Theories of development

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Subtitle: 
Contentions, arguments, alternatives

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Aims and scope: 
This course aims to introduce students to the main theories of international development. By explaining and interpreting some ideas, projects, processes, both theoretical and practical, students will become familiar with the main concepts, paradigms and themes in international development. By the end of this course, students shall be able to assimilate and understand the main issues involved in international development; explore the main theories of international development; acquire the relevant knowledge for interpreting the dynamics of contemporary international development and international development aid; understand how globalization represents a major challenge for international development; and develop critical analytical skills to understand development issues and the core agenda of development institutions and agencies as well as civil society actors.
Topics: 
1. Development - an overview. 2. Conventional theories of development: classical neoclassical economics, keynesism and neoliberalism and development as modernization (economic and political perspectives). 3. Unconventional and critical theories of development: Marxism, socialism and development, poststructuralism and post-developmentalism and feminist theories of development. 4. Critical modernism and democratic development. 5. Capitalism and development from a global perspective. 6. Globalization, development and the state: emerging economies (an analysis of the BRICS states). 7. The international institutional order and the liberal model of international development. 8. Human development and sustainable development goals. 9. Regionalization, regional economic growth and development (EU, NAFTA, ASEAN). 10. Development and domestic factors: religion and development, ethnicity and ethnic conflict, human rights, theenvironment.
Indicative reading: 
Gilbert Rist, The History of Development. From Western Origins to Global Faith, 3rd ed. (London and New York: Zed Books, 2008); Andy Sumner, Michael Tribe, International Development Studies. Theories and Methods in Research and Practice (London: Sage, 2009); Jeffrey Haynes (ed.), Palgrave Advances in Development Studies (London and New York: Palgrave, 2005); Jørgen Dige Pedersen, Globalization, Development and the State. The Performance of India and Brazil since 1990 (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008); Leslie Sklair, Capitalism and Development (London and New York: Routledge, 2002); Richard Peet, Elaine Hartwick, Theories of Development Contentions, Arguments, Alternatives, 3rd ed. (New York and London: The Guilford Press, 2015); Roberta Capello, Peter Nijkamp (eds.), Handbook of Regional Growth and Development Theories (Cheltenham, Northampton: Edward Elgar, 2009); Axel Hadenius, Democracy And Development (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996).
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