Global Poverty, Local Solutions B (15 EC)

Examine what it means for different social groups to experience poverty and what communities, organizations and states do to combat it.

Global poverty remains the most pressing social problem of our time. This minor provides students with tools to develop their concern for global poverty by introducing concepts, theories, trends and illuminating case studies on poverty and poverty-reduction interventions. This minor is coordinated by the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS; part of Erasmus University Rotterdam), the leading centre for the study of international development and taught at the Woudestein campus, with occasional activities in The Hague campus.

This minor introduces students from all academic backgrounds to the analysis of global poverty. It helps students develop their interest for global affairs and social change by guiding them into discovering how contemporary social sciences are applied to the study of global poverty.

The first module of this minor course introduces to the lived experiences of households and social groups affected by poverty and inequality and focuses on diverse forms of poverty (e.g. child poverty, rural poverty, housing poverty) and their intersection with other societal crises (famine, war, urbanization, disasters, forced migration). The second module of this course guides students through a critical assessment of poverty reduction interventions at local and national level. We first discuss the solutions designed by communities, civil society organizations and NGOs to tackle poverty and provide support to groups affected by social exclusion and then we examine the historical evolution of institutional and state interventions to reduce poverty - ranging from adjustment to foreign aid, to cash-transfers and microfinance - to develop informed and practical perspectives on dealing with multidimensional poverty, inequality and social exclusion.

Students will be able to:
• understand how poverty and inequality are experienced in concrete spatial and historical contexts;
• develop insights into how specific groups are affected by exclusion and deprivation (children; dwellers of informal settlements; peasants; single-headed households, informal workers).
• develop an understanding of how poverty reduction interventions are designed, of their impact and limitations and a sense of how eradicating poverty can work national and local scales.
• identify grass-root strategies, policy interventions and innovative responses aimed at eliminating poverty based on principles of gender justice and social and economic justice.
• recognise the theories of change underpinning poverty reduction interventions at grassroots and national level and apply this understanding to other domains of social transformation

No prior knowledge of economics is required. Sessions are in person, predominantly in Woudestein but with some sessions at the ISS in the Hague.

It's also possible to follow the 30 EC programme of this minor.

Teaching methods
This minor is taught through a series of two-hour lectures, weekly workshops and small group tutorials. There will also be movies, group presentations, and visits to organizations working in the field of international development.

Teaching materials
Students will be expected to read two articles before each lecture. An additional optional reading list will also be provided. All reading material will be made available online. In addition to academic articles, there will be media notes, movies, and role playing games.

Method of examination & Composition final grade
Invigilated exam (40%), final essay (50%), group presentation (10%)