Project 2 in Economic and Social Contestation

F2026

Global and Development Studies / European Master in Global Studies

Project

Mandatory

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

Paul Austin Stacey (pas@ruc.dk)
Laura Horn (lhorn@ruc.dk)

Markus-Michael Müller (muellerm@ruc.dk)

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

U60121

This project provides students with a grounded understanding of global and development processes through a case study of practices and actors of economic and social contestation, such as social movements, civil society organisations, organised labour, political resistance, and creative activism. Through group work, supervision, and peer-feedback sessions, students learn to create their own data by doing surveys, interviews, or observations, for example. The aim is to understand how economic/social change and contestation happen from below and/or above, depending for example on scale, institution-building, mobilisation, media strategies, fundraising/financing, and policy innovation. Projects are presented to fellow students in peer feedback sessions involving theoretical and methodological guidance by academic staff.

The project module consists of the following activities:

Workshop 1: Theoretical and methodological tools A double lecture that presents core perspectives on economic and social contestation and provides the students with an overview of relevant conceptual and methodological tools.

Workshop 2: Supervisor presentations and identification of relevant cases Supervisors introduce themselves, present elements of their own research relevant for the project and point the students towards relevant cases for their projects.

Workshop 3: Group formation Joint group formation for 1st and 2nd semester students.

In addition, students will be offered a cluster supervision session (week 8-9), a facilitated peer-feedback session (week 12-13) and two individual group supervision sessions with the assigned supervisor.

It is a key part of this module that the students engage actively with actors in social contestation. They can do so by studying campaigns, participating in strategic meetings with various organizations, conducting interviews, analysing campaign material, constructing surveys, and other relevant forms of examination of contentious politics in action.

Quantitative data and methods in projects and theses: a workshop

If you and your group find quantitative analyses relevant to answer your research question. We offer a workshop where a group of researchers will talk about how to use quantitative data in projects and theses. We will present an overview of publicly available data sets, as well as the possibilities, if you wish to collect your own data. We expect you to have taken a course in basic quantitative methods (BC8 or equivalent).

The workshop is held on Wednesday, February 25, at 12.15-02.00 pm, in theory room 25.2-005

In the first workshop, the course convenors will provide a range of literature suggestions, including theoretical and conceptual perspectives, as well as relevant tools and methods.

The majority of the activity takes place as self-study, where the group of 2-5 students works independently with a problem-oriented project. The project group can expect up to 3-4 supervision sessions of about 45-60 minutes each.

10 ECTS = 270 hours (divided between preparation/reading, workshops, supervision, project work, and examination)

The students are invited to share their feedback on and experiences with workshops and supervision sessions (e.g. peer review).

The project is evaluated regularly. At the beginning of the semester, the course convenor is informed if the project is to be evaluated and notifies the students. The evaluation is carried out in accordance with the study board's evaluation practice.

The schedule for the workshops will be made available on study.ruc.dk and moodle.

• Students acquire specialised knowledge and skills regarding economic and social contestation. The project develops students’ data generation skills and ability to research economic and social contestation from below, such as social movements, civil society, organised labour, political resistance and creative activism, their impact on society, and their strategies to engender change. The project should draw on contemporary debates in global and development studies.

Oral project exam in groups with individual assessment


Permitted group size: -5 students.

The character limits of the project report are:
For 2 students: 72,000-105600 characters, including spaces.
For 3 students: 96,000-132000 characters, including spaces.
For 4 students: 120,000-156000 characters, including spaces.
For 5 students: 132,000-180000 characters, including spaces.
The character limits include the cover, table of contents, abstract, bibliography, figures and other illustrations, but exclude appendices.

The project report must include an abstract, that is part of the assessment. The abstract can either be written in English or Danish.

Time allowed for the exam including time used for assessment is for:
2 students: 60 minutes.
3 students: 75 minutes.
4 students: 90 minutes.
5 students: 105 minutes.



Permitted support and preparation materials at the oral exam: All

Assessment: 7-point grading scale
Moderation: Internal co-assessor.

Samme som ordinær eksamen / same form as ordinary exam

• Explain and evaluate, using relevant terminology, various theories relating to social and economic contestation.

• Confidently and independently, select and apply relevant theories in relation to a specific case.

• Analyse and reflect critically on the project.

• Discuss in a creative and solution-oriented way how and to what extend studied social change is pursued and negotiated.

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

Besides above following will be part of the assessment • Resume in English or Danish • Writing and spelling skills are part of the assessment.

Oral presentation Same criteria as for project, but also: The student are able to: • Present and communicate • Take part in dialogue and discussion about the written project report The assessment is a collective assessment of all above. "