AGDK14003U Transnational Actors, Networks and Place Making
It is almost impossible today to imagine development at the scale of the nation-state: global flows of people, information, ideas, investments and remittances are now key determinants shaping development at the local level. Development actors are no longer just national governments. Instead, all kinds of transnational actors—from companies to diaspora groups and NGOs—play a prominent role in shaping development agendas, as do the new mobile technologies and social media that facilitate such transnational activity. The “Global North” (North America, Western Europe, Australia and Japan) is no longer taken for granted as a source of inspiration and funding of models of development: around the BRICS initiative, new discourses of development travel between countries in the Global South (Africa, Latin America and Asia), accompanied by new resource flows, for instance from China and India to Africa. But not just the world order is affected by global flows: also the established pattern of development between urban centers and rural areas is being restructured through such flows resulting in livelihood transitions and new and intensified forms of mobility. In the context of neoliberal governance and increasing securitization, illegal flows moreover start to have a significant impact on development trajectories.
Transnational Actors, Networks and Place Making equip students with the skills to examine development beyond the nation-state, to understand how global flows affect the seeming coherence of previous models of development. It introduces students to global flows that shape development agendas and outcomes locally, with an emphasis on studying not just material but also immaterial flows of ideas, discourses, and new forms of connectivity.
After completing the course, the student should be able to:
Knowledge
- Describe current debates about global flows of people, capital and ideas and how these are influenced by transnational networks and actors.
- Grasp how the established pattern of development between urban centers and rural areas is being restructured resulting in livelihood transitions and new and intensified forms of mobility.
- Understand and recognize the importance of changing scales and geographies of development.
Skills
- Identify key global flows of people, capital and ideas in the Global South.
- Be able to analyze how global flows shape development agendas and outcomes in given local environments.
- Communicate and discuss how global flows and transnational networks and actors challenge the seeming coherence of previous models of development.
- Assess the potential impact of global, national and local policies on global flows of people, capital and ideas in the Global South.
Competences
- Process relevant information about global flows and their impact on outcomes in a given local environment.
- Analyze, assess and apply results, methods, theory and data in connection with global flows of people, capital and ideas in the Global South.
- Work effectively with cross-disciplinary problems related transnational actors and the new technologies of connectivity on an individual basis as well as in teams.
- Category
- Hours
- Course Preparation
- 156
- Exam
- 12
- Lectures
- 14
- Seminar
- 28
- Total
- 210
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Type of assessment
- Oral examination, 20 min under invigilationA week before the exam the students are given a set of questions. At the actual exam the student will pick one of the questions (not knowing which) and will then have 5 minutes to present his/her answer. After the presentation the student is examined based on his/her presentation and the syllabus for the course.
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- No external censorship
- Re-exam
- If you fail an examination, you will be allowed two more
attempts to pass the relevant course. The first re-examination will
typically be scheduled immediately following the semester
(February/August). The second re-examination will typically be
scheduled in the following exam period.
In order to contact to sign up for the re-exam please contact Ulla Andersen, ua@samf.ku.dk. You must sign up no later than 14 days before the re-exam date.
Criteria for exam assesment
Course information
- Language
- English
- Course code
- AGDK14003U
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Level
- Full Degree Master
- Duration
- 1 semester
- Placement
- Autumn
- Schedule
- See weekplan
- Course capacity
- 60
- Study board
- Study Board for Global Development
Contracting departments
- Department of Anthropology
- Law
- Department of Geoscience and Natural Resource Management
- Department of Economics
Course responsibles
- Michael Helt Knudsen (20-7d79737871757c3e78757c843e7b7e857483757e50777d71797c3e737f7d)
Lecturers
Michael Helt Knudsen, Department of Geosciences and Natural
Resource Management
Ayo Wahlberg, Department of Anthropology