PO353-30 Gender and Development
Introductory description
Over the course of the module we will be exploring the inequalities of development through the lens of gender. Amongst other issues we’ll be looking to understand why women constitute 70 per cent of the world’s 1.3 billion who live in absolute poverty. We’ll be discussing why women make up 60 per cent of the 550 million working poor. Why it is that globally, women can earn anything between 12 and 60 per cent less than men, and why the value of their unpaid work – a staggering US$ 11 trillion every year – remains invisible in national and global accounts. In discussing these and plenty of other issues, we will explore how and why inequalities between men and women continue to persist, and what impact this inequality has upon the national and global economy. We will also examine the strategies that have been developed to challenge this inequality and assess their success.
There are two major themes that bind the module together: the concept of ‘otherness’ and difference; and the gendered analysis of development. These themes will be developed by looking at women and men in their different economic, social, and political roles in society, which we will do in four different areas over the course of this module: (1) Theorising Gender and Development; (2) Gendering Governance; (3) Gendered International Political Economy; and (4) Addressing Issues of Gender and Development.
This course is more wide-ranging than some other gender and development modules that you might encounter in other departments. Taking as our point of departure, existing feminist perspectives from across the world, we will discuss issues relating to masculinities and sexualities in the developing world. This broad theoretical framework will enable us to explore the gendered economic inequalities that have arisen as a result of global capitalism. Taking a distinctly political economy approach we will go on to discuss the gendered impacts of economic policy, trade and microfinance, population control and family planning, as well as issues such as HIV and AIDS, conflict, climate change, and global sex tourism. Therefore, as well as covering the traditional concerns of gender and development such as work, poverty, health, and demography, we will locate these gendered relations and issues within the wider socio-economic and political context.
Module aims
An introduction to issues concerning the area of gender and development (GAD)
An overview of the various literature and major debates in this field
Think critically about GAD issues
The theoretical and empirical tools needed to understand perspectives of GAD
Build coherent and persuasive arguments, both verbally in seminars and in your written work.
Outline syllabus
This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.
Week 1: Welcome and Introduction to the Module
Week 2: Feminisms and Difference
Week 3: Theorising and Gendering Development
Week 4: Masculinities and Development
Week 5: Gender and Sexuality in the Developing World
Week 6: Reading Week
Week 7: Colonialism and the (Re-)making of Gender Relations
Week 8: Gendering the (Post-Colonial) State
Week 9: Gender and Global Governance
Week 10: Representing and Mainstreaming Women’s Interests
Week 11: Do Women Really Count? Gender and Global Capitalism
Week 12: From SAPs to PRSPs: Gendered Economic Inequalities
Week 13: Trade, Gender and the International Division of Labour
Week 14: Microfinance: Empowerment or Localised Neoliberalism?
Week 15: ‘The Body’ as a Site of Political Struggle
Week 16: Reading Week
Week 17: Men, Women, Globalisation and Sex Tourism
Week 18: HIV and AIDS: a Gendered Epidemic
Week 19: Gendering Issues of Conflict and Security
Week 20: Women, the Environment and Climate Change
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- A sound grasp of the main theoretical arguments and key substantive issues
- Knowledge of how different processes and trajectories of social, economic and political development knit together to affect the lives of women in different developing areas
- Assess the various theories of gender and development, explaining and defending your preferred model persuasively
- Conduct high-quality scholarly research concerning issues of GAD, using key statistical indicators of development
- Present your work coherently and to a high academic standard
Subject specific skills
TBC
Transferable skills
TBC
Study time
Type | Required |
---|---|
Lectures | 18 sessions of 1 hour (6%) |
Seminars | 20 sessions of 1 hour (7%) |
Private study | 262 hours (87%) |
Total | 300 hours |
Private study description
TBC
Costs
No further costs have been identified for this module.
You do not need to pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Students can register for this module without taking any assessment.
Assessment group C1
Weighting | Study time | |
---|---|---|
3000 word essay | 50% | |
Online Examination | 50% | |
1.5 hour examination (Summer)
|
Feedback on assessment
Feedback form via Tabula; optional verbal consultation
Courses
This module is Core optional for:
-
UECA-4 Undergraduate Economics 4 Year Variants
- Year 4 of LM1H Economics, Politics & International Studies with Study Abroad
- Year 4 of LM1H Economics, Politics & International Studies with Study Abroad
-
UECA-LM1D Undergraduate Economics, Politics and International Studies
- Year 3 of LM1D Economics, Politics and International Studies
- Year 3 of LM1D Economics, Politics and International Studies
This module is Optional for:
-
UECA-3 Undergraduate Economics 3 Year Variants
- Year 3 of L100 Economics
- Year 3 of L100 Economics
- Year 3 of L100 Economics
- Year 3 of L116 Economics and Industrial Organization
- Year 3 of L116 Economics and Industrial Organization
-
UECA-4 Undergraduate Economics 4 Year Variants
- Year 4 of L103 Economics with Study Abroad
- Year 4 of LM1H Economics, Politics & International Studies with Study Abroad
- Year 4 of LM1H Economics, Politics & International Studies with Study Abroad
-
UECA-LM1D Undergraduate Economics, Politics and International Studies
- Year 3 of LM1D Economics, Politics and International Studies
- Year 3 of LM1D Economics, Politics and International Studies
-
UPHA-V7MM Undergraduate Philosophy, Politics and Economics (with Intercalated year)
- Year 4 of V7MQ Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Bipartite) with Intercalated Year
- Year 4 of V7MH Philosophy, Politics and Economics - Economics/Philosophy Bipartite (Economics Major) (with Intercalated year)
- Year 4 of V7MF Philosophy, Politics and Economics - Economics/Politics Bipartite (Economics Major) (with Intercalated year)
- Year 4 of V7MI Philosophy, Politics and Economics - Philosophy/Economics Bipartite (Philosophy Major) (with Intercalated year)
- Year 4 of V7MJ Philosophy, Politics and Economics - Philosophy/Politics Bipartite (with Intercalated year)
- Year 4 of V7MG Philosophy, Politics and Economics - Politics/Economics Bipartite (Politics Major) (with Intercalated year)
- Year 3 of UPOA-M100 Undergraduate Politics
- Year 4 of UPOA-M101 Undergraduate Politics (with Intercalated Year)
- Year 4 of UPOA-M168 Undergraduate Politics and International Studies with Chinese
- Year 3 of UPOA-M169 Undergraduate Politics and International Studies with Chinese (3 year)
- Year 4 of UPOA-M165 Undergraduate Politics, International Studies and Italian
- Year 3 of UPOA-M162 Undergraduate Politics, International Studies and Quantitative Methods
- Year 4 of UPOA-M167 Undergraduate Politics, International Studies and Quantitative Methods (with Intercalated Year)
This module is Option list A for:
-
UPOA-M16A Undergraduate Politics and International Studies
- Year 3 of M16A Politics and International Studies
- Year 3 of M16A Politics and International Studies
- Year 3 of M16A Politics and International Studies
- Year 4 of UPOA-M16B Undergraduate Politics and International Studies (with Intercalated Year)
- Year 3 of UPOA-ML13 Undergraduate Politics and Sociology
- Year 4 of UPOA-ML14 Undergraduate Politics and Sociology (with Intercalated year)
- Year 4 of UPOA-M163 Undergraduate Politics, International Studies and French
- Year 4 of UPOA-M164 Undergraduate Politics, International Studies and German
- Year 3 of UPOA-M16D Undergraduate Politics, International Studies and German (3 year degree)
- Year 4 of UPOA-M166 Undergraduate Politics, International Studies and Hispanic Studies
- Year 3 of UPOA-M16H Undergraduate Politics, International Studies and Hispanic Studies (3 year degree)
This module is Option list C for:
-
UHIA-VM11 Undergraduate History and Politics
- Year 3 of VM11 History and Politics
- Year 3 of VM11 History and Politics
- Year 3 of VM11 History and Politics
- Year 4 of UHIA-VM12 Undergraduate History and Politics (with Year Abroad)