The 2014-2015 academic year saw the birth of a new elective on the MA in Globalisation and Development Studies that has been able to create synergy between teaching and research.  “East Asia as Site and Agent of Globalisation and Development” aims to explore this region’s transition from recipient of development assistance and testing ground of heterodox developmental policies in the 20th century to a collection of newly influential development partners to the global South in the 21st century. This course draws on Elsje Fourie’s research into African emulation of East Asian development “models” in two major ways.  Firstly, it explores theories such as multiple modernities and the developmental state to which Dr. Fourie has contributed and on which her writing draws. It also allows Dr. Fourie to present the empirical results of recent fieldwork conducted among policymakers in Ethiopia and Kenya.  Course readings and lectures both make use of Dr. Fourie’s publications and draw on the expertise of contacts that she has acquired through her research.  In evaluations, several students specifically mentioned the relevance and topicality of Dr. Fourie’s research as one of the key advantages of the course.

Coordinator: Elsje Fourie

This course ties in with the research contucted in the Globalisation, Transnationalism and Development research programme.

Picture by UNIDO: 2015-Huajian shoe factory in the Eastern Industrial Zone in Ethiopia