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Development and Inequality (DEVT90062)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5Dual-Delivery (Parkville)
Please refer to the return to campus page for more information on these delivery modes and students who can enrol in each mode based on their location.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
August
Overview
Availability | August - Dual-Delivery |
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Fees | Look up fees |
This subject explores the relationship between development and inequality by taking India as a central example. How do different patterns of development shape inequality and how do existing regimes of inequality limit development? We will consider this question in light of India’s development strategy in the years after Independence, and the sudden shift that occurred with liberalization in 1991. In the quarter century since that signal event, different states in India have progressed at very different rates. In general, South India has seen rapid rates of growth and much better human development indicators; by contrast, North Indian states have registered both poor growth rates and anaemic performance on human development indicators. How can we explain this widening of the gap between different regions? The overall fiscal and monetary environment is provided by the federal government and is the same, but crucial policy levers lie in the hand of regional states.
In this subject, we will attempt to understand the paradox of high rates of poverty surviving inside an economy that has registered the world’s second-highest growth rates for the last two and a half decades. We will also try to understand why India has broken with the conventional development narrative of economies gradually moving from agriculture to manufacturing to services. Is there something in the larger global moment that enables nation-states to leapfrog from agriculture to services? Do we need to revise existing paradigms of development to come to terms with the present world? This subject has an interdisciplinary orientation: we will draw upon texts from development studies, anthropology, economics, geography, politics, urban planning, and rural sociology. It will combine specialized academic knowledge with insights from development practitioners and policy setters.
Intended learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this subject should:
- understand the relationship between patterns of development and inequality, particularly with reference to India (LO1);
- be able to understand the diversity of outcomes in different states in India with the same federal structure (LO2); and
- identify effective public policies that might promote development with equality (LO3).
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Assessment
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Assignment of 1500 words
| During the teaching period | 30% |
Research essay
| During the examination period | 70% |
Hurdle requirement: Students are required to attend a minimum of 100% of classes in order to pass this subject | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Dates & times
- August
Coordinator Amanda Gilbertson Mode of delivery Dual-Delivery (Parkville) Contact hours 24 hours: A 4 hour seminar per week in Weeks 3 - 8 of Semester 2. Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 9 August 2021 to 17 September 2021 Last self-enrol date 17 August 2021 Census date 3 September 2021 Last date to withdraw without fail 15 October 2021 Assessment period ends 19 November 2021 August contact information
Time commitment details
170 hours
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
There are no specifically prescribed or recommended texts for this subject.
- Links to additional information
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 3 November 2022