| Unit name | Rural Asia |
|---|---|
| Unit code | GEOG30031 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Rigg |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None, although you may find having taken State, Economy & Society or Geographies of Colonialism and Coloniality at Year 2 useful. |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School of Geographical Sciences |
| Faculty | Faculty of Science |
The majority of the world’s poor live in rural areas, and most of these are small farmers or landless farm labourers. Understanding processes of agrarian change speaks to a key development challenge: how best to ‘develop’ rural areas and rural people? This question is a particularly apt one to ask of Asia, the region of the world which has done most to drive the ‘rise of the South’ but where there are also around 400 million small farms of less than 2 ha, comprising the majority of the poor. How have rural households in Asia sought to improve their lives and livelihoods and what does this mean for theory and practice?
The unit provides a specialist Year 3 unit that draws on State, Economy and Society and Geographies of Colonialism and Coloniality at Year 2. It also dovetails will another Year 3 unit, Urban Africa.
Overview of content
This unit reviews the challenges of rural development in Asia, focusing on the struggles and strategies of small farmers as they manage their and their families’ lives in the context of thorough-going spatial integration, social transformation, and structural change. Drawing on primary research undertaken by the unit convenor in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam, it will adopt a human-level perspective on some of the key processes shaping the contemporary world.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
The unit will deepen students’ knowledge of the region that has done most to re-shape the world. It will provide a valuable counterpoint to Eurocentric perspectives that see the globe through the lens of the Western historical experience, and the theories and models that have arisen from the privileging of this experience. It will enable students to see the connections between the big stories we tell about the world, and the grounded experiences of these stories.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of this unit, a student will be able to:
This unit requires students to gain knowledge on a topic they have not studied in any depth previously. Much of the time outside timetabled hours will require students to engage, critically, with a wide, multi-disciplinary literature that will challenge their assumptions about the direction of agrarian change, the theoretical models we use to understand to such transition pathways, and the policies that have been designed and implemented to address rural poverty and underdevelopment.
The core material will be delivered through lectures. These will be supported by three smaller group seminar sessions during the course of the unit, permitting greater interaction. One of these will support the policy brief assignment.
The policy brief assignment is designed to encourage students to connect empirics, policy and practice and address the ‘so what?’ question. They will be required to succinctly describe a rural development challenge, provide empirical evidence to describe that challenge, and map out the policy options and solutions.
The unit essay permits students to select a topic to engage with critically and in depth, requiring an engagement with theory along with empirical evidence drawn from either one Asian country or a number of countries.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Seminars during which students will present proposals for their policy brief assignment
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
One policy brief (1,200 words) to be submitted around halfway through the unit (30% of final mark)
One essay (3,000 words) to be submitted at the conclusion of the unit (70% of final mark)
When assessment does not go to plan:
If a student is not able to complete either of the assignments they will be required to complete an alternative policy brief and/or essay assignment, of the same length, at a later date
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. GEOG30031).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an
assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
