Course description
The MA in Globalisation and Governance is recognised as
suitable for receipt of ESRC funding.
This MA provides students with a comprehensive
postgraduate education in the study of globalisation and
governance. Students are able to study a range of taught
modules which provide a detailed understanding of the
nature and impact of globalisation upon the institutions and
processes of governance at every level from the local to the
global.
Among the topics covered by the degree are the politics of
globalisation; the theory and practice of governance; the
developmental state in transition; the governance of
economic performance; the political economy of
development and the environment; civilisation and terrorism
as ideological weapons; the causes and consequences of the
Asian financial crisis; the governance of international trade;
and the role of the International Monetary Fund,World Bank
and World Trade Organization in the governance of the
global economy. Particular attention will be paid to the
consequences for globalisation and governance of the
destruction of the World Trade Centre in New York.
Programme Structure
Core
Frameworks of Global Governance: Freedom, Democracy and the
New Imperialisms
This module provides an introduction to the key debates
surrounding the analytic and normative frameworks
underpinning contemporary governance and globalisation.
Particular emphasis will be placed on neo-liberalism, classical
analyses of imperialism and the new imperialist theories, as
well as to developing insights into these debates using the
hitherto largely separate debates within democratic theory.
The aims of this module are to familiarise students with some
of the key trends in the contemporary scholarship on
globalisation and governance, and to enable them to develop
the conceptual resources with which to judge the
implications for democracy of these two processes.
Globalisation and Governance in Practice
This module provides an introduction to the key debates
surrounding globalisation and governance in practice.
Particular attention is paid to the conceptions of governance
which underpin the policies and interventions of key actors in
the global polity and economy, using the orthodoxy of the
'Washington Consensus' as a framework for auditing the
conceptions of governance deployed by major institutions in
the public and private sectors. The aims of this module are
to familiarise students with some of the key perspectives on
governance which are shaping the contemporary world
economy.
15,000 word dissertation on a topic chosen by the student.
Students must take another 40 credits (usually 2 modules)
each semester from a list of optional module that includes at
present:
• Political Economy in Perspective
• Political Economy of Competitiveness
• Political Economy of Development and the
Environment
• Critics of Capitalism
• Terrorism, Civil Disobedience and Dissent
• The European Union: History,Theory and Institutions
• The European Union: National and International
Perspectives
• The International Politics of the Environment I & II
• Political Economy of the Internet
• The Digital Economy and the Network Society
• Political Economy of Southern Europe
• Democratic Governance in the European Union
• IR Theory I & II
• Political Theory of Multiculturalism
• Philosophy of the Social Sciences
• Hegel and Marx: Selected texts
• Discourses of Civilisation and Barbarism
Why Study Globalisation and Governance at Hull?
Students are taught by weekly seminars and in small groups.
This method of teaching ensures that each student is given
the maximum opportunity to develop his or her knowledge
of globalisation and governance. On completion of the taught
module component of the degree, students are given the
opportunity to research and write a 15000 word dissertation
on a topic of their choice in globalisation and governance.
Recent topics for dissertations have included the political
economy of structural adjustment: a case study of Argentina;
the political economy of globalisation; the political economy
of competition policy in the European Union’s single market;
the political economy of structural adjustment: a case study
of Jamaica; and the political economy of the third way. This
Master's degree is run by the Centre for Democratic
Governance.
Career Progression:Where are They Now?
Graduates from the degree's sister programme, the MA
Global Political Economy have gone on to pursue a variety
of careers in the public and private sectors, including
working for NGOs. Four graduates have stayed on at Hull to
study for PhDs in the political economy of US foreign
economic policy; the governance of financial markets; the
governance of world trade; and the political economy of the
third way. Other graduates have gone on to study for PhDs
at Rutgers, Leuven, Sheffield and Athens. Further career
paths have included management consultancy at
PriceWaterhouseCoopers; financial journalism with Dow
Jones Capital Markets; administrative work for a Londonbased
developmental NGO; and administrative work for the
Tanzanian government.
