Course Description
This course is an introduction to Social Development with a particular emphasis on families and communities. This course will thus provide you with an overview of key theoretical perspectives and debates which underpin various approaches to social development. You will focus on the theoretical debates that inform policy and practice of social development. Throughout this course you will critically explore the assumptions, rationale and ethics of social development in thought and practice. As such, this course explores the social factors and conditions that promote or hinder social development and how this affects the well-being of individual, families, and communities in contemporary societies. The course focuses on different aspects of social development in the age of globalization, such as inequality, aid, environment, health, education, and migration.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to
· Demonstrate an understanding of the concept of “social development” and the role of United Nations Millennium Development Goals in shaping social development in a globalized world
· Analyse social issues in the global and local context and apply such knowledge work with diverse families and communities locally or internationally
· Critically examine the role of human rights in constraining, or advancing, social development
· Research into key social development issues confronting individuals, families, and communities in contemporary societies
· Explore the role of social advertisement and education in promoting social development in Africa and/or around the world
Course content
· Introduction to social theories of development and their relevance
· Women and family in social change; family cycles, changing roles, modern trends
· Education and development; relevance, cost of education and employment and social class and elitism.
· Theorizing Development
· Modernization Theory
· Urbanisation and industrialization in developing countries
· Rural Development: problems and strategies.
· Concepts and strategies of integrated development: social planning; resources, objectives, structures and institutions and implementation;
· Social indicators: identification, construction and problems as well as Social change and development–trends in the 20th century.
· United Nations Millennium Development Goals; Sustainable Development Goals in shaping social development in a globalized world
Required Reading Materials
· Haslam, P., Schafer, J., &Beaudet, P. (2012). Introduction to International Development: Approaches, Actors, and Issues (2nd ed.). Ontario: Oxford University Press.
· Shaffer, D.R. (2009). Social and Personality Development (6th ed.).Belmont: Wadsworth.
Optional Reading Material
· Peet, Richard with Elaine Hartwick 2009. Theories of Development: Contentions, Arguments, Alternatives (2nd edition). New York: Guilford.
· Escobar, Arturo (1995). Encountering Development. Princeton University Press.
· Goldman, Michael 2005. Imperial Nature: The World Bank and Struggles for Social Justice in the Age of Globalization. Yale University Press.
· Li, Tania Murray 2007. The Will to Improve: Governmentality, Development and the Practice of Politics. Duke University Press.