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POEC 395 Course website

Political Economy (POEC) 395
Global Development Strategies
(Revision 2)

Revision 2 closed March 19, 2008. replaced by current version.

View previous syllabus

Delivery mode: Individualized study.

Credits: 3 - Social Science

Prerequisite: None. A previous course in development is recommended.

Precluded course: POEC 395 is a cross-listed course—a course listed under two different disciplines—GLST 395. POEC 395 may not be taken for credit by students who have obtained credit for GLST 395.

Centre: Centre for Global and Social Analysis

POEC 395 has a Challenge for Credit option.

Overview

Global Development Strategies, a three-credit, senior-level course which allows you to study in-depth strategies of development, particularly in the Global South. The course begins with an introduction to traditional western theories of development and various indigenous critiques. Next, it shifts to an examination of the main regions that comprise the global South, including Latin America and the Caribbean; Africa and the Middle East; and South and Southeast Asia. Together these regions comprise eighty percent of the world population and historically their participation in the world economy significantly predates the Industrial Revolution. Therefore, this course is conceptualised not just as a study of ‘Third World’ countries but as the interdisciplinary study of the challenges and successes of peoples in a world continually shaped by several types, stages, and layers of global and local interactions.

Outline

The course consists of the following seven units.

Unit 1: Introduction: The Construction of the Third World From Western (or European) Perspectives.

Unit 2: Development Strategies in Latin America and the Caribbean

Unit 3: Development Strategies in Africa and the Middle East

Unit 4: Development Strategies in Southeast and East Asia

Unit 5: Development Strategies in India and China: Emergent Global Leaders?

Unit 6: Development Strategies in the Post-Communist World

Unit 7: Conclusion: Re-assessing Development in an Era of Globalization

Evaluation

To receive credit for GLST 395, you must complete all of the assignments, achieve a mark of 50 per cent or better on the examination and obtain a course composite grade of at least “D” (50 per cent). The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:

TME 1 TME 2 Research Essay Final Exam Total
20% 20% 30% 30% 100%

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Course Materials

Textbooks

Mike Mason. Development and Disorder: A History of the Third World Since 1945. Toronto: Between the Lines, 1997.

Howard J. Wiarda. Political Development in Emerging Nations: Is There Still a Third World? Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2004.

Other materials

The course materials include a student manual that contains a forms package you will need to submit assignments, extend your contract or change your status as a student.