About the course

Poverty and Development in a Comparative Perspective
2nd Semester, 2009-2010
Professors
Prof.dr. I.S.A. Baud, drs. J.R. Boersema, Prof. dr. A.J. Dietz, mw. dr. N.R.M. Pouw and Dr. A.F.M. Zaal (coördinator)

About the course
The uneven accumulation and distribution of wealth and prosperity has resurfaced as a major issue in international development studies. This course will compare the dominant neo-liberal paradigm in development thinking as a way of dealing with poverty, with recent human development approaches, such as the ‘entitlement’ approach (A. Sen), the contributions by institutional economists to development thinking (Harriss/North/ G.Sen) and recent discussion on governance and citizenship issues (Cornwall/Gaventa).

The course consists of four sections.

1. Section 1 deals with recent theoretical approaches and policy instruments to poverty and development.
2. Section 2 deals with livelihoods, risks and insecurity in rural and urban contexts and how households deal with such insecurities to reduce poverty.
3. Section 3 turns to local and regional economic development in a context of globalisation, and what opportunities it provides for greater wealth creation for firms and working people in countries in the South; and the effects of regionalisation and internationalisation of local economies.
4. Section 4 focuses on relations between state and civil society, focusing on the changing role of the state in providing basic security, rights and democratic processes (education, health, equality before law). These discussions will be illustrated in a joint research project with students comparing developments, in a number of sectors, in two large, rapidly growing countries with different development models.
   
   The course consists of a combination of weekly lectures, group tutorials and project assignments.

Links to the lectures and slides can be found in future posts.

Sincerely,

On behalf of the Professors of the course and of the International Development Studies;
the ICT in Education team of Social Sciences, University of Amsterdam