Overview
This exciting programme offers a critical examination of the contemporary process of globalisation and how it influences the developing world, both before and after the ongoing global crisis. The MSc Globalisation and Development blends, in equal measure, critical analysis of mainstream thinking, alternative theories and practices, and case studies of political, social and cultural aspects of globalisation and development.
This degree draws its strength from the unrivalled expertise at SOAS in development problems and processes. The programme is of interest for development practitioners, activists, and students with a scholarly interest in how globalisation influences the developing world, and how the poor majority responds to these challenges.
Highlights include:
- Critical and historical approaches to globalisation and their relationship to neoliberalism, imperialism and US global hegemony.
- Contemporary globalising processes – capital flows, state-market relations, transnational corporations, global commodity chains, inequality and poverty on a global scale.
- Transformation of work in the age of globalisation – new types of work, informalisation and precarisation, labour migration, agrarian change and gender relations.
- Globalisation and imperialism – post-Cold War imperial and civil wars, global and regional challengers to US hegemony: China and Russia.
- Globalisation, democracy and culture – human rights, democratisation, cosmopolitanism, standardisation, homogenisation.
- Alternatives to neoliberal globalisation – global labour movement, transnational social movements and NGOs, environmental issues.
Students can draw on SOAS's unique expertise to specialise further in particular regions or topics. Please see 'Structure' for details on core and optional modules.
Part-time Study:
Students can take this programme part-time over 2 or 3 years. Students usually complete their core modules in Year 1 and their option modules and dissertation in subsequent years.
Start of programme: September intake only
Mode of Attendance: Full-time or Part-time
Who is this programme for?:
This programme is designed for those who want to understand global processes and development, and for those who want to work on, or analyse, development related tasks and issues. It is also highly relevant to anyone working, or intending to work, in development advocacy, policy making, and global development policy analysis, in the NGO sector, government agencies, and international development organisations.
We welcome students with a strong background in the social sciences in their first degree, but we also welcome students who have worked in the area of development, or in a related field.
Entry requirements
- Minimum upper second class degree in a relevant field, though relevant work experience will also be taken into consideration. For admissions queries please contact the MSc Globalisation and Development admissions tutor, Dr. Paolo Novak.
- duration:
- One calendar year (full-time) or two years (part-time, daytime only)
We recommend that part-time students have between two and a half and three days free in the week to pursue their course of study.
Fees 2020/21
- UK fees:
- £13,360
- Overseas fees:
- £22,840
Fees for 2021/22 entrants. This is a Band 5 fee. The fees are per academic year. Please note that fees go up each year. Further details can be found in the Fees and Funding tab on this page or in the Registry Postgraduate Tuition Fees page
Structure
Students must take 180 credits per year comprised of 120 taught credits (including core, compulsory and optional modules) and a 60 credit dissertation.
Core modules: A core module is required for the degree programme, so must always be taken and passed before you move on to the next year of your programme.
Compulsory modules: A compulsory module is required for the degree programme, so must always be taken, and if necessary can be passed by re-taking it alongside the next year of your programme.
Optional modules: These are designed to help students design their own intellectual journey while maintaining a strong grasp of the fundamentals.
Dissertation
Core Modules
Students also take ONE of the following:
Compulsory Modules
- Choose modules to the value of 30 credits from the Development Studies modules list below
Optional Modules
Choose module(s) to the total value of 30 credits from:
- module(s) from the Development Studies list below to the value of 30 credits
- open option modules to the value of 30 credits from another department
- module from the Development Studies list below to the value of 15 credits
- open option modules to the value of 15 credits from another department
Non-Assessed Module
All MSc students in Development Studies are eligible to attend the one-term, non-assessed module Economics for Beginners, which introduces students to basic concepts in microeconomics, macroeconomics, development economics, and statistics and econometrics.
List of Development Studies modules (subject to availability)
Module |
Code |
Credits |
Term |
Agrarian Development, Food Policy and Rural Poverty |
15PDSH026 |
15 |
Term 2 |
Aid and Development |
15PDSH027 |
15 |
Term 2 |
(RID) Battlefields of Method: Approaches to International Development Research |
15PDSC008 |
30 credits |
|
Borders and Development |
15PDSH023 |
15 |
Term 1 |
Cities and Development |
15PDSH072 |
15 |
Term 2 |
Civil society, social movements and the development process |
15PDSH001 |
15 |
Term 1 |
Development Practice |
15PDSH013 |
15 |
Term 1 |
Environment, Governance and Development |
15PDSH050 |
15 |
Term 2 |
Energy Transition, Nature, and Development in a Time of Climate Change |
15PDSH048 |
15 |
Term 2 |
Famine and food security |
15PDSH022 |
15 |
Term 2 |
Fundamentals of research methods for Development Studies |
15PDSH017 |
15 |
Term 1 |
Gender and Development |
15PDSH010 |
15 |
Term 1 |
Global Commodity Chains, Production Networks and Informal Work |
15PDSH024 |
15 |
Term 1 |
Global Health and Development |
15PDSH051 |
15 |
Term 1 |
Issues in Forced Migration |
15PDSH015 |
15 |
Term 2 |
Marxist Political Economy and Global Development |
15PDSH053 |
15 |
Term 2 |
Migration and Policy |
15PDSH029 |
15 |
Term 1 |
Natural resources, development and change: putting critical analysis into practice |
15PDSH031 |
15 |
Term 2 |
Neoliberalism, Democracy and Global Development |
15PDSH054 |
15 |
Term 2 |
Problems of Development in the Middle East and North Africa |
15PDSH019 |
15 |
Term 2 |
Security |
15PDSH020 |
15 |
Term 1 |
The Working Poor and Development |
15PDSH030 |
15 |
Term 2 |
Labour, Activism and Global Development |
15PDSH032 |
15 |
Term 2 |
Water and Development: Commodification, Ecology and Globalisation (Development Studies) |
15PDSH049 |
15 |
Term 2 |
Water Justice: Rights, Access and Movements (Development Studies) |
15PDSH041 |
15 |
Term 1 |
Programme Specification
Important notice
The information on the programme page reflects the intended programme structure against the given academic session. If you are a current student you can find structure information on the previous year link at the top of the page or through your Department. Please read the important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules.
Teaching and Learning
Materials
SOAS Library is one of the world's most important academic libraries for the study of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, attracting scholars from all over the world. The Library houses over 1.2 million volumes, together with significant archival holdings, special collections and a growing network of electronic resources.
Teaching & Learning
Our teaching and learning approach is designed to support and encourage students in their own process of self-learning, and to develop their own ideas, responses and critique of international development practice and policy. We do this through a mixture of lectures, and more student-centred learning approaches (including tutorials and seminars). Teaching combines innovative use of audio-visual materials, practical exercises, group discussions, and weekly guided reading and discussions, as well as conventional lecturing.
In addition to the taught part of the masters programme, all students will write a 10,000 word dissertation. Students develop their research topic under the guidance and supervision of an academic member of the Department. Students are encouraged to explore a particular body of theory or an academic debate relevant to their programme through a focus on a particular region.
Contact Hours
All Masters programmes consist of 180 credits, made up of taught modules of 30 or 15 credits, taught over 10 or 20 weeks, and a dissertation of 60 credits. The programme structure shows which modules are compulsory and which optional.
As a rough guide, 1 credit equals approximately 10 hours of work. Most of this will be independent study, including reading and research, preparing coursework, revising for examinations and so on. It will also include class time, which may include lectures, seminars and other classes. Some subjects, such as learning a language, have more class time than others. At SOAS, most postgraduate modules have a one hour lecture and a one hour seminar every week, but this does vary.
More information is on the page for each module.
Pre Entry Reading
Recommended Preparatory Readings for Course
- Benería, L., G. Berik, and M. Floro (2016), Gender, Development and Globalization: Economics as If All People Mattered
- Haslam, P. A., J. Schafer, and P. Beaudet, eds. (2017), Introduction to International Development: Approaches, Actors, Issues, and Practice
- Scholte, J. A. (2005), Globalization: A Critical Introduction
- Sparke, M. (2013), Introducing Globalization: Ties, Tensions, and Uneven Integration
- Veltmeyer, H. and P. Bowles, eds. (2017), The Essential Guide to Critical Development Studies
Fees and funding
Tuition Fees
Full details of postgraduate tuition fees can be found on the Registry's Postgraduate Tuition Fees page.
This is a Band 5 tuition fee.
Fees for 2021/22 entrants. The fees below are per academic year. Fees go up each year, therefore, your tuition fee in your second & subsequent years of study will be higher. Our continuing students, on the same degree programme, are protected from annual increases higher than 5%.
Full-time |
Part-time 2 Years |
Part-time 3 Years |
UK Students |
Overseas Students |
UK Students |
Overseas Students |
UK Students |
Overseas Students |
£13,360 |
£22,840 |
£6,680 |
£11,420 |
£4,450 |
£7,610 |
Scholarships
For further details and information on external scholarships visit the Scholarships section
Employment
A postgraduate degree in Globalisation and Development from SOAS provides graduates with a portfolio of widely transferable skills sought by employers, including analytical skills, the ability to think laterally and employ critical reasoning, and knowing how to present materials and ideas effectively both orally and in writing. Equally graduates are able to continue in the field of research, continuing their studies either at SOAS or other institutions. An MSc in Globalisation and Development is a valuable experience that provides students with a body of work and a diverse range of skills that they can use to market themselves with when they graduate.
Former graduates have gone on to work for:
- A multitude of NGOs, including: Amnesty International, Medecins Sans Frontieres, Oxfam, Progressio, Engineers without Borders, British Red Cross, Christian Aid, UK Trade Union Congress, Fairfood International, Feeding the 5000, Health Poverty Action, Islamic Relief, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Project Harar, RedR, Village Service Trust, VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas), Campaign for Female Education and African Vision Malawi.
- A range of media, research, consultancy and development funding institutions, including DAI, The Economist, Demos, Intitut Bioforce, Impactt, Internet Matters, Parnter International Institute for Environment and Development, Qatar University, International Centre for Parliamentary Studies, Palladium, PartnersGlobal, Prague Security Studies Institute, Rift Valley Institute, Chambers & Partners, Claret Market Research and Control Risks.
- Various government agencies, United Nations and international organisations, including in the UK the Department for International Development, the Department Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Commonwealth Secretariat, OFGEM; in Japan the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the World Bank, the World Food Programme.
- Many private sector organisations, including BP, Hitachi, etc
Alumni have taken up many kinds of roles, for example as business development co-ordinator, campaign officer, civil servant, communications and information officer, corporate social responsibility specialist, field manager, freelance researcher, fundraising co-ordinator, gender and rural growth consultant, monitoring and rural growth consultant, policy advisor, programme officer/manager, project manager, research and development manager and union organiser.
A Student's Perspective
SOAS has given me the space to ask questions of myself and of my studies which I hadn’t had before, it gives you the academic and ideological freedom to explore your own ideas. This has been really important for me, and changed the way I address challenges and experiences more generally.
Hannah Duncan
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