Europäische und globale Studien: Theories of Development

Dozent/in:

Bujar Aruqaj

Angaben:

Seminar, 2 SWS, ECTS: 6

Termine:

Mo, 12:00 - 14:00, F21/03.02

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

Please register for the course via the Virtual Campus until April 13, 2023. All registered students will receive information about this course via the VC.
https://vc.uni-bamberg.de/course/view.php?id=60844

Inhalt:

The question of how to achieve progressive and desirable change in society, is one which has preoccupied social science disciplines broadly, and the field of development economics more particularly. Depending on the theory, different explanations for the process of development and its uneven state between countries and regions are given. While modernization theory presupposes a path from a more traditional to a more economically affluent society given the necessary conducive conditions, the most important one being industrialization; structuralism, on the other hand, looks at the structural aspects which impede infant industries from competing in the global market with more advanced industries. Dependency theory goes one step further in invoking the notion that resources flow from the periphery of poor and underdeveloped states to a core of wealthy countries, which leads to accumulation of wealth in the rich states and the dependency of the poor states on them. While Keynesian macroeconomic theory stresses the importance of government intervention in the national economy, neoclassical approaches are in favor of the free market, and against government intervention in those markets. Altogether, they represent early precursors of development theory.

More recent and critical approaches question the notion of development altogether and point to the importance of sustainable development to prevent compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. So-called human-centered approaches , such as the human development theory draw on a variety of schools (i.e., feminism, ecology and welfare economics) and focus a great deal on human capabilities which are defined as the things people can do and be. The course will look at all these and some other theories from a historic-chronologic lens to illustrate the way we have come to view development today. Furthermore, in this class we will discuss also the practical implications of these theories in the field of international development through looking at specific cases.

Soziologie der Europäischen Union und der europäischen Integration: Social Cohesion in European Societies

Dozent/in:

Bujar Aruqaj

Angaben:

Seminar, 2 SWS, ECTS: 5, Studium Generale

Termine:

Mo, 10:00 - 12:00, F21/02.18

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

Please register for the course via the Virtual Campus until April 13, 2023. All registered students will receive information about this course via the VC.
https://vc.uni-bamberg.de/course/view.php?id=60845

Inhalt:

Our context and time are posing many challenges to European societies today: increasing diversity as a result of immigration to Europe over the past decades; the widening income gap between rich and poor; the current rise of right-leaning political movements, and fears of the political disintegration of the EU have alarmed academics, policymakers, as well as the wider public. For many, such trends have created the perception that the very “social fabric” of societies is being threatened. But what is social cohesion precisely and how can we assess it? What is the “social glue” that makes society act “as one” and embodies a more “holistic” societal cooperation?

The course will offer insight into the conceptual as well as the empirical aspects pertaining to social cohesion. We will begin by reviewing classical writings in the topic by authors such as Durkheim on mechanical and organic solidarity, Lockwood on social and system integration, up to very recent studies done on social cohesion. The other parts of the course (I, II & III) will look deeper into empirical research done on cohesion. Here, we will address more concise questions, such as: What are the constitutive components of social cohesion? How to assess/measure cohesion? What makes some societies more cohesive than others? What does the condition of subnational groups such as ethnic minorities and migrants within a society reveal about the overall cohesiveness of a society? What policies can foster cohesion? What erodes cohesion?

Soziologie sozialer Konflikte: Theories of Development

Dozent/in:

Bujar Aruqaj

Angaben:

Seminar/Hauptseminar

Termine:

Mo, 12:00 - 14:00, F21/03.02

Voraussetzungen / Organisatorisches:

Please register for the course via the Virtual Campus until April 13, 2023. All registered students will receive information about this course via the VC.
https://vc.uni-bamberg.de/course/view.php?id=60844

Inhalt:

The question of how to achieve progressive and desirable change in society, is one which has preoccupied social science disciplines broadly, and the field of development economics more particularly. Depending on the theory, different explanations for the process of development and its uneven state between countries and regions are given. While modernization theory presupposes a path from a more traditional to a more economically affluent society given the necessary conducive conditions, the most important one being industrialization; structuralism, on the other hand, looks at the structural aspects which impede infant industries from competing in the global market with more advanced industries. Dependency theory goes one step further in invoking the notion that resources flow from the periphery of poor and underdeveloped states to a core of wealthy countries, which leads to accumulation of wealth in the rich states and the dependency of the poor states on them. While Keynesian macroeconomic theory stresses the importance of government intervention in the national economy, neoclassical approaches are in favor of the free market, and against government intervention in those markets. Altogether, they represent early precursors of development theory.

More recent and critical approaches question the notion of development altogether and point to the importance of sustainable development to prevent compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. So-called human-centered approaches , such as the human development theory draw on a variety of schools (i.e., feminism, ecology and welfare economics) and focus a great deal on human capabilities which are defined as the things people can do and be. The course will look at all these and some other theories from a historic-chronologic lens to illustrate the way we have come to view development today. Furthermore, in this class we will discuss also the practical implications of these theories in the field of international development through looking at specific cases.