This course explores processes of development in Asia, and in doing so it encourages you to critically analyse mainstream and alternative perspectives on ‘development’. The course is roughly divided in four parts. The first part (weeks 1, 3 and 4) will get you in touch with some basic background knowledge on development and political economy. The second part of the course (weeks 5, 7 and 8) will focus on some case studies of development and ‘underdevelopment’ in Asia. The third part of the course challenges the conceptualization of development as a ‘national’ process and explores some alternative ways of understanding the political economy of development in Asia (weeks 9 and 10). Week 11 focuses on the role of the ‘development industry’ in Asia.

Continuous Assessment: 100%