This course will focus on a number of important and current concepts in development policy and practice, explore their background in the social sciences, their recent history in development, and provide some practical experience in dealing with them. We begin by looking at who development practitioners are, and changing understandings of what development involves. We then examine the role of notions of `community’ and `culture’ in development, participation and capability, the rise of the framework of `social capital', gender sensitivity, justice and human rights, indigenous knowledge, views of sustainability and appropriate technology in development. In locating some of the background to development concepts in the social sciences, we explore the relationships and tensions between their uses there and in forms of development, trying to identify pitfalls and positives. In weekly readings, we try to balance theoretical discussion of particular concepts with some grounded exemplification of how they have figured in development practice.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
Upon Successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Understand the background to key development concepts,
- Evaluate their use in development projects, policy, and practice,
- Independently develop a research design, and
- Choose rigorous and practical research methods to address a problem focussed research question(s)
Indicative Assessment
Essay 1500 words 15% (LO 1)
Annotated Bibliography 1000 words 10% (LO 1)
Major Project 2500 words 20% (LO 2, 3)
Research Essay 5000 words 50% (LO 2, 3, 4)
Participation 5% (LO 1, 2)
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
260 hours of total student learning time made up from: a) 48 hours of contact over 12 weeks: 36 hours of lectures and 12 hours of tutorials; and b) 224 hours of independent student research, reading and writing.Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
NonePreliminary Reading
NoneCornwall, A. 2000. Making a Difference? Gender and Participatory Development. Institute of Development Studies Discussion Paper No. 378, University of Sussex.
Doornbos, M. 2001. `Good Governance’: The Rise and Decline of a Policy Metaphor? Journal of Development Studies 37(6): 93-108.
Evans, Peter 2002. Collective Capabilities, Culture, and Amartya Sen’s Development as Freedom. Studies in Comparative International Development 37(2): 54-60.
Harriss, J. 2001. Public Action and the Dialectics of Decentralisation: Against the Myth of Social Capital as `The Missing Link in Development’. Social Scientist 29 (11-12):25-40.
Hart, K. and V. Padayachee 2011. Development. From The Human Economy, Keith Hart, Jean-Louis Laville and Antonio David Cattani eds. Polity.
Ibrahim, S. And Hulme, D. 2010. Has civil society helped the poor?: A review of the roles and contributions of civil society to poverty reduction. BWPI (Brooks World Poverty Institute) Working Paper 114. Manchester: BWPI
Mohan, G. and K. Stokke 2000. Participatory development and empowerment. Third World Quarterly 21 (2).
Sen, Amartya 2004. How Does Culture Matter? Pp. 37-58 in Culture and Public Action: A Cross-Disciplinary Dialogue on Development Policy. Eds.
Thirwall, A. P. 2002. Development as Economic Growth. Pp. 41-4 in The Companion to Development Studies, eds. V. Desai and R.B. Potter. Hodder Arnold.
Walker, A. 2001. Introduction: Simplification and the Ambivalence of Community. The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology 2(2): 1 -20.
Assumed Knowledge
Completion of a cognate major
Specialisations
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 1
- Unit value:
- 12 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 12.00 | 0.25000 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2017 | $5712 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2017 | $8160 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Second Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8668 | 24 Jul 2017 | 31 Jul 2017 | 31 Aug 2017 | 27 Oct 2017 | In Person | N/A |