Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Culture, Politica e Società

The course aims at

(1) introducing and unpacking the debate around the notion and the main characteristics of local and global development;

(2) illustrating the interplay between local development and global dynamics;

(3) presenting and assessing study cases particularly relevant in the field;

(4) discussing the contribution of sociology to the debate on development.

At the end of the course students should be able to

(1) identify and compare the mainstream and new perspectives on global and local development;

(2) assess and reconstruct the interplay between local development and global dynamics;

(3) critically review theoretical approaches to development and clearly express their point of view.

In addition to that, students will strengthen their ability of understanding, summarising, and discussing academic papers related to global and local development. Moreover, they will develop their skills in collaborative group work.   

The course aims at introducing students to development as a highly contested field, with shifting frontiers, and a set of processes, practices, and values.

The course

(1) presents elements of mainstream and critical perspectives on development;

(2) unpacks the relation between global development and local development ;

(3) presents relevant study cases (varieties of capitalism, market transition...).;

(4) analyses the interplay between global and local development and the conflicts, the problems, and the opportunities that arise from it

(5) reviews key concepts for development such as social, environmental and health justice, ownership, cooperation, and sustainability.

Lessons will be both theoretical and practical with a mix of traditional lectures, classroom discussion and group work.

All attending students will work in groups on at least one in-class exercise, which will be evaluated by the professor, and they will complete exercises and other activities that will be presented during the course.

 Active participation of the students during the lectures is warmly encouraged.

Attending students 

Students are considered as "attending" if they have attended at least 75% of the lectures.

The report and the oral presentation should include:

• A summary of the academic paper or chapter
• A discussion on how the paper or chapter fits into the general debate on development (students can use notes from lessons, the chapters of the handbook for this, or other pertinent papers)
• An analysis of how the paper or chapter contributes theoretically and empirically to development studies (students can use notes from lessons, the chapters of the handbook for this, or other pertinent papers)
• A brief discussion on the main limitations (theoretical and/or empirical) of the study.
• A brief discussion of the main implications in terms of social actions or policies (students can use notes from lessons, chapters of the handbook, as well as reports or descriptions of development programs carried out by governmental and non-governmental organizations).

Students can use AI to improve the search for papers and materials, but cannot use it for drafting the written content of the report. Every report will be checked for plagiarism and the use of AI systems, using appropriate anti-plagiarism and AI detection software, among other methods.The maximum tolerance for properly cited direct quotations is 30 percent

The assessment criteria are the following:

1. the ability to reorganise the acquired knowledge and to apply it in the assessment of relevant study cases;
2. the ability to engage with the course contents in a thoughtful and critical way;
3. the ability to understand and summarise in a clear and effective way the main arguments of an academic paper;
4. the ability to cooperatively plan and manage group work activities.

Active participation during the lectures is considered a plus.

For AGIC's students: The final grade will be integrated with the grade of Development Economics and International Cooperation  (arithmetic mean of the two grades).

Non attending students

The final exam consists of two short written reports. The reports must be submitted at least 10 days before the exam.

The first report consists of a summary (maximum 1500 words) of the book and a discussion of the main arguments presented in "The Doughnut Economics".

The second report consists of a brief essay (2500 words) on an academic paper and should include:

• A summary of the academic paper or chapter.
• A discussion on how the paper or chapter contributes to the general debate on development (students can use the chapters of the handbook or other pertinent papers for this).
• An analysis of the theoretical and empirical contributions of the paper or chapter to development studies (students can use the chapters of the handbook or other pertinent papers for this).
• A brief discussion on the main limitations (theoretical and/or empirical) of the study.
• A brief discussion of the main implications in terms of social actions or policies (students can use the chapters of the handbook, as well as reports or descriptions of development programs carried out by governmental and non-governmental organizations).

You can use AI to improve the search for papers and materials, but you cannot use it for drafting the written content of the report. Every report will be checked for plagiarism and the use of AI systems, using appropriate anti-plagiarism and AI detection software, among other methods. The maximum tolerance for appropriate literal quotations is 30 percent.

The assessment criteria are the following:

1. the ability to reorganise the acquired knowledge and to apply it in the assessment of relevant study cases;
2. the ability to engage with the course contents in a thoughtful and critical way;
3. the ability to understand and summarise in a clear and effective way the main arguments of an academic paper.

For AGIC's students: The final grade will be integrated with the grade of Development Economics and International Cooperation (arithmetic mean of the two grades).

Attending students:

1) Handnotes of the lessons 

2) Hooks, G. (Ed.). (2016). The sociology of development handbook. Univ of California Press. (Introduction, and other chapters useful for developing the topic for the written essay and the oral presentation)

3) two academic papers analysed and discussed during the course (available on the Moodle platform);

4) K. Raworth, The Doughnot Economics, Corberstone, 2018;

Non attending students: 

1) Hooks, G. (Ed.). (2016). The sociology of development handbook. Univ of California Press. (Introduction, 1, 2, 5, 10, 11, 14, 16, 23, 24, and 27, or other chapters useful for developing the topic for the written essay)

2) K. Raworth, The Doughnot Economics, Corberstone, 2018;

3) two academic papers on a topic of your choice, chosen in agreement with the lecturer.