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Knowledge, Power and Resistance (822L6)

30 credits, Level 7 (Masters)

Spring teaching

On this module, you’ll explore the ways power and knowledge interact within development and economic change.

You’ll cover the concepts and theories of discourse, power and resistance. You’ll also address the history and cultural aspects of development, modernity and tradition, linking these to different forms of knowledge.

You’ll learn that development debates are not only produced by the developers and ‘developees’, but also by those studying them. They are also tied with relations of power.

You’ll cover:

• the theory and framework of ideology, hegemony and discourse
• the work of Gramsci and Foucault
• the impact of these ideas in development and discourse theory
• resistance and what it means for development practice
• developmental knowledge, ‘women in development’, and opposition by activists and academics
• the environment and the role of anthropologists in relation to ‘indigenous knowledge’
• power and culture in relation to modernity
• bureaucracies, governance, and neoliberal ideas of freedom, power and knowledge in forming policy and structures
• Foucault’s work and how it shapes anthropology in the production of the self 
• how different forms of knowledge, power, and culture are shaped by colonial and post-colonial intervention and development 
• the ways that local people imagine and represent development and modernity
• the benefits of an ‘actor network’ approach to development and how it might take us beyond a focus on ‘discourse’. 

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 33 hours of contact time and about 267 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2025/26. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.