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Semester 1

Economic and Political Geography (GEGR08003)

Subject

Geography

College

SCE

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

2

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Course Summary

This course is designed to provide a general introduction to the fields of economic and political geography and to explore some of the important intersections between political and economic systems.

Course Description

The course introduces key economic and political factors and shows how they have worked and combined differently in various systems, such as feudalism, colonialism and mercantilism. It explores the development of capitalism and the nation-state, and it explores the relationships between industrialisation, imperialism and the emergence of a world economy, with a particular focus on changing geographies of labour. It also focuses on the rise and fall of communism in several societies. There is also an emphasis on recent economic and political ideologies such as neoliberalism, as well as current issues including global consumption, waste, debt and financial crisis. Towards the end of the course we explore some alternatives to the current political-economic systems, and focus on struggles for equality, democracy and decolonization.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0%

Additional Assessment Information

The coursework comprises 35% contemporary issue analysis (1500 words)65% degree essay (2500 words)For the contemporary issue analysis, students will required to select one major contemporary issue that has been reported across multiple media outlets and write a 1500 word essay on that issue that connects to one or more of the themes covered in the course. The emphasis will be on analysis: students will be encouraged to move away from describing the contemporary issue to analysing it with reference to literatures across the broad fields of economic and political geography. For the degree essay assessment, students will be required to choose one question from a list printed in the Course Handbook, and be required to write a 2500 word essay that is guided by the literature on the chosen topic. Students are required to pass both the contemporary issue analysis and the essay assessment in order to pass the course.Assessment deadlines:Contemporary Issue Analysis - Week 7 Degree Essay - Week 11

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