On this degree students will explore some of the world’s most pressing development challenges, from poverty and inequality, to migration, conflict and climate change.

In an increasingly globalised world, these problems are growing in complexity and significance. The Sustainable Development Goals aim to tackle these challenges by 2030, but this will require global effort, co-ordination and vision. 

On the International Development and Politics degree, students will apply a political lens to understanding and addressing the challenges of global development and learn how development is affected by politics at all levels, from the political economy of international assistance, to domestic politics and local power dynamics. Students will explore the implications of politics for poverty, conflict and inequality through a range of case studies and practical exercises.

This course combines a thorough grounding in the theory and practice of international development with core disciplinary training in politics, power and political economy. Students will examine contested debates on democracy and development, the role of patronage in development, and the politics of social exclusion. Students will apply political theories to a variety of examples of development and change from across the world, and critically examine different forms of development assistance.