APG5628 · Development, power and practice

Overview

This unit provides a critical, historically grounded examination of development as both a body of theory and a set of global practices. It traces key shifts in development discourse, from modernisation in the post WWII period to the contemporary focus on sustainable development. The unit explores how development is defined, measured, and shaped by institutional priorities across diverse cultural contexts. You will interrogate core ideas such as economic growth, modernisation, progress, and conditionality, alongside critical perspectives from political economy and postcolonial theories. These frameworks are used to position development as highly contested and mutable. You will analyse how current institutionalised practices perpetuate inequality, and where opportunities lie for greater justice. Drawing on contemporary challenges including climate change, conflict, gender, global health, and governance, you will critically analyse development practice and how it can evolve to meet ongoing social, political, and environmental changes.

Areas of study: International development practice International sustainable tourism management International development and environment International relations Journalism Tourism

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

Learning outcomes

1. critically evaluate major theories in development, understanding their assumptions, evolution and global influence;
2. interrogate how institutional expertise, values and metrics define development opportunities and practice;
3. analyse contemporary development challenges and propose pathways for change that support greater equity and justice.

Workload

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. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.