Global Development MA

This module aims to expose you to key frameworks, tools and instruments used in the practice of development; familiarise you with the debates, challenges and controversies on important aspects of development practice; and, offer practical development insights, skills and competencies. You'll explore policy directions and dynamics with attention to the broader questions and challenges of sustainable development. These approaches are introduced through a range of thematic studies relating to policy-making in international, national and local contexts. The module will be in the format of thematic workshops on key aspects of development practice delivered by the module leader as well as leading policy experts from the field of international development. Although the course is applied in nature, you will gain skills to use and critically evaluate the methods, tools and techniques used in the study and practice of development.

The module will give you supervised guidance and research method training through a series of research method workshops, the dissertation induction and individual dissertation supervision sessions in preparing their dissertation on an agreed research topic. You’ll be able to choose a research-based dissertation pathway or an Applied Research Project (APR) pathway where you’ll work on an applied, policy-relevant project and will be co-supervised by a leading development policy maker.

This module focuses on development policies and practices from a political economy perspective. You’ll examine relations between the state, market and civil society and will analyse the politics of growth, aid, agriculture and food, natural resources and labour. An emphasis on the global sustainability challenges of the 21st century will enable you to evaluate development visions from a range of institutions and actors in the global South and beyond.

This module aims at evaluating the relevance of contemporary debates in international relations and political economy to the study of energy security, energy markets and climate change. It examines the political history of the modern energy systems and the role played by states and major private and state-owned companies. In addition, it explores the role of global institutions and their impact on the interplay between energy security, energy markets and climate change. It scrutinises issues that underpin key discussions in the energy and climate change area, such as development, limits to growth, transparency, sustainability and the role of civil society. The module also critically assesses standard approaches to the issue of energy security by focusing on the problem of energy poverty and resilience.

This module explores and compares a range of approaches to analysing and evaluating governance and policy in relation to questions and challenges of sustainable development. These approaches are introduced through a range of case studies relating to policy-making in contrasting international, national and local contexts.

This module will provide you with a systematic and coherent introduction to the main theoretical advances, critical debates and policy related issues in the field of just development futures from an inter-disciplinary and cross-cultural perspective. Broadly, you will engage with current appreciation of development as part of a broader project of social justice rather than a post war project. In the first part of the module you’ll learn about critiques of development as a postcolonial encounter and critiques of grand narratives of economic development. The next part of the module covers the different schools of just development thought and the contestations between them. You’ll explore contemporary approaches from social justice, feminism, race theory, environmentalism, indigenous studies, and decolonial theory. In the final part of the module through case studies on global development challenges, you’ll explore the extent to which politics and justice forms a key element of sustainable development and appreciate the linkages between politics, governance and practical applications for envisaging just futures for people and the planet.

The end of the Cold War fundamentally altered the nature of international security, bringing with it new issues and threats to global peace. The contemporary era has seen the emergence of new kinds of instability engendered by intra-state conflicts and the involvement of non-state actors. This module provides a comprehensive overview of security discourse and practice since the end of the Cold War relating key issues – such as humanitarian intervention, self-defence and terrorism – to broader trends including the evolving role of the UN, the challenges to international law and the new concern with intra-state crises.

This module considers empirical controversies relating to the process and substance of US foreign policy since the end of the Cold War.

This module explores International Relations (IR) using the ‘lenses’ of gender and sexuality. The module draws from feminist and queer scholarship to critique the conceptualisation of IR in gender neutral terms, revealing gendered and heteronormative power relations and engaging with intersectionality including race and global location. The module will explore key issues in global politics including war, (in)security, diplomacy, peace building, human rights, international political economy and transnational activism.

The module will prepare you to recognise and analyse the global political landscape changing with the predicted rise of non-Western states as great powers. The main focus will be on the domestic and international politics of China and India and the impact their rise has on the developed and developing countries.

The module explore the EU as a polity and as a system of governance. It offers a practice-led survey of governance issues in the EU, informed by relevant theoretical approaches. The module covers the legal framework of the EU and the roles of member state and institutional actors in its decision-making processes; questions of institutional efficiency, accountability and the wider legitimacy of the EU. It also engages with current political challenges facing the EU and its member states, such as Brexit, enlargement, and the Eurozone crisis.

This module examines the connections between migration and development, using a range of theoretical approaches, scales of analysis and case studies. You’ll develop your understanding of contemporary migration patterns and trends in their global and historical context. The module draws on a rich and diverse field of migration and border studies in ways that enhance knowledge and insight into global development challenges. You’ll have the opportunity to integrate this learning in focused reports on specific migration corridors and channels.

Since the 2000s the global energy landscape that took shape in the last two decades of the twentieth century has been altered due to major geo-political and geo-economical shifts, the rise of new players in the energy sector and technological breakthroughs. The aim of this module is to analyse the impact that these developments had on the energy security of key producing and consuming countries. It will analyse these problems by focusing on change and continuity in the decision-making processes of state and non-state actors. Countries covered include the US, the EU, the Asian rising powers, Russia and specific case studies from the Middle East, Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and South America.

The module sets out to explore the EU's international role: as an international trade partner; in its evolving competencies in foreign policy; in its dealings with NATO, the OSCE and its member states over defence and security issues; in its relations with accession states and other 'third states'; and in its self-image and values as an international actor. You'll learn a practice-led survey of the EU's external activities, informed by relevant theories.

The module introduces you to various approaches to (state) politics and examines different accounts of political action ranging from civil disobedience to violent confrontation. It discusses the challenges arising from different forms of antagonism and explores conceptual efforts to understand and control the possibility of conflict and violence.