Social Change, Culture and Development (L2107N)
Social Change, Culture and Development
Module L2107N
Module details for 2022/23.
15 credits
FHEQ Level 5
Module Outline
This module starts from the observation that development is more than economic change and involves important social and cultural aspects. It begins with an interrogation of the way development practices and ideas are embedded in cultural contexts, and specifically how the development industry is historically and culturally entangled in Western conceptions of progress, rationality, and the individual. Against a view of culture as 'tradition' and an impediment to development we will examine different cultural conceptions of progress. This involves both alternate visions of future development as well as the negative impacts that development policies and interventions have on local people, communities and cultures. Questions of power and cultural relativism inevitably arise: what happens when different interests and commitments collide, and who or what determines the module development interventions take?
Module learning outcomes
To demonstrate an awareness of different theoretical approaches to culture.
To summarise the basic debates over the relationship between development, modernisation and social and cultural change.
To apply theoretical insights to the evaluation of the relative strengths and weaknesses of different forms of development policy and intervention
To apply an anthropologically critical perspective to accounts of development intervention and social change.
| Type | Timing | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | 40.00% | |
| Coursework components. Equal weighting for all components. | ||
| Essay | T1 Week 8 | |
| Essay (1500 words) | Semester 1 Assessment Week 1 Mon 16:00 | 60.00% |
Timing
Submission deadlines may vary for different types of assignment/groups of students.
Weighting
Coursework components (if listed) total 100% of the overall coursework weighting value.
| Term | Method | Duration | Week pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| Autumn Semester | Lecture | 2 hours | 11111111111 |
| Autumn Semester | Seminar | 1 hour | 11111111111 |
How to read the week pattern
The numbers indicate the weeks of the term and how many events take place each week.
Dr Elizabeth Mills
Assess convenor
/profiles/226593
Prof Anne-Meike Fechter
Assess convenor
/profiles/158737
Dr William Lock
Convenor, Assess convenor
/profiles/174669
Mr Fred Fordham
Assess convenor
/profiles/647713
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