GY2109 Geographies of development
Syllabus
The syllabus comprises five sections that introduce the key concepts and themes drawing widely on empirical examples and policy contexts. The course focuses on case study material from Latin America, Asia and Africa.
Section 1: Introduction and theoretical approaches
Defining and conceptualising development: Categorisations and definitions of the 'Third World' and development in the context of globalisation; the Millennium Development Goals.
Changing theoretical perspectives and new issues: Modernisation theory; dependency theory and uneven development; Neoliberalism, Structural Adjustment Policies and Poverty Reduction Strategies; Globalisation; violence and conflict.
Section 2: Population change and urbanisation
Transforming populations: Population growth and control; rural development; rural-urban migration and rural-urban linkages.
Urbanising for the future: History, characteristics, and processes of urbanisation; access to shelter - housing, infrastructure and services.
Section 3: Economies and development
Industrialisation for development: Patterns, trends and models of industrialisation; globalisation and industrialisation; gender and export-led industrialisation; fair trade.
Making a living in cities: Urban labour markets - an overview; the informal sector- an engine of growth? Household survival strategies and women's work.
Section 4: Poverty, gender inequalities and households
Poverty, vulnerability and exclusion: Defining, measuring and conceptualising poverty; paradigms and theories of urban poverty; contemporary approaches to poverty - vulnerability, assets and exclusion; the 'feminisation of poverty'.
Gender inequalities: Changing nature of gender roles and relations.
Families and households in transition: urbanisation and changing household structures; women-headed households.
Section 5: Development policies: from macro-level to grassroots
Urban social planning; agencies of development; civil society and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), distribution of foreign aid.
