Policies of International Development in the Polycrisis – Current Issues and Novel Approaches
(Entwicklungspolitik in der Polykrise – Aktuelle Themen und neue Ansätze)
In the face of multiple interconnected crises—collectively known as the polycrisis— critiques of international development policies are growing increasingly vocal. Critics are questioning the effectiveness of foreign aid, development assistance and development cooperation as reliable instruments for ensuring the well-being of humanity and the planet (Gabriel et al., 2022, Brand et al., 2021). The polycrisis has exposed the limitations of Western anthropocentrism and instrumentalism, which perpetuate several binaries and dichotomies inherent in the "civilizational" approach (Godrej, 2016). As a result, there is a pressing need for alternative perspectives that transcend Western-centric and purely technocratic approaches to development.
This seminar seeks to revisit, reimagine and reshape international development policies by exploring how alternative conceptions and practices can effectively the polycrisis. The seminar will achieved this aim through the following three steps:
1) Vision - Reimagining international development by incorporating bodies of knowledge beyond Western ideation, such as indigenous wisdom and non-Western development outlooks.
2) Barriers – Assessing the current limitations of international development, with a focus on power dynamics, dominance structures and path dependencies in consensual knowledge and multilateralism.
3) Actions – Developing policy recommendations for advancing international development policies
Throughout the seminar, students will enhance their critical thinking skills and deepen their understanding of diverse concepts and practices in international development. They will also learn to critically and analytically engage with international development discourse, exploring its various theoretical approaches and related practices.
Requirements and Organization of Course:
The course is open to students of MA Internationale Beziehungen und Entwicklungspolitik as well as MA Development and Governance.
To achieve the course
objectives, students are expected to attend regularly, read the assigned texts,
and actively participate in each session. Since every session includes a
discussion of the readings, thorough preparation is essential. The required readings
are clearly identified below and are accessible via the Moodle platform. Access
to Moodle will require a password, which will be provided during the first
meeting.
The main assessment for this course will be an individually composed policy paper. To support the development of the policy paper, students will be divided into groups. Each group will present a report during the block portion of the seminar. Detailed guidelines regarding the format of the policy papers and class presentations will be provided during the course.
- Lehrende(r): Ariel Hernandez
