Outline

Overview

Now well into the twenty-first century, the world is a long way from the postwar vision of modernization under the aegis of a liberal international order. Today, we must ask what development means in a world that has never been more divided, unequal, and yet in which all of us remain interdependent. When people, money, microbes, and coastlines move---and borders and drawn and redrawn---what do powerful, wealthy societies owe the global majority? Can guest workers, squatters, and First Nations do what green revolutions couldn't? This class examines how the sites of development politics have shifted from states and toward regimes of global movement and grassroots struggles for alternatives.

Unit details and rules

Unit code	DVST6901
Academic unit	Anthropology
Credit points	6
Prohibitions ?	SSCP6900
Prerequisites ?	None
Corequisites ?	None
Assumed knowledge ?	None
Available to study abroad and exchange students	Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator	Ryan Schram, ryan.schram@sydney.edu.au

Type	Description	Weight	Due	Length
Assignment	First essay: Human emancipation in “actually existing democracies” An essay arguing for an interpretation of an empirical case	30%	Week 07 Due date: 13 Apr 2024 at 23:59	1500 words
Outcomes assessed:
Assignment	Second essay: Topic and scope tba An essay involving independent reading on a topic of students' choice	40%	Week 13 Due date: 25 May 2024 at 23:59	2000 words
Outcomes assessed:
Online task	Weekly writing assignments Weekly writing on open questions about the class and assigned readings	20%	Weekly	12 x 150 words
Outcomes assessed:
Small continuous assessment	Contributions to an online knowledge base Collaborative writing and editing of a class wiki	10%	Weekly	700 words equivalent total
Outcomes assessed:

Assessment summary

See the class Canvas site for the full details of each of the assignments.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a High distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a Distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name	Mark range	Description
High distinction	85 - 100
Distinction	75 - 84
Credit	65 - 74
Pass	50 - 64
Fail	0 - 49	When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see sydney.edu.au/students/guide-to-grades.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

Work will be accepted late, but will lose points for every day that it is late without either a formal extension from the central student administration, or an informal extension from Ryan. Please keep in touch with Ryan throughout the semester about your work in the class.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

You may only use artificial intelligence and writing assistance tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator, and if you do use them, you must also acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section.

Studiosity is permitted for postgraduate units unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission.

Learning support

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

Support for students

The Support for Students Policy 2023 reflects the University’s commitment to supporting students in their academic journey and making the University safe for students. It is important that you read and understand this policy so that you are familiar with the range of support services available to you and understand how to engage with them.

The University uses email as its primary source of communication with students who need support under the Support for Students Policy 2023. Make sure you check your University email regularly and respond to any communications received from the University.

Learning resources and detailed information about weekly assessment and learning activities can be accessed via Canvas. It is essential that you visit your unit of study Canvas site to ensure you are up to date with all of your tasks.

If you are having difficulties completing your studies, or are feeling unsure about your progress, we are here to help. You can access the support services offered by the University at any time:

Support and Services (including health and wellbeing services, financial support and learning support)
Course planning and administration
Meet with an Academic Adviser

Weekly schedule

WK	Topic	Learning activity
Week 01	What comes after liberation?—Main reading: Tuck and Yang (2012). Other reading: Curley et al. (2022); Garba and Sorentino (2020).	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 02	What does emancipation mean?—Main reading: Marx ([1843] 1978).	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 03	The cultural roots of Western liberal politics—Main reading: Habermas ([1962] 1992); Fraser (1992); Ryan (1992). Other reading: Peiss (1991); Warner (2002).	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 04	Subaltern counterpublics—Main reading: Yeh (2012); Leonardo (2012). Other reading: Bonilla and Rosa (2015).	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 05	The dialectic of civility and community—Main reading: Elyachar (2010).	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 06	Colonial subjects and national citizens—Main reading: Ekeh (1975); Mamdani (2001). Other reading: Cohn (1987).	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 07	The others of citizenship—Main reading: Chatterjee (1998); Chatterjee (2004). Other reading: Chatterjee (2012); Chatterjee (2011).	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 08	Getting connected—Main reading: Rooney (2021); Speer (2016). Other reading: Lemanski (2020); Vidmar et al. (2023).	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 09	Getting settled—Main reading: Cattelino (2006); Speer (2017). Other reading: Goldberg-Hiller (2019).	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 10	About them, but not without them—Main reading: Francis et al. (2023); Salinger et al. (2024).	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 11	New kinds of sovereignty, alternatives to citizenship—Main reading: Goodyear-Ka‘ōpua and Kuwada (2018); Goodyear-Ka‘ōpua (2017). Other reading: Davis (2021).	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 12	Due for repair—Main reading: Luke and Heynen (2020); Scott (2021). Other reading: Beyers (2013); Draus et al. (2019); Gilbert and Williams (2020); Small and Minner (2024).	Seminar (2 hr)
Week 13	Making a home at the end of the world: Futures for progress—Main reading: Honig (2013); Honig (2015).	Seminar (2 hr)

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance: According to Faculty Board Resolutions, students in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences are expected to attend 90% of their classes. If you attend less than 50% of classes, regardless of the reasons, you may be referred to the Examiner’s Board. The Examiner’s Board will decide whether you should pass or fail the unit of study if your attendance falls below this threshold.
Lecture recording: Most lectures (in recording-equipped venues) will be recorded and may be made available to students on the LMS. However, you should not rely on lecture recording to substitute your classroom learning experience.
Preparation: Students should commit to spend approximately three hours’ preparation time (reading, studying, homework, essays, etc.) for every hour of scheduled instruction.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

Required and recommended readings

Beyers, Christiaan. 2013. “Urban Land Restitution and the Struggle for Social Citizenship in South Africa.” Development and Change 44 (4): 965–89. https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12041.

Bonilla, Yarimar, and Jonathan Rosa. 2015. “#Ferguson: Digital Protest, Hashtag Ethnography, and the Racial Politics of Social Media in the United States.” American Ethnologist 42 (1): 4–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/amet.12112.

Cattelino, Jessica. 2006. “Florida Seminole Housing and the Social Meanings of Sovereignty.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 48 (3): 699–726. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0010417506000272.

Chatterjee, Partha. 1998. “Community in the East.” Economic and Political Weekly 33 (6): 277–82. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4406377.

———. 2004. “Populations and Political Society.” In The Politics of the Governed: Reflections on Popular Politics in Most of the World, 27–51. New York: Columbia University Press.

———. 2011. “Lineages of Political Society.” In Lineages of Political Society: Studies in Postcolonial Democracy, 1–26. Columbia University Press.

———. 2012. “The Debate over Political Society.” In Re-Framing Democracy and Agency in India, edited by Ajay Gudavarthy, 305–22. London: Anthem Press. https://doi.org/10.7135/UPO9780857289469.015.

Cohn, Bernard S. 1987. “The census, social structure, and objectification in South Asia.” In An anthropologist among the historians and other essays, 224–54. Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Curley, Andrew, Pallavi Gupta, Lara Lookabaugh, Christopher Neubert, and Sara Smith. 2022. “Decolonisation Is a Political Project: Overcoming Impasses Between Indigenous Sovereignty and Abolition.” Antipode 54 (4): 1043–62. https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12830.

Davis, Sasha. 2021. “Beyond Obstruction: Blockades as Productive Reorientations.” Antipode 55 (5): 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12722.

Draus, Paul, Dagmar Haase, Jacob Napieralski, Juliette Roddy, and Salman Qureshi. 2019. “Wounds, Ghosts and Gardens: Historical Trauma and Green Reparations in Berlin and Detroit.” Cities 93 (October): 153–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2019.05.002.

Ekeh, Peter P. 1975. “Colonialism and the Two Publics in Africa: A Theoretical Statement.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 17 (1): 91–112. https://www.jstor.org/stable/178372.

Elyachar, Julia. 2010. “Phatic Labor, Infrastructure, and the Question of Empowerment in Cairo.” American Ethnologist 37 (3): 452–64. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1425.2010.01265.x.

Francis, Naomi, Becky Batagol, Allison P. Salinger, Litea Meo-Sewabu, Audra C. Bass, Sudirman Nasir, Daša Moschonas, et al. 2023. “Key Mechanisms of a Gender and Socially Inclusive Community Engagement and Participatory Design Approach in the RISE Program in Makassar, Indonesia and Suva, Fiji.” PLOS Water 2 (11): e0000186. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000186.

Fraser, Nancy. 1992. “Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy.” In Habermas and the Public Sphere, edited by Craig Calhoun, 109–42. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

Garba, Tapji, and Sara-Maria Sorentino. 2020. “Slavery Is a Metaphor: A Critical Commentary on Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang’s ‘Decolonization Is Not a Metaphor’.” Antipode 52 (3): 764–82. https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12615.

Gilbert, Jessica L., and Rebekah A. Williams. 2020. “Pathways to Reparations: Land and Healing Through Food Justice.” Human Geography 13 (3): 228–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/1942778620951936.

Goldberg-Hiller, Jonathan. 2019. “Is There a Right to Sleep?” Theory & Event 22 (4): 951–83. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/736569.

Goodyear-Ka‘ōpua, Noelani. 2017. “Protectors of the Future, Not Protestors of the Past: Indigenous Pacific Activism and Mauna a Wākea.” South Atlantic Quarterly 116 (1): 184–94. https://doi.org/10.1215/00382876-3749603.

Goodyear-Ka‘ōpua, Noelani, and Bryan Kamaoli Kuwada. 2018. “Making ’Aha: Independent Hawaiian Pasts, Presents & Futures.” Daedalus 147 (2): 49–59. https://doi.org/10.1162/DAED_a_00489.

Habermas, Jürgen. (1962) 1992. “The Public Sphere in the World of Letters in Relation to the Public Sphere in the Political Realm.” In The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry Into a Category of Bourgeois Society, edited by Thomas McCarthy, translated by Thomas Burger, 51–57. London: Polity Press.

Honig, Bonnie. 2013. “The Politics of Public Things: Neoliberalism and the Routine of Privatization.” No Foundations 10: 59–76. http://nofoundations.com/issues/NoFo10HONIG.pdf.

———. 2015. “Public Things: Jonathan Lear’s Radical Hope, Lars von Trier’s Melancholia, and the Democratic Need.” Political Research Quarterly 68 (3): 623–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912915594464.

Lemanski, Charlotte. 2020. “Infrastructural Citizenship: The Everyday Citizenships of Adapting and/or Destroying Public Infrastructure in Cape Town, South Africa.” Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 45 (3): 589–605. https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.12370.

Leonardo, Micaela Di. 2012. “Grown Folks Radio: U.S. Election Politics and a ‘Hidden’ Black Counterpublic.” American Ethnologist 39 (4): 661–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1425.2012.01386.x.

Luke, Nikki, and Nik Heynen. 2020. “Community Solar as Energy Reparations: Abolishing Petro-Racial Capitalism in New Orleans.” American Quarterly 72 (3): 603–25. https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/765825.

Mamdani, Mahmood. 2001. “Beyond Settler and Native as Political Identities: Overcoming the Political Legacy of Colonialism.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 43 (04): 651–64.

Marx, Karl. (1843) 1978. “On the Jewish question.” In The Marx-Engels reader, edited by Robert C. Tucker, 26–52. New York: Norton. http://archive.org/details/marxengelsreader00tuck.

Peiss, Kathy. 1991. “Going Public: Women in Nineteenth-Century Cultural History.” American Literary History 3 (4): 817–28. https://www.jstor.org/stable/489891.

Rooney, Michelle Nayahamui. 2021. “‘We Want Development’: Land and Water (Dis)connections in Port Moresby, Urban Papua New Guinea.” The Contemporary Pacific 33 (1): 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1353/cp.2021.0001.

Ryan, Mary. 1992. “Gender and Public Access: Women’s Politics in Nineteenth-Century America.” In Habermas and the Public Sphere, edited by Craig J. Calhoun, 259–88. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

Salinger, Allison P., Isabel Charles, Naomi Francis, Becky Batagol, Litea Meo-Sewabu, Sudirman Nasir, Audra Bass, et al. 2024. “‘People Are Now Working Together for a Common Good’: The Effect on Social Capital of Participatory Design for Community-Level Sanitation Infrastructure in Urban Informal Settlements.” World Development 174 (February): 106449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2023.106449.

Scott, Sydni. 2021. “Community Land Trusts: A Case for an Expansive View of Reparations for Black Americans.” N.Y.U. American Public Policy Review, June. https://doi.org/10.21428/4b58ebd1.0a4497f5.

Small, Zachary, and Jennifer S. Minner. 2024. “Do Land Banks Mean Progress Toward Socially Equitable Urban Development? Observations from New York State.” Urban Affairs Review 60 (1): 272–303. https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231169923.

Speer, Jessie. 2016. “The Right to Infrastructure: A Struggle for Sanitation in Fresno, California Homeless Encampments.” Urban Geography 37 (7): 1049–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2016.1142150.

———. 2017. “‘It’s Not Like Your Home’: Homeless Encampments, Housing Projects, and the Struggle over Domestic Space.” Antipode 49 (2): 517–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12275.

Tuck, Eve, and K Wayne Yang. 2012. “Decolonization Is Not a Metaphor.” Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society 1 (1): 1–40. https://clas.osu.edu/sites/clas.osu.edu/files/Tuck%20and%20Yang%202012%20Decolonization%20is%20not%20a%20metaphor.pdf.

Vidmar, Abby M., E. Christian Wells, Madeleine Zheng, Nora Awad, Sarah Combs, and Diana Diaz. 2023. “‘That’s What We Call “Aesthetics,” Not a Public Health Issue’: The Social Construction of Tap Water Mistrust in an Underbounded Community.” Human Organization 82 (4): 342–53. https://doi.org/10.17730/1938-3525-82.4.342.

Warner, Michael. 2002. “Publics and Counterpublics.” Public Culture 14 (1): 49–90.

Yeh, Rihan. 2012. “Two Publics in a Mexican Border City.” Cultural Anthropology 27 (4): 713–34. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23360323.

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

Outcomes
Graduate qualities

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

LO1. Understand the main issues and debates within the study of citizenship, civil society, and the public sphere.
LO2. Understand the difference between and be able to identify normative claims and empirical claims, and the respective roles of each as part of rigorous inquiry into a topic.
LO3. Be able to take a position on an open question, either normative or empirical, and to draw on several types of scholarly inquiry to develop an argument for one's position.
LO4. Be able to bridge divides among disciplinary paradigms and modes of inquiry to apply the results of empirical research to a critique of theory.
LO5. Understand and take a position on the role of normative inquiry and empirical research in the critique of dominant ideologies in the wider society

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1	Depth of disciplinary expertise Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.
GQ2	Critical thinking and problem solving Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.
GQ3	Oral and written communication Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.
GQ4	Information and digital literacy Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.
GQ5	Inventiveness Generating novel ideas and solutions.
GQ6	Cultural competence Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.
GQ7	Interdisciplinary effectiveness Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
GQ8	Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.
GQ9	Influence Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes	Graduate qualities
Learning outcomes

Responding to student feedback

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

This unit has been redesigned to address new topics as part of the Masters of Social Justice program.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.

Current students

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Support for students

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Required and recommended readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect

Current students

DVST6901: Development: Civil Society and Wellbeing

Semester 1, 2024 [Normal day] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Overview

Overview

Unit details and rules

Teaching staff

Assessment

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment criteria

Late submission

Academic integrity

Learning support

Learning support

Simple extensions

Special consideration

Using AI responsibly

Support for students

Weekly schedule

Weekly schedule

Attendance and class requirements

Study commitment

Required readings

Required and recommended readings

Learning outcomes

Learning outcomes

Graduate qualities

Outcome map

Responding to student feedback

Responding to student feedback

Disclaimer

On this page

Useful links

Media

Student links

About us

Connect