Critical Debates in Development Theory (807AF)

30 credits, Level 7 (Masters)

Autumn teaching

On this module, you’ll get to grips with key theories and paradigms from the Global North and Global South that shape development thinking and practice.

You’ll start by examining influential ideas like Modernisation Theory and Dependency Theory. You’ll look at what these theories say about the world and how they have been used to inform development policy and practice (implicitly or explicitly). You’ll then move onto specific perspectives that have shaped approaches to specific development areas. For example, you’ll examine the ‘Smart Economics’ approach to gender and development.

Throughout the module, you’ll use theory to make sense of changing landscapes and actors in development. You’ll focus on increasing private sector participation in development and Global South countries as development partners and donors.

One of our core ideas is that theories matter to make sense of development, not only because they give us analytical tools as researchers. They also matter because policy-making, practice and social movements rely on theory (implicitly or explicitly) to understand:

• where change comes from
• whose decisions count
• what kinds of developmental change are possible or desirable.

You’ll be encouraged to develop a sense of ‘critical hope’. This means understanding the social, historical and material roots of today’s inequalities and injustices, while using that understanding to work towards developmental change.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 33 hours of contact time and about 267 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2026/27. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.