics
Key Reading
W. Arthur Lewes. 1954. Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labour
John Williamson, 1993. Democracy and the Washington Consensus. World Development
Week Three: The Growth Fetish
Key Reading
Latouch, Serge. 2009. The Territory of De-Growth in Farewell to Growth
John Noye 2004 'Changing Perspectives in Development Economics' in Ha Joon Chang (ed) Rethinking Development Economics. London: Anthem
Week Four: Freedom
Key Readings
Hayek, Freidrich Von. 1944. The Road to Serfdom. Chapter 4.
Chang, Ha Joon. 2010. 'There is No Such Thing as a Free Market' in 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism
Week Five: Industrial Futures
Key Readings
Caitrin Lynch, The Politics of White Women's Underwear in Sri Lanka's Open Economy
Hewamanne, Sandya. 2008. City of Whores. Nationalism, Development and Global Garment Workers in Sri Lanka.
Week Six: Getting the Measure of Poverty
Key Readings
Maia Green and David Hulme, 2005. From Correlates And Characteristics To Causes: Thinking About Poverty From A Chronic Poverty Perspective. World Development. Vol. 33, No. 6, pp. 867-879.
Extracts from the UNDP's Human Development Report 2013
Week Seven: No Class
Week Eight: The Economic Lives of the Poor
Key Readings
Banerjee, Abhijit V, and Esther Duflo. 2007. "The Economic Lives of the Poor." Journal of Economic Perspectives 21 (1): 141-167.
New Yorker, 2010, The Poverty Lab, (May 17th)
Week Nine: The Informal Economy
Key Readings
Hart, Keith. 1973. Informal Income Opportunities and Urban Employment in Ghana in the Journal of Modern African Studies
Meagher, Kate. 1995. Crisis, Informalization and the Urban Informal Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa in Development and Change
Week Ten: Bankers to the Poor
Key Readings
Rankin, Katherine Neilson. 2001. "Governing Development: Neoliberalism, Microcredit, and Rational Economic Woman." Economy and Society 30 (1): 18-37.
Ananya Roy, Global Order: Circuits of Capital and Truth, in Poverty Capital
Week 11: Poverty Means Business
Key Readings
Prahalad, C. K., and S. L. Hart. "Raising the Bottom of the Pyramid: Strategies for Sustainable Growth" 1001: 48109.
Dolan, Catherine S., and Linda Scott. 2009. "Lipstick evangelism: Avon trading circles and gender empowerment in South Africa." Gender & Development 17 (2): 203-218.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Jamie Cross
Tel:
Email: Jamie.Cross@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Jessica Barton
Tel: (0131 6)51 1659
Email: Jessica.Barton@ed.ac.uk |
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