Course Objectives

The course will provide an overview of the field of development studies. It will introduce the major theoretical approaches to development; review the key domestic problems confronting developing countries; review the key international issues confronting developing countries; and conclude by discussing the role of the state in pursuing development.

The course will discuss the following key issues: (i) social theory and the issue of complex change; (ii) theories of development; (iii) the role of the state; and (iv) the role of the wider global system in questions of development.

Lecture Course Outline

[1] Introduction

[2] The nature of social theorizing

[3] Classical theories of development

[4] Decolonization and modernization

[5] Latin America and dependency theory

[6] Institutional development theory

[7] The work of A.G. Frank

[8] Neo-liberalism and globalization

[9] The developmental state

[10] Analysing complex change

Useful textbooks and journals

P.W. Preston 1996/2011 Development Theory, Oxford, Routledge

P.W. Preston 2014 After the Empires: The Creation of Novel Political-Cultural Projects in East Asia, London, Palgrave

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (Various Years) Human Development Report

World Bank (Various Years) World Development Report

J. Rigg 2003 Southeast Asia: the Human Landscape of Modernization and Development, New York, Routledge

World Development

European Journal of Development Research