University of Witwatersrand
Course Information:
Research Essay
Credit-Bearing
Undergraduate |
The course examines the foundations of social research, its underlying assumptions and methodologies, and will combine theoretical discussions with the practical application of research tools. Students are will be expected to gain an understanding of abstract issues together with an ability to choose and apply various research and data collection methods. By the end of the course successful students will have built their capacity to design and execute research in academic and applied settings. The course will focus on generic research skills, useful for work in the state, private and civil society sectors. The final product will be a complete research proposal, with some empirical components, that could be used to conduct research in other courses or for degree purposes. |
Development Theories, Issues, Problems, and Strategies
Credit-Bearing
Undergraduate |
The aim of this course is to introduce students to the major social, economic, and political, assumptions underpinning ‘development studies’, and, most importantly, to the strategies that might best be adopted to ‘promote’ or ‘manage’ development. In this way, the ‘problem of development’ in three loosely defined and inter-connected areas of social life—the market, the state, and the community— is placed into sharper relief. |
History of Economic Thought
Credit-Bearing
Undergraduate |
In this course we trace economic thought from the time of Aristotle to the present, discovering progression but also significant breaks and ruptures especially in the methodology of economics. So, for instance, today many economists define economics by their preferred method – the rational choice model – whereas previously it was defined by its field of investigation. As we trace the emergence of economics as a separate domain of inquiry to its baptism as political economy and subsequent metamorphosis into economics as a science, we will encounter seminal thinkers and some enduring debates: laissez faire vs regulation, capitalism vs command economy, subjective vs objective value, empiricism vs rationalism, positive vs normative, historicism vs logical positivism, and others. |
Development as Ideology and Practice
Credit-Bearing
Undergraduate |
At the core of modernity has been the goal of “progress”: conscious human intervention, based on rationality, to improve the human condition. What such improvement means, what actions can be taken to achieve it, and whether improvement is a goal in itself, merely a means to an end, or perhaps both, are issues that have been debated; generally beyond debate, however, has been the goal of Progress through Reason. In the second half of the twentieth century, “development” has been the main expression of this modern project, and “development” the measure of success. Social problems, critique and social change are routinely posed in these terms. Poverty, for example, is often cited as the product of a lack of “development”, rather than its consequence, or perhaps the result of “underdevelopment” due to “imperialism”; conversely, postcolonial regimes promised to accelerate “development”, no matter the cost. In this course, we look at different ways in which “development” has been theorised and attempted to be attained in practice. In the first half, we look at critiques of mainstream development focusing in particular on development as a form of discourse and a relation of power that is gendered, racialised and sexualised in particular ways that inform, in turn, the micropolitical functioning of development (e.g. NGOs). In the second half, we engage with different theories and critiques that have emerged about development as ideology and discourse. We do so by focusing on theories and practices of industrialisation and development in several regions of the world namely, Western Europe, Southern Africa, East Asia, China & Russia and Latin America. |
Capitalism and the South African Countryside
Credit-Bearing
Undergraduate |
In this course theories of rural development and comparative perspectives will be used to illuminate processes of rural transformation in South Africa. The discussion of the possibilities and prospects of rural development will be rooted in a rich appreciation of the deep-seated patterns of change at work in the South African countryside. The course will highlight a range of themes including: migrant labour, rural resistance, state intervention, forms of accumulation, labour regimes, land reform, gender, generation, stratification, chieftainship, local government and the role of markets. |
The International Political Economy of Development
Credit-Bearing
Undergraduate |
This unit focuses on the international political economy of development. It examines challenges posed to developing countries by the international system, as well as how the international system in turn affects developing countries' responses. Topics include multilateral institutions (IMF, World Bank and WTO), development aid and debt relief, regional economic initiatives, and the interplay between world markets and domestic political institutions. In addition to a final exam, students are required to read intensively, participate actively in class discussions and produce two critical review essays. |
Empire and the Crisis of Civilization
Credit-Bearing
Undergraduate |
This course will explore the historical and contemporary understandings of ‘Empire’ in the social sciences. Drawing on critical theory this course will assess how Empire relates to territoriality, power, culture and economic accumulation. These dimensions of Empire will be located within a historicised perspective to provide a critical understanding of the relationship between Empire and contemporary capitalism. At the same time, the making of Empire will be related to the engendering of ‘civilisation’. The genealogy of the category civilisation and its discursive (ab)uses will be critically explored. The course will also investigate how contemporary capitalism defines the meaning of civilisation and constitutes civilisation. Moreover, the relationship between Empire and Civilisation would be explored in the context of systemic crisis. In this regard the course will explore various theoretical approaches to crisis but in particular the crucial structural factors shaping the contemporary crisis of civilization. The inter-lock between an unstable financialised capitalism, climate change, resource peak, food crisis and the securitisation of political life will be closely investigated. |
Political Thought: Freedom in the Decolonizing Republic
Credit-Bearing
Undergraduate |
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Environmental Sociology: The Political Economy of Nature and Development
Credit-Bearing
Undergraduate |
Sociology has made important recent progress in addressing environmental questions. Environmental sociology has posed fresh theoretical and policy departures for the discipline, questioning inherited assumptions and contributed to a radical rethink of numerous issues relating to sustainable development. The course will illuminate a number of global, regional, national and local environmental issues, through a political economy and sociological lens, drawing on a wide range of theorists. Environmentalism has spawned numerous approaches, ranging from neo Malthusianism, through to ecofeminism, deep ecology, radical ecology and Eco socialism. Linkages between the environment and development will be drawn, as will those between the natural and social sciences. The rise of a global environmental social movement will be traced, including the environmental justice movements in South Africa and elsewhere. Students will be encouraged to address a particular environmental problem as part of their written contribution to the course. This course is also relevant to students of Geography, International Relations, Politics, Town and Regional Planning, and the Natural Sciences. |
Economics and Sociology of Development
Credit-Bearing
Undergraduate |
This course focuses on different approaches to economic growth and their implications for conceptions of development and underdevelopment, the nature of poverty and the role of the state in the development process. The syllabus is designed to provide an overview of the elements of theory and policy that are especially relevant to the study and practice of development. The first half of the course covers essential theoretical and historical elements in economic thinking about development through the examination of different theoretical approaches and the policy outcomes which follow. The second half of the course focuses upon specific issues currently debated in the political economy of development using examples and drawing on contributions from Africa, but also other parts of the world. Issues covered include the role of the state, agriculture and land reform, gender and labour markets. This course adopts an inductive approach to development economics and draws on contributions from other social sciences. It is offered as a core course across two Masters: Development Theory and Policy (Economics) and Development Studies (inter-faculty programme). While the course does not require quantitative skills, students will be expected to engage with a wide range of material, and to write essays reflecting their critical interrogation of academic, policy and empirical literature. By the end of the course students should be (1) familiar with key economic concepts, perspectives and debates relating to the study of development; and (2) able to assess critically policies related to economic development. |
Introduction to Migration and Displacement
Credit-Bearing
Undergraduate |
Human migration and displacement affect societies around the world. Nowhere are the impacts more visible than in Africa, where movements of people due to war, political persecution, and deprivation have long shaped the continent’s political, economic and social configurations. This overview course reviews the dynamics of international migration — forced and otherwise — and formal and informal responses to it. Instead of developing technical skills and policy recommendations, it provides a set of interdisciplinary conceptual tools to make sense of the complex conceptual, methodological, ethical and logistical concerns surrounding human mobility. In doing so, it situates migration in Africa within global trends and broader social and political theory. |
Global Institutions and Economic Restructuring
Credit-Bearing
Undergraduate |
This course examines the involvement of global institutions in development as a process of establishing intellectual hegemony of influencing individuals and groups; shaping ideas, discourses and debates; and affecting institutional arrangements inside and outside the state. In respect, the study of their effect on development is simultaneously an investigation of the sociology of knowledge and the sociology of bureaucracy and institutions. The course focuses on global institutions which are involved in promoting development in developing societies, including South Africa. These include, in particular, formal institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organisation. In addition, the course examines the role of new social movements that have emerged in opposition to these institutions. This focus on global institutions is particularly appropriate for the current period in South Africa’s history. The democratic government is formulating and re-formulating its development policy in the context of increased exposure to these global institutions and movements. The course will examine the role of these institutions globally, in different developing countries as well as in South Africa. |
Degree and Certificate InformationDegrees
Degree/
Level | Title/
English Correspondence | Subject | Credit Hours | Working
Language | History |
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| BA Honours in Development Studies |
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| BA Honours in Development Studies |
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Certificates
Information on Training and Other Services
Additional InformationDevelopment Studies (DVS) is a field of academic enquiry in which we explore debates, experiences and practical ways of achieving an improvement in the human condition. The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) is richly endowed with teaching and research resources in this field. Located in the economic heartland of a developing country with huge income disparities, it offers students and researchers a unique combination of conceptual and practical insights into the development needs of societies. On our university’s doorsteps are communities ranging from the very poorest to the relatively well-off. Our neighbouring states range from effective democracies to societies undergoing fragile transitions. Some are torn apart by instability; others are wrestling with reconstruction.
The DVS Programme is a leading inter-disciplinary post-graduate programme offering a range of specialisations in social science including health, labour, gender and rural development. The graduate coursework programme caters for the varied skills and intellectual approaches that characterize the development field. Students and researchers at the university are able to draw upon a vast range of local and international academic expertise, and on NGO, government, and business experiences to give intellectual depth and practical meaning to their work.
The DVS Programme is made up of Bachelor of Arts Honours (including Joint Honours with International Relations or Political Studies), Master of Arts by Coursework and Research Report, Master of Arts by Research Report and Doctor of Philosophy. Students draw upon local and international expertise in a range of disciplines within the School of Social Sciences, the School of Economics and Business Sciences, and School of Architecture and Planning.
The student body is cosmopolitan and admission is highly competitive. Students with practical experience in the world of development are especially welcomed. The Programme has grown steadily since its inception in 2001. On average, it is estimated that about a third of the student cohort is non-South African. Topics of student research include many focused on studies within Africa broadly.
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