Political Economy of Development (DEVT90045)

This subject considers processes of development through a political economic perspective. The subject begins by considering the historical roots of political economy, and then focuses on key theoretical debates in the field. It then moves on to consider several contemporary development issues, highlighting the ways in which political economic analysis provides new, critical insight. Key topics to be considered include the following: wealth and inequality; feminist and queer critiques; labour and exploitation; political ecology and natural resources; the limitations of social policy; green and carbon economies; surplus and waste; the effects of globalisation and migration; sustainability and diverse economies. By the end of this subject, students should have a clear understanding for what political economic analysis adds to debates over contemporary development.

Intended learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of this subject, students will be expected to have:

• Strengthened their understanding of the choices involved in setting goals for development policy and their sense of priorities for national strategy formation;
• Gained a thorough knowledge of the underlying assumptions, intellectual strengths and critiques of neo-liberal economics and of alternatives being advocated and attempted;
• Grown in understanding of the diversity of experience of developing countries through comparative case studies;
• Increased their capacity to discern the political and economic forces driving various approaches to development strategy and of the means through which they work;
• Strengthened their analytical capacity to understand complex issues of national development strategy and to formulate more cost-effective steps towards equitable economic and social development; and
• Be able to write persuasively about conceptual and normative aspects of national and international political, economic, financial and social issues.
• This will be an analytical and applied seminar aiming to enhance understanding of views about national and international development strategies. Each session will include both teaching and small group and whole of class discussion. Students will be encouraged to identify issues which they would like to discuss.