ISS-2101 Development Studies: Theories, Histories, and Praxes
Code
Weight of the course
Period
Course Leader
Lecturer
Teaching Methods
Modes of Assessment
Contact
ISS-2101
8 ECTS
TERM 1
Andrew Fischer
Murat Arsel, Amrita Chhachhi, and Andrew Fischer
Lectures, Participatory Lectures, Workshops
Assignment: 25%, Written Exam: 75%
Karin Hirdes; Marieke Klopper
Learning objectives
a. After completion of the course, students will have knowledge about:
 the histories, theories and practices associated with the field of development studies as an
interdisciplinary social science;
 the major theoretical and conceptual approaches in development studies and their principle
assumptions;
 the way in which key contemporaneous social, political and economic problems have
influenced theories and practices of development and, inversely, how ideologies have also
influenced policy responses to these problems.
b. After completion of the course, students will have improved their skills of:
 critical analysis in the field of development studies, i.e. questioning the assumptions and
logical foundations of the epistemologies, theories, empirical analyses and practices related
to the field of development studies;
 situating various theoretical, disciplinary and policy approaches and concepts within a
systemic mental map of the field of development studies;
 conversing with each other through common vocabularies regardless of specialization or
background, as well as communicating ideas on development to specialist and/or wider
audiences.
Course description
The General Course provides background to all MA students in the histories, theories and praxes
underlying the field of development studies. The aim is not to teach specialised lectures on selected
topics in detail, which is the purpose of the core and other courses. Rather, the emphasis is on
synthesis, positioning and familiarization within the broad interdisciplinary field of development
studies, thereby providing students with a systemic mental map of the field so that they know where to
situate various theoretical, disciplinary and policy approaches and concepts with respect to others.
Participants learn how to recognise concepts from across the field and to place them in their relevant
contexts. By deepening and questioning one’s knowledge and/or experience, the course aims to
cultivate greater fluency and interpretative abilities in the language and literature of development
studies, as well as an ability to converse with each other through common vocabularies regardless of
specialization or background.
However, the course is not an introductory course and all students are required to take it. General in
this sense means that it will deal with a certain level of generality rather than specificity, with the aim
to lead all students to an MA-level of critical analysis within the field of development studies. ‘Critical
analysis’ refers to questioning the assumptions and logical foundations of the epistemologies,
theories, empirical analyses and practices related to the field of development studies. In other words,
students should not simply assert; they should argue their case logically, considering other points of
view. They should not simply repeat; they should analyse. This applies to interpretations of causality,
i.e. understanding the causes of things, and of empirical reality, i.e. understanding what is.
The course is built on streams of thought identified throughout the literature. Each session takes a
slice of history seen from the perspective of the evolution of particular theories and debates, and links
these with current issues and/or practices. In this way, the course aims to highlight the continuity of
theory and debates that run across historical periods, emphasising legacies in much the same way
that our own intellectual development takes place. Themes draw from the political economy
foundations of development studies; foundational ideas of development such as population
transitions, industrialisation and modern nation-state formation; and issues and perspectives that
have more recently come to challenge key assumptions in development studies, including financial
crises and the rise of neoliberalism, ecology and sustainable development, human rights and social
movements, feminism and gender, and post-development and post-colonial thinking.
Indicative readings
Adams, W.M. (2009) Green Development: Environment and Sustainability in a Developing World (3rd
edn). London; New York: Routledge.
Amsden, A. H. (2007) Escape from Empire: The Developing World’s Journey Through Heaven and
Hell. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Chang, H. (2002) Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective. London:
Anthem.
Escobar, A. (1995) Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Rist, G. (2008) The History of Development: From Western Origins to Global Faith. London: Zed.
Kabeer, N. (1994) Reversed Realities: Gender Hierarchies in Development Thought. London; New
York: Verso.
Mamdani, M. (1996) Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Payne, A. and N. Phillips (2009) Development. Cambridge: Polity.
Said, E. W. (1978) Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books.
Sen, A. (1999) Development as Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.