Development Studies

Overview

There are three variations of the BA Honours in Development Studies. These include:  

• BA Honours in Development Studies
• BA Joint Honours in Development Studies and International Relations
• BA Joint Honours in Development Studies and Political Studies

The Development Studies Honours programme is comprised of coursework only with three compulsory courses and three electives.

Full-time vs. Part-time

• The full-time Honours programme is one year, with all six courses completed within that year.
• The part-time Honours programme is two years, with the six courses split between the period of two years.

Please note: All classes are during the day on weekdays. Part-time applicants must make provision for time away from the office and travel time.

Curriculum

BA Honours in Development Studies - Core Courses

SOSS 4034A: Research Essay (Semester 1)

The course examines the foundations of social research, its underlying assumptions, and methodologies, and will combine theoretical discussions with the practical application of research tools. The final product will be a complete research proposal, with some empirical components, that could be used to conduct research in other courses or for degree purposes.

POLS 4012A: Development Theories, Issues, Problems and Strategies (Semester 1)

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the major social, economic, and political, assumptions underpinning ‘development studies’, and, most importantly, to the strategies that might best be adopted to ‘promote’ or ‘manage’ development.

 CON 4038A: History of Economic Thought (Semester 2)

In this course we trace economic thought from the time of Aristotle to the present, discovering progression but also significant breaks and ruptures especially in the methodology of economics.

 SOCL 4009A: Development as Ideology and Practice (Semester 2)

In the first half of the course, critiques of mainstream development are scrutinised.  In the second half, we engage with different theories and critiques that have emerged about development as ideology and discourse. We do so by focusing on theories and practices of industrialisation and development in several regions of the world namely, Western Europe, Southern Africa, East Asia, China & Russia, and Latin America.

• Students must choose between POLS 4012A and SOCL 4009A as a third core course
• Students must select three electives from the list at the bottom of this section. 

BA Joint Honours in Development Studies and International Relations - Core Courses

POLS 4052A: Research Methods and Ethics in Political Studies (Semester 1)

POLS 4012A: Development Theories, Issues, Problems and Strategies (Semester 1)

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the major social, economic, and political, assumptions underpinning ‘development studies’, and, most importantly, to the strategies that might best be adopted to ‘promote’ or ‘manage’ development.

ECON 4038A: History of Economic Thought (Semester 2)

In this course we trace economic thought from the time of Aristotle to the present, discovering progression but also significant breaks and ruptures especially in the methodology of economics.

POLS 4026: Research Essay

• Students must select two electives from the list at the bottom of this section. 

BA Joint Honours in Development Studies and Political Studies - Core Courses

POLS 4052A: Research Methods and Ethics in Political Studies (Semester 1)

POLS 4012A: Development Theories, Issues, Problems and Strategies (Semester 1)

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the major social, economic, and political, assumptions underpinning ‘development studies’, and, most importantly, to the strategies that might best be adopted to ‘promote’ or ‘manage’ development.

ECON 4038A: History of Economic Thought (Semester 2)

In this course we trace economic thought from the time of Aristotle to the present, discovering progression but also significant breaks and ruptures especially in the methodology of economics.

POLS 4026: Research Essay

• Students must select two electives from the list below

Electives

HIST4001 Capitalism and the South African Countryside

In this course theories of rural development and comparative perspectives will be used to illuminate processes of rural transformation in South Africa. The course will highlight a range of themes including migrant labour, rural resistance, state intervention, forms of accumulation, labour regimes, land reform, gender, generation, stratification, chieftainship, local government and the role of markets.

INTR4044A The International Political Economy of Development

This unit focuses on the international political economy of development. It examines challenges posed to developing countries by the international system. Topics include multilateral institutions (IMF, World Bank, and WTO), development aid and debt relief, regional economic initiatives, and the interplay between world markets and domestic political institutions.

INTR4053A Empire and the Crisis of Civilization

This course explores the historical and contemporary understandings of ‘Empire’ in the social sciences. Drawing on critical theory this course will assess how Empire relates to territoriality, power, culture and economic accumulation. These dimensions of Empire will be located within a historicised perspective to provide a critical understanding of the relationship between Empire and contemporary capitalism.

POLS4012 Development Theories, Issues, Problems and Strategies

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the major social, economic, and political, assumptions underpinning ‘development studies’, and, most importantly, to the strategies that might best be adopted to ‘promote’ or ‘manage’ development. In this way, the ‘problem of development’ in three loosely defined and interconnected areas of social life—the market, the state, and the community— is placed into sharper relief. 

POLS4049 Political Thought: Freedom in the Decolonizing Republic

SOSS4022A Labour & Development

This course analyses the role of labour in the development process both historically and in the current epoch of globalisation. A focus is placed on labour and development in Southern Africa and the Global South.

SOCL4015A Environmental Sociology: The Political Economy of Nature And Development

The course will illuminate a number of global, regional, national and local environmental issues, through a political economy and sociological lens, drawing on a wide range of theorists. The rise of a global environmental social movement will be traced, including the environmental justice movements in South Africa and elsewhere. Students will be encouraged to address a particular environmental problem as part of their written contribution to the course. This course is also relevant to students of Geography, International Relations, Politics, Town and Regional Planning, and the Natural Sciences.

SOSS4034A / SOCL4028A Research Essay

The course examines the foundations of social research, its underlying assumptions and methodologies. It combines theoretical discussions with the practical application of research tools. 

ANTH4018 South African Ethnography

This course addresses the most significant authors, issues, debates, intellectual moments, and classic works in the discipline in this country. The idea is to expose students, as prospective anthropologists, to major works by some of our most successful and distinguished authors in the South African field. The course will take the form of a reading group.

ARPL4024 Politics, Governance and the City

Theories of urban regimes, urban governance, participation, social movements and political mobilization will be presented and their relevance for cities of the South debated through different case studies. The course includes a project based on field work in a local neighbourhood in Johannesburg. 

ECON4038A History of Economic Thought

In this course we trace economic thought from the time of Aristotle to the present, discovering progression but also significant breaks and ruptures especially in the methodology of economics.

INTR4005A African Human Security in an International Context

The course explores the structures, institutions and substantive issues related to Human Security, particularly in Africa.

INTR4031 African Conflict

The course unit will offer important insights into new forms of multilateral conflict prevention, which includes human rights protection and political compromise within states.

A case study approach will be adopted to deal in greater depth with conflicts in Somalia, Rwanda, the Congo and West Africa. The role of the regional, sub-regional and non-state actors, recent changes in the UN and AU's conflict prevention and resolution mechanisms, and the current capabilities and potential for sub-regional security mechanisms in the SADC and ECOWAS will be assessed and compared. 

POLS4033 The State in Africa: Democratisation and Crisis

This course takes as its starting point debates about the genesis and the development of the African state.

This unit will explore the tensions which exist between those views of the state in Africa that perceive it to be inherently authoritarian and moreover disengaged from society and those arguments which support the adoption by African countries of liberal democratic constitutions derived from advanced industrial societies.

SOCL4030A Social Transition

Social Transitions is an intensive critical theory seminar. The first half of the course lays a foundation from which to think about ‘Theory’. During this time we explore four questions: Whose theory is Sociological Theory? Where is ‘the sociological imagination’ located? What is the ‘dark side’ of this imagination? Which other sociological imaginations are available to us as scholars? The second half of the course explores these relationships between theory and power through the lens of theories about 'race' in modernity.

SOCL4009A Development as Ideology and Practice

This course examines different ways in which “development” has been theorised and attempted to be attained in practice. The first half examines critiques of mainstream development. The second half engages with different theories and critiques that have emerged about development as ideology and discourse. We do so by focusing on theories and practices of industrialisation and development in several regions of the world namely, Western Europe, Southern Africa, East Asia, China & Russia and Latin America.

SOCL4029A Feminist Theory

Feminist Theory shall introduce students to key and cutting edge debates in Women's and Gender Studies and Feminist Theory and Politics today particularly from a postcolonial perspective, such as transnational feminism, governance feminism, African and Islamic feminism, to name but a few. It shall equally interrogate key concepts like Ethics, Politics and subjectivity from a feminist perspective.

SOSS4051A HIV/AIDS, Sexual and Reproductive Health in Social Context

This course adopts a multi-disciplinary approach in exploring the social and historical context relevant to HIV/AIDS as a global pandemic. The aim of the course is to equip you with the skills and the insights to better understand the complexity of the epidemic in order to be able to make a meaningful contribution to the efforts to combat its devastating effects.

HIST4013 The Making of Urban South Africa

The course explores the social, political and economic history of urbanisation in South Africa from the late 19th to the late 20th centuries. Its central focus is the Witwatersrand, but it also examines parallel and especially divergent processes in Cape Town, Durban, East London, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria.

Entry Requirements

Honours:

• A bachelors degree or equivalent with 68% course mark aggregate in a third-year major.
• At least an upper second class pass in the final undergraduate course in the subject.

Supporting documents required with your application (International & Non-Wits Applicants)

• CV
• Social Sciences background is an advantage
• Work or Volunteer experience in the Development field an added advantage
• Certified copies of your ACADEMIC RECORD /STATEMENT OF RESULTS
• Certified copy of Certificate of Evaluation from the South African Qualifications Authority (If one's qualifications are outside South Africa). Details of how to apply for the certificate may be found on their website at www.saqa.org.za 
• Letter of Motivation as to why you wish to pursue this line of study
• In terms of the University rules, an applicant who has not used English in his/her academic education up to this point will be required to supply proof of proficiency in English at the time of application. A British Council test is recommended and they can be contacted at (011) 718 4300 or email IELTS@britishcouncil.org.za.

Supporting documents required with your application (Wits Applicants):

• CV
• Letter of Motivation as to why you wish to pursue this line of study
• Sample of Work (may be a marked essay or a chapter from previous research conducted, etc.)

University Application Process

University Fees and Funding

Click here to see the current average tuition fees. The Fees site also provides information about the payment of fees and closing dates for fees payments. Once you have applied you will be able to access the fees estimator on the student self-service portal.

For information about postgraduate funding opportunities, including the postgraduate merit award, click here. Please also check your School website for bursary opportunities. NRF bursaries: The National Research Foundation (NRF) offers a wide range of opportunities in terms of bursaries and fellowships to students pursuing postgraduate studies. External bursaries portal: The Bursaries South Africa website provides a comprehensive list of bursaries in South Africa.