SP20298: Civil society and NGOs in the developing world
[Page last updated: 01 August 2022]
| Academic Year: | 2022/23 |
| Owning Department/School: | Department of Social & Policy Sciences |
| Credits: | 6 [equivalent to 12 CATS credits] |
| Notional Study Hours: | 120 |
| Level: | Intermediate (FHEQ level 5) |
| Period: |
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| Assessment Summary: | ES 100% |
| Assessment Detail: |
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| Supplementary Assessment: |
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| Requisites: | |
| Learning Outcomes: | By the end of the unit students should have a critical understanding of:
* evolving debates on NGOs and development. * the diverse roles played by contemporary development NGOs. * the different types of NGOs engaged in contemporary development interventions and their relationships with a range of domestic and international actors. |
| Aims: | The course aims to:
1. Examine current debates relating to NGOs' role in global politics, humanitarian interventions and peacebuilding and the future roles of NGOs. 2. Critically assess NGOs' relationships with a range of other actors including broader civil society, donors and state actors and to explore how these relationships influence NGOs' work. 3. Critically examine a range of theoretical approaches to the study of development NGOs. |
| Skills: | 1. A capacity to identify, understand and critique a range of theoretical approaches for understanding contemporary development NGOs.
2. The ability to deploy a range of critical and mainstream academic and policy literature in constructing arguments. 3. The ability to relate the literature and policy debates to detailed NGO case studies. |
| Content: | The unit provides an introduction to the study of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and their varied roles in development interventions and processes. As well as exploring diverse claims relating to local, national and international NGOs' capacity to 'make a difference', the unit engages with a critical literature that examines the broader social and political effects of NGOs and their work, including their role in emerging processes of global governance. The unit explores (a) the rapid expansion of development NGOs since the 1980s and a range of accounts and conceptualisations of this rise in the NGO literature, (b) NGOs' relationships with a range of other actors including broader civil society, donors and state actors and how these relationships influence NGOs' development work, (c) several current debates relating to NGOs' development roles and broader political effects including the rise of 'global civil society', NGOs' engagement in politics and human rights, NGOs' role as humanitarian actors, NGO peacebuilding and the role of faith-based and non-traditional NGOs in development. The unit will explore these debates by drawing on a number of case studies of international and national NGOs.
Indicative lecture outline: * NGOs and development: overview and historical perspective * Approaches to the study of NGOs * NGO effectiveness, accountability and legitimacy * NGOs, civil society and the state * NGOs and the aid chain * Faith-based and non-traditional NGOs * NGOs and humanitarianism * NGOs, politics and human rights * NGOs, advocacy and global civil society * NGOs, conflict and peacebuilding. |
| Programme availability: |
SP20298 is Optional on the following programmes:Department of Social & Policy Sciences
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Notes:
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