Unit information: Governing the Borderlands in 2014/15

Unit name	Governing the Borderlands
Unit code	POLIM2044
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Tucker
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

This unit examines the significance of the West's humanitarian, development and peace interventionism during the post-Cold War period. It focuses upon the interconnection between development and security both historically and in contemporary interventions. With reference to the theory and practice of liberal imperialism, development is analysed as a will to power that governs people by making their freedom conditional upon self-betterment. Contemporary internal war, state failure and humanitarian crises have provided an opportunity to expand and deepen liberal technologies of global governance. Aid and politics now work together in new and expansive ways. This deepening is reflected in the role of development within the indefinite war on terrorism. The unit concludes by examining the collapse of the traditional national/international dichotomy within political imagination. This includes the interconnection between the policing of international migration, concerns over homeland social cohesion and, in order to defend the West's way of life, the role of development as a technology of security to contain and pacify borderland populations.

The unit aims are:

• to survey the increasing policy relevance of the merging of development and security issues in the post-Cold War period

• to demonstrate how changing perceptions of security have shaped new initiatives in the field of humanitarian intervention, development in conflict, social reconstruction and democratisation.

• through case-study work, to examine a number of such interventions, for example, in Africa, the Balkans and Afghanistan.

• to foster a critical awareness of the relationship between such forms of intervention and ideas of global governance.

The unit is intended for students from either a politics or a development background that are interested in studying the overlap between develop and security and its implications and/or are contemplating employment in the international humanitarian, developmental and conflict resolution industry. At the same time, it will also be of interest to practioners working in these fields who wish to further their career through advanced study. To meet this aim, besides reviewing the academic literature,

• the unit is slanted towards critical policy analysis and case-study work drawn from ongoing interventions and social reconstruction programmes.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On completion of the unit students should:

• demonstrate a broad understanding the nature and wider significance of contemporary forms of internal, regionalised and networked conflict,

• understand and be able to critically evaluate the main humanitarian, developmental and security responses emerging in relation to such global instability,

• develop and improve analytical skills,

• have a critical understanding of the major innovations in aid policy in crisis situations and evolving systems of global governance,

• develop their knowledge of North-South relations through the use of case studies,

• be able to follow independent research based upon an indicative reading list.

Teaching Information

• Seminars with formal presentations by lecturer and focussed discussion

• Independent Research

• Input from the unit convener

Assessment Information

Essay (100%)

Essay topics are given out at the beginning of the unit that reflect the lecture and seminar themes. Advice is given to help students begin their essays. In order to meet the aims of the unit, students are expected to demonstrate an ability to assimilate a range literature and evidence, develop a critical and questioning stance in relation to the main trends and policy approaches, include case study material where appropriate and, importantly, be able to show evidence of an ability to undertake independent research relating to the interconnection between development and security.

Reading and References

• DAC. 2003. A Development Co-operation Lens on Terrorism Prevention: Key Entry Points for Action, OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC), Paris.

• Douzinas, Costas. 2003. Humanity, Military Humanism and the New Moral Order. Economy and Society 32, no. 2: 159-83.

• Duffield, Mark. 2001. Governing the Borderlands: Decoding the Power of Aid. Disasters 25, no. 4: 216-29.

• Foucault, Michel. 2003. Society Must be Defended: Lectures at the College de France, 1975-76. London: Alan Lane, The Penguin Press. Chapter 11.

• Jahn, Beate. 2005. Barbarian thoughts: imperialism in the philosophy of John Stuart Mill. Review of International Studies, no. 31: 599-618.

• Pupavac, Vanessa. 2005. Human Security and the Rise of Global Therapeutic Governance. Conflict, Development and Security. 5, no. 2: 161-82.