Discussion Paper
The purpose of this assessment is to engage critically with academic literature and to integrate theory into an understanding of contemporary development issues. Rather than requiring the wide research that is expected in a normal essay, you will be making good use of fewer sources.
Here are some ways to plan and structure the paper:
1. Explain the main topics and theories that will be covered. What are you reviewing? What is its importance to contemporary development? What is interesting about it?
2. Summarise and review the key text. What is it about? What does it contain and what are the themes? What is its main approach and argument? What cases or countries are included, and can it be generalised beyond these? To what extent is the argument relevant today, might it be contested, and why/why not?
3. You may use other literature to expand on the discussion – journal articles (see journals on the online reading list), books, quality news reports, etc.
4. Conclude and reflect. What topics and themes have you covered? What are the main debates that have come out of the paper? How, if at all, should the key text be integrated in our understanding of the political economy of development? Is it useful for understanding world politics more generally? Can it be applied to other countries/ regions and if so, how?
Key reading includes (may use one chapter (especially in the case of edited volumes) or the whole book ):
Amin, S. (2011) Global History: a view from the south. Bangalore, Cape Town, Dakar: Pambazuka and CODESRIA.
Arrighi, G. (2010) The long twentieth century: money, power and the origins of our times. London: Verso.
Bayliss, K., Van Waeyenberg, E. and Fine, B. 2011. The Political Economy of Development: the World Bank, neoliberalism and development research. London: Pluto.
Bush, R. (2007). Poverty and Neoliberalism: Persistence and Reproduction in the Global South. London: Pluto
Chang, Ha-Joon (2003) Kicking away the ladder: development strategy in historical perspective. London: Anthem
Desai, V. & Potter, R. (eds) (2008) The Companion to Development Studies, 2nd Edition, London: Arnold
Easterly, W. (2001) The Elusive Quest for Growth, Cambridge: MIT Press.
Fine, B., C. Lapavitsas and J. Pincus (2001) Development Policy in the Twenty-First Century: Beyond the post-Washington Consensus. London: Routledge
Kiely, R. (2008) The New Political Economy of Development: Globalisation, Imperialism and Hegemony, London: Palgrave.
Peet, R. and E. Hardwick (1999). Theories of Development. London: Guildford Press.
Sachs, J. (2005), The End of Poverty, New York: Penguin.
Selwyn, B. (2017) The Struggle for Development. Cambridge, UK: Polity.
Smith, J. (2016) Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century: Globalization, Super-Exploitation and Capitalism’s Final Crisis. New York: Monthly Review Press.
