ELEMENTS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY

This course aims at helping students to understand the relationship between politics and economics on the one hand; and between society, economy and political power on the other. It focuses on the phenomena of development, underdevelopment and poverty, with emphasis on Africa. It will introduce students to the political economy analysis of development problems, with the view of enabling them to find solutions, where possible. The course will help students to understand the different concepts as well as examine different ways in which internal and external factors influence development and/or underdevelopment. The various schools of thought that have attempted to explain the linkages between social development, economy, and power relations will be examined.