ATS2378 - The anthropology of international development - 2019

The unit takes an anthropological approach to critiquing international aid and development and the global structures it is embedded within. Various theories of globalisation and the production of global inequalities will be explored. Anthropologists employ ethnographic research and methods to improve the understanding of development processes, and the notions of human progress it rests on. Through specific case studies of approaches, institutions, programs and practitioners across multiple cultural contexts an appreciation is built up of how development policy is imagined, produced, received or resisted and how those being developed, the so-called beneficiaries, are imagined, defined and assisted.

Upon successful completion of the unit, students will be able to:

1. evaluate dominant discourses, models and theories in historical and contemporary development;
2. explain the role that globalisation plays in global inequalities and the impact and responses of different individuals, collectives and environments;
3. analyse the effect of aid and development policies and programs on particular cultures collectives and environments;
4. recognise and discuss the culture and approaches of contemporary mainstream and alternative international aid and development organizations, institutions and practitioners;
5. read, think and respond reflectively and critically to global issues and challenges;
6. utilise developing academic qualitative research skills to locate, link, critically analyse and communicate theory and evidence.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

Anthropology

International relations

International studies