Globalisation and Social Change: India, China and Brazil

Module Code: SO7039

ECTS Credit : 10
Mandatory/ Optional : Mandatory
Module Coordinator : Dr Anne Holohan, Department of Sociology, Trinity.

Module Description:

Phenomena that drive contemporary social change include ideologies, technologies, economic systems, political systems and social movements. In today's world, we see countries taking diverse paths, even with the same set of tools at their disposal. However, as we can see with climate change, our overall fate is inextricably connected. This course looks at the tools, the diverse paths, and global intersections that determine our fates. We focus comparatively on India, China, Brazil, the US, and Finland.

Learning Outcomes:

On successful completion of the module students should be able to:

Critically discuss concepts like globalisation, development, neo-liberalism, institutionalism;
Explain the role, both historical and contemporary, of the various actors in globalisation;
Compare and contrast different development strategies and practices in India, China and Brazil;
Engage in current policy debates around globalisation and development;
Improve their writing, problem-solving, debating and policy assessment skills.

Lectures & Tutorials/ Contact hours:

Module Length: 11 weeks (Hilary Term)
Workload: Readings: 70hrs; Formative assessment (e.g. practice-based activities): 30hrs; Summative assessment (e.g. essays, journals): 100hrs. Total: 200 hours

Recommended Texts

Key Reading:

Evans, Peter (1995) Embedded Autonomy: States and Industrial Transformation. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Guthrie, Doug (2012) China and Globalization. The Social, Economic and Political Transformation of Chinese Society. New York: Routledge.
Montero, Alfred (2014) Brazil: Reversal of Fortune. Polity Press.
Mazzacuto, Marianna (2018) The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy. Allen Lane.
Reid, Michael (2014). Brazil: The Troubled Rise of a Global Power. Yale University Press.
Sen, Amartya (2001) Development as Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Standing, Guy (2014). The Precariat. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
Mazzacuto, Marianna (2018) The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy. Allen Lane.