Development Policies in Countries in the Global South For the past three decades transnational development institutions (WB, IMF, WTO) insisted that neoliberal free-market policies were the best policy alternative to foster development in countries in the Global South.
Select a country that adopted these policies in the Global South to answer the following question: have neoliberal development policies had a positive or a negative impact on human development?
Your answer should briefly provide a historical review of the development profile of the country,
describe the specific neoliberal policies that were implemented and their outcomes, and assess
their impact on the country’s human development
SOCIAL SCIENCE 1430 9.0
INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
RESEARCH ESSAY & PROGRESS REPORT
Winter 2019
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Weight: 10% (progress report); 15% (research essay)
Length: 1,500 words (progress report); 2,500 words (research essay)
Due Date: Each question has a different due date (see below)
_________ _____
Choose one of the following two questions:
Question 1:
For the past three decades, transnational development institutions (WB, IMF, WTO) insisted that neoliberal free-market policies were the best policy alternative to foster development in countries in the Global South. Select a country that adopted these policies in the Global South to answer the following question: have neoliberal development policies had a positive or a negative impact on human development?
Your answer should briefly provide a historical review of the development profile of the country,
describe the specific neoliberal policies that were implemented and their outcomes, and assess
their impact on the country’s human development.
Due dates: Progress Report: February 12 (11:59pm); Research Essay: March 11 (11:59pm).
Development Policies in Countries in the Global South Question 2
Over the past two decades, people around the world organized transnational movements and
campaigns to oppose the negative developmental aspects of globalization and/or to propose and
implement alternative development practices. Choose one transnational movement or campaign
representing what we have called “globalization from below” to assess its levels of success in
addressing inequalities and/or fostering human development.
Your answer must describe the movement/campaign (origins, goals, membership, strategies, etc.),
the development issues it addresses, and discuss the obstacles and opportunities it encountered in
pursuing its goals.
Due dates: Progress Report: February 25 (11:59pm); Research Essay: March 25 (11:59pm).
Development Policies in Countries in the Global South Instructions
This assignment is divided into two steps in order to assist students through the various stages of
preparing the project and to help them develop time management skills. It gives students an opportunity
to integrate relevant course themes into a research project of their choice and it is designed to help them develop research skills.
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STEP 1: PROGRESS REPORT
The purpose of the PR is to assist students to formulate and organize their ideas and develop a tentative argument after they read the relevant sources identified through research. Students should devote a significant amount of time to identify a suitable case study, to read the main sources, and to develop a tentative argument.
Note: Students must have their topic approved by their TA before doing research for the Progress Report.
The PR must include the following (in this order and using these subheadings):
Subject:
Identify the topic and tentative title. Justify the choice of country or movement in relation to its relevance to the ideas presented in course materials. Why is your choice relevant? (200 words)
Tentative Thesis Statement:
Drawing from your research, indicate in a succinct statement the argument that you will develop in the essay. The thesis statement must be clearly written and must indicate why you are making a particular argument. It must directly address the essay question.
Discussion of the THREE most important academic sources in the bibliography:
Indicate the following for each of these three sources: why is this source useful/relevant for your essay?
What is the main argument? What kind of data or argument from this source will you be using? You
should write around 250 words for each source. Note: at least one of these three sources must be
published after 2010.
Development Policies in Countries in the Global South Outline
Provide a structure for the essay, indicating the various sections that you will require in order to develop your argument. Indicate the main points to be developed within each section, and the supporting data/ideas drawn from the light sources in your bibliography. This section should be presented in point form, but it must contain enough information to show that you have data/ideas for each topic. Bibliography:
List EIGHT scholarly sources that directly relate to your topic, using proper academic referencing style.
Include books, book chapters, and articles from academic journals (as opposed to newspaper or magazine articles) indicating the library call numbers for each source. You may also include a maximum of two documents produced by governments and/or development institutions. If you are using internet sources,
they must come from academic journals. Students who choose question two can also list the website (if applicable) of the movement/campaign they have selected. In assessing your PR we will take into account the direct relevance of each source for the essay topic. Note: at least three of these sources must be published after 2010.
Questions/Problems:
Indicate whether you have any additional academic questions about the topic, issues that you cannot
resolve, additional material you might need (be specific), additional help that you might require in order to develop your ideas.
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STEP 2: RESEARCH ESSAY (RE)
The research essay (RE) will bring together the students’ work in preparation of the PR, the feedback provided by the tutorial leader, and if required, additional research.
¨ It must be organized around a clear argument (thesis statement) addressing the essay question. The discussion must be presented in the context of the issues and concepts discussed in class and must
integrate relevant sources from class readings.
¨ It should contain an introduction, a thesis statement (in bold), the main body, and a concluding paragraph. Each paragraph must be clearly structured around a topic sentence (in bold).
¨ It must be thoroughly and properly documented using standard academic references for direct
quotations or for sources you paraphrased. You must include a proper bibliography.
¨ Students must attach to their essays the original copy of the progress report with the comments from
the tutorial leader. Essays without the progress report or the TA feedback will not be graded.
¨ Students may be asked to attend an interview with the tutorial leader and/or course director to discuss the content of their assignments.
PROGRESS REPORT & ESSAY SUBMISSION:
The essay questions have different due dates. Students who fail to submit their PR by the first deadline (Feb. 12) will automatically be expected to work on question 2, which has a later PR deadline.
Assignments are due at 11:59 pm on the day before the lecture. They must be submitted online through
the course’s Moodle site and will be checked through Turnitin for possible breaches of academic honesty.
In tutorials where the TA requested hard copies of the assignment, students must submit hard copies to their TA in lecture immediately after the online deadline.
LATE ASSIGNMENTS: Assignments submitted late will receive a penalty deduction of 2 points per
day. No essays will be accepted after one week (no exceptions). Late penalties will be assigned based on the date and time of online submission. Late essays will not necessarily be returned on the same day as essays submitted by the due date. Students who submit late assignments must notify their Teaching Assistant and must attach an electronic version of their paper with the notification message.
EXTENSIONS: Students anticipating problems submitting their assignments on time, and who have proper documentation for their circumstances, must contact their TAs to discuss whether they can be granted an extension. Please note that the course director does not grant extensions. Requests for extensions after the deadline will not be considered except under
exceptional circumstances.
