Studying at York
Politics of the Poor - POL00088M
Module summary
Global inequality is a pressing political and moral challenge of our time. Nearly 40% of the world’s population lives under condition of severe deprivation. Global governance and international development institutions are increasingly concerned with formulating appropriate policies to eliminate poverty. However, our understanding of poverty-reduction and pro-poor policy-making has not always been accompanied by an analytical appreciation of how the poor engage with their political, social and economic environment, how they struggle against constraints and strive to secure fragmented livelihoods, and how they exercise their own agency.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching cycle |
|---|---|
| A | Spring Term 2019-20 |
Module aims
This module aims to enable students to develop their understanding of the political practices deployed by people in poverty. It will expose students to established and emerging analytical approaches to studying poor people’s politics. Even as the module introduces students to relevant concepts, it will also familiarise students with historical and contemporary cases on which to base their conceptual understanding. Through the ten weeks of the module, students will go on to develop memos based on the conceptual and case-based literature.
Students opting for the Politics module go on to careers in academia, policy and civil service, as well as the media and businesses. The analytical and conceptual skills they develop through the modules will help them achieve excellence in their respective careers.
Module learning outcomes
Subject content
Appreciate the political dimension of public and collective practices of the poor.
Identify different conceptual approaches to studying the political practices of people in poverty.
Explain determinants of different political practices of the poor, and situate these practices in broader debates on the transition to Liberal democracy.
Academic and graduate skills
Communication skills: Develop and present memos to peers
Analytical writing skills: Write 500-word memos on a set situation, based on case material
Inter-personal skills: Work effectively in groups to produce memos for sharing and presenting to peers
Research skills: Independently research empirical data to supplement case literature.
Module content
A large portion of the seminars will be devoted to student teams working through particular political cases over the course of several weeks to develop written and oral presentations. Students will therefore be expected to be able to work with others, examine a case in the context of the conceptual literature and present these to one another.
Assessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework 4000 Word Essay |
N/A | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Reassessment
| Task | Length | % of module mark |
|---|---|---|
| Essay/coursework 4000 Word Essay |
N/A | 100 |
Module feedback
Students will receive oral feedback through seminars and in feedback and guidance hours. Written feedback will be given on summative work within six weeks of submission.
Indicative reading
Thompson, E.P. (1971) The Moral Economy of the Crowd, Past and Present, 50: 76-136.
Scott, J. (1985) Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Auyro, J. (2002) Poor People’s Politics: Peronist Survival Networks and the Legacy of Evita. Durham: Duke University Press.
Chatterjee, P. (2004) The Politics of the Governed: Politics in Most of the World. Columbia: Columbia University Press.
Bayat, A. (2010) Life as Politics. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
