Presentation

Countries of the Global South are largely outward-oriented economies, characterized by development and aid policies that shape large areas of public action. This method conference aims to decipher how development policies are implemented, according to which paradigms, using which methods and with which actors?

Four themes will be addressed: development trajectories: States and policies; the diverse worlds of development; sectoral issues and policies; and development challenges.

Objectives: to develop students’ understanding of the main frameworks and paradigms of development policies,  of how countries in the South function, of the nature of political regimes in the South, of the current issues and challenges related to development; the aim is also to consolidate students’ ability to build and defend an argument, either orally (presentation and discussion) or in writing (essay, reading report).

Bibliography

• Bayart J.F., Le Gouvernement du monde. Une critique politique de la globalisation, Paris, Fayard, 2004.
• Ferguson J., The Anti-Politics Machine: « Development », Depoliticization and Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho, Minneapolis, University of Minneapolis Press, 1994.
• Rist G., Le développement. Histoire d’une croyance occidentale, Paris, Presses de Sciences Po, 2007. (4^e rééd 2013, disponible sur Cairn)
• Scott J.C., Seeing like a State. How certain schemes to Improve the Human Condition have failed, New Haven Yale University Press, 1998.

Educational formula

This method conference is based on several methodological exercises (written and oral) performed by students: two trial gallops (one per semester), two presentations (one per semester) in groups of two or three students, a reading report on a book (of your choice from the list handed out to students). Participation in discussions on texts to be read by students prior to class is important.