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The seminar explores diverse theoretical and conceptual approaches in development research as well as different dimensions of development practice, including international development cooperation. As a point of departure, we will examine competing notions of development and delve into the multifaceted history of “big” development theory. Building on this introductory agenda, we will focus on five key, interrelated determinants of development in the Global South:
- The State: Linking Developmental Outcomes to Varying Politico-Administrative Settings
- Natural Resources: Extractivism vs. Post-Extractivism
- Development Cooperation: Between Fragmentation, Contestation and Transformative Impulses
- Debt: Debt Traps and Debt-driven Emancipation
- Foreign Direct Investment: Transnational Companies as Vehicles for or Obstacles to Transformation beyond Subordination?
By shedding light on these crucial issue areas and the academic controversies surrounding them, the seminar enables students to critically engage with predominant paradigms in contemporary development thinking. Overall, the seminar will familiarize students with existing scholarly and policy debates on the drivers of and barriers to processes of structural transformation in the Global South. To provide students with inspiration for their own research, the course incorporates a variety of empirical spotlights highlighting current trends and dynamics across different regions and countries.
Students will compose a policy paper as the main examination in this course. |
