School: School of Government
Department: International Development Department
Modular value: 20 credits
Countries emerging from civil war face the daunting task of post-conflict reconstruction and development. In some of these post-conflict settings, political actors can overcome societal divisions and work towards sustainable political and economic recovery. In others, however, peace and development remain elusive. These countries become caught in a conflict trap and experience recurrent civil war.
What explains this variation in post-conflict reconstruction and development? And how can local political elites and international actors keep the peace, re-build the state, and reconstruct communities? This module explores these questions through an in-depth examination of peace stabilization and consolidation approaches. The former approach includes measures and interventions aimed at sustaining negotiated settlements. The latter covers strategies to reconstruct and develop state institutions, communities, and individuals.
The module is designed to introduce you to key concepts and theories in the study of civil war and development using a wide range of empirical examples of post-conflict settings from across the developing world. This will enable you to assess the promises and pitfalls of common policy interventions for post-conflict reconstruction and development.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module you will be able to:
- Describe, interpret, and explain patterns of post-conflict reconstruction and development.
- Critically analyse and explain concepts and theories relating to peace stabilization and consolidation after civil war.
- Identify the causal mechanisms in these different theoretical frameworks and evaluate them against empirical evidence.
- Apply the concepts and theories discussed in this module to real-world examples of post-conflict settings across the developing world.
Assessment
The assessment for the module will consist of:
- 2 assignments of 2,000 words each (each worth 50%).
Related courses:
The optional modules listed on the website for this programme may unfortunately occasionally be subject to change. As you will appreciate key members of staff may leave the University and this necessitates a review of the modules that are offered. Where the module is no longer available we will let you know as soon as we can and help you make other choices.