Rethinking Development (Current Global and Development Challenges and Solutions)

E2024

Global and Development Studies / International Politics and Governance / Public Administration

Course

English

Read about the Master Programme and find the Study Regulations at ruc.dk

You register for activities through stads selvbetjening during the announced registration period, which you can see on the Study administration homepage.

When registering for courses, please be aware of the potential conflicts and overlaps between course and exam time and dates. The planning of course activities at Roskilde University is based on the recommended study programmes, which should not overlap. However, if you choose optional courses and/or study plans that goes beyond the recommended study programmes, an overlap of lectures or exam dates may occur depending on which courses you choose.

10

Lone Riisgaard (loner@ruc.dk)
Jacob Rasmussen (jacobra@ruc.dk)

Markus-Michael Müller (muellerm@ruc.dk)

ISE Registration & Exams (ise-exams@ruc.dk)

U60708

A specialisation course aims to allow students to immerse themselves in the theories/theory lines and empirical issues pertaining to a particular subject area. The course equips students to competently select and argue for the applicability and relevance of a theory/theory line to given issues. The courses offered are based on the Institute's research in the field and knowledge of the highest international standard. The specific subject area of the courses will be described in the activity description.

Current Global and Development Challenges and Solutions addresses various global and development challenges, such as conflicts, questions of justice, inequality, sustainability, and effects for instance on states, markets and civil society.

The correct title of this course is: Radical alternatives and Concrete utopias

In this course, we explore the role of radical alternatives and utopian thinking in a world that is desperate to solve the accumulated problems that it has created for itself. We examine the politics, theory, worldviews and practices related to a wide set of initiatives around the world that seek radical alternatives to the currently dominant processes of globalized development. By organizing economic and social activity around principles such as solidarity and cooperation, such alternatives challenge a modernist ontology of universal solutions in favor of a multiplicity of possible worlds. The struggles for alternative forms of social and economic organisation led by indigenous groups, eco-village networks, landless peasants and other subaltern groups provide a much needed critique, contributing to decolonizing and invigorating debates about how we can organize work, production, consumption and societies more broadly in a manner which respects ecological boundaries while building on principles of solidarity and cooperation.

Selected relevant readings include:

Kothari et al (2019) “Pluriverse: A Post-Development Dictionary” Edited by Ashish Kothari, Ariel Salleh, Arturo Escobar, Federico Demaria, and Alberto Acosta. Tulika Books

Dinerstein, A. (2015). The Politics of autonomy in Latin America: The art of organising hope. Basingstoke/New York: Palgrave Macmillan: 81

Bloch, E. (1959/1986) The Principle of Hope, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press: 307.Critique of Erik

Olin Wright, Envisioning Real Utopias (Brooklyn, NY: Verso, 2010)

J. K. Gibson-Graham, A Post-Capitalist Politics (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2006)

Eduardo Gudynas, “Buen Vivir: Today’s tomorrow,” Development, 2011, 54(4), (441–447)

Conway, J. and J. Singh. (2011) ‘Radical Democracy in Global Perspective: Notes from the Pluriverse’, Third World Quarterly, 32(4), pp. 689–706.

Dinerstein, A.C. (2017) Social Sciences for An Other Politics. Women Theorising without Parachutes, Palgrave Macmillan, London.

26 hours of lectures; 26 hours of student presentations as well as peer feedback exercises; 70 hours of preparation four course assignment; approximately 78 hours of reading assigned texts (on average 6 hours of preparation per week); 70 hours of preparing for the exam. In total 270 hours.

The course is evaluated this semester. The students will be asked to evaluate mid-term and by the end of the activity according to the evaluation practice of the study board

The course is based on lectures, but will also include other teaching and working methods such as group work, exercises, student presentations, peer feedback, field trips and guest lectures as well as other practical activities. During the course, a written assignment will be prepared which consists of a response to a question that has been given at the start of the course.

• Be able to explain and evaluate, using relevant terminology, the advantages and disadvantages of various theories/theory lines within the aspect of a subject area that is dealt with in the specialisation course

• Be able to confidently and independently evaluate, select and apply relevant theories in relation to an issue

• Be able to reflect critically on the relevance of the topic to the subject matter of the course

• Carry out analyses on a scientific basis and deal in a creative and solution-oriented manner with central issues within the course theme

• Communicate knowledge in language that is technically precise, well-structured and well-argued.

Individual portfolio exam.

The character limit of the portfolio is maximum 36,000 characters, including spaces. Examples of written products are exercise responses, talking points for presentations, written feedback, reflections, written assignments. The preparation of the products may be subject to time limits.
The character limits include the cover, table of contents, bibliography, figures and other illustrations, but exclude any appendices.

The portfolio is written completely or partially during the course.

The entire portfolio must be handed in at the same time (uploaded to eksamen.ruc.dk). Handing in the portfolio or parts of the portfolio to the supervisor for feedback, cannot replace the upload to eksamen.ruc.dk.

Assessment: 7-point grading scale.

Samme som ordinær eksamen / same form as ordinary exam

Individual portfolio exam: The Portfolio will consist of two parts. One part is an individual written assignment. This assignment will be prepared during the course and consists of a response to a question that has been given at the start of the course. The other part consists of a group work case study, undertaken during the course, which informs an individual exam paper.

The assessment is individual and based on the entire portfolio. The portfolio will be assesd according to the ability to able to explain and evaluate, using relevant terminology, the advantages and disadvantages of various theories/theory lines within the area of radical alternatives. Students should demonstrate ability to independently evaluate, select and apply relevant theories in relation to a chosen case. Students are expected to reflect critically on the relevance of the topic of radical alternatives and concrete utopias. The portfolio should demonstrate ability to carry out analyses on a scientific basis and deal in a creative and solution-oriented manner with alternative modes of producing, organising and/or consuming. Students are expected to communicate knowledge in language that is technically precise, well-structured and well-argued.