Module Title |
Politics and Development in Africa
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Module Code |
LG542A
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School |
School of Law & Government
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Online Module Resources
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Module Co-ordinator | Dr. Niamh Gaynor | Office Number | C222 |
Level |
5
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Credit Rating |
10
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Pre-requisite |
None
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Co-requisite |
None
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Module Aims
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To introduce students to recent developments in the politics of sub-Saharan
Africa, and provide them with the theoretical and conceptual tools to evaluate and analyse these developments. By approaching the politics of the region through the lens of state-society relationships it covers a wide diversity of countries, languages, cultures, histories and political structures, and addresses issues including the colonial legacy, nationalism, ethnicity, neo-patrimonialism, development, structural adjustment, democratisation, environmentalism, conflict and the African Renaissance? The nature of the African state and its relationship to both domestic societies, as well as to the international system, will provide a conceptual focus to the module.
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Learning Outcomes
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To develop an understanding of Africa?s current challenges and opportunities, and to situate those within a global frame of reference.
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Indicative Time Allowances
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Hours
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Lectures |
12
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Tutorials |
12
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Laboratories |
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Seminars |
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Independent Learning Time |
126
|
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Total |
150
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Placements |
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Assignments |
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NOTE
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Assume that a 10 credit module load represents approximately 150 hours' work, which includes all teaching, in-course assignments, laboratory work or other specialised training and an estimated private learning time associated with the module.
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Indicative Syllabus
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· Historical background: some key legacies from pre-colonialism, colonialism and post-colonialism.· The African State participation, political parties and state capacity· The Construction of Ethnicity, Conflict and Democracy· External Intervention, "Crisis" Management and the World Bank/IMF· Africa and the International System· The African Union and other other `sub'''''''' regional organisations
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Assessment | Continuous Assessment | 100% | Examination Weight | 0% |
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Indicative Reading List
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Ake, Claude. Democracy and Development in Africa. Washington D.C.: The Brookings Institute, 1996.Bratton, Michael and Nicholas van de Walle. Democratic Experiments in Africa: Regime Transitions in Comparative Perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997.Chabal, Patrick & Jean-Pascal Daloz. Africa Works: Disorder as Political Instrument. Oxford: International African Institute in association with James Currey, 1999.Graham Harrison, Issues in the Contemporary Politics of Sub-Saharan Africa (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2002). Kevane, Michael, Women and development in Africa : how gender works. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2003).Leonard, David K. and Scott Straus, Africa?s Stalled Development: International Causes and Cures (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2003).Mkandawire, Thandika and Charles Soludo (eds.) African Voices on Structural Adjustment (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2003).Onimode, Bade et al., African Development and Governance Strategies in the 21st Century (London: Zed, 2004). Salih, Mohammed ed. African Political Parties ? Evolution, Institutionalisation and Governance. London: Pluto Press, 2003.Smith, Brian C. Understanding Third World Politics: Theories of Political Change and Development. 2nd Ed. Bloomington, Indiana University Press. van de Walle, Nicolas, Nicole Ball and Vijaya Ramachandram Beyond structural adjustment : the institutional context of African development., (Palgrave, 2003.)
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Programme or List of Programmes
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GDIS | Graduate Dip in Intercultural Studies |
MAIS | MA in Intercultural Studies |
MIR | MA in International Relations |
Archives: | |