Undergraduate - UnitAZA2549 - Poverty and power: The uneven world

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2013 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

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Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	School of Social Science, South Africa
Offered	South Africa Second semester 2013 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Agnes Babugura

Synopsis

The unit looks at the state of global poverty, development and inequalities and analyses the forces that drive them. It provides critical insights into the massive human and economic costs of inequality and poverty and proposes realistic solutions. It examines links between population, resources and health issues. The role of government and non-governmental agencies in alternative development strategies.

The unit examines selected aspects of the nature and impact of poverty and development in the contemporary world. Major areas of concern include: the patterns and impacts of geographically-uneven development; access to land, natural resources and distributive justice; population, health, and environment with respect to questions of human rights; the geopolitics of the 'Third World'; and the business of international development conducted by the World Bank, IMF, bilateral aid organisations, and nongovernmental organisations.

Outcomes

To successfully complete this unit, students will need to:

Demonstrate an understanding of the diversity of the development experience;
Understand key concepts and theoretical perspectives used in approaches to global development and poverty eradication;
Develop the ability to critically analyse the distinctive problems and prospects associated with international development;
Identify strategies to address poverty;
Identify the opportunities and constraints related to development in industrialising countries and disadvantaged indigenous communities living within wealthy nations.

Assessment

1. Tutorial attendance and tutorial exercises (10%)
2. In-class mid-term test (20%)
3. Minor research project (oral and poster presentation) (20%)
4. End of year test (20%)
5. Final research project (2500) (30%)