Peace, Resilience and Social Justice MA

The modules for this course can be found in the latest programme specification.

Semester 1 Module Title Core/Option/Elective Credits Studying Peace in a Changing World Core 20 Social-Ecological Resilience: Discourses and Practices Core 20 Elective (choice of a range of relevant options within or outside of PSID) Elective 20

In your first semester, you will be studying two core modules that introduce key concepts and approaches to the intersecting challenges of Peace, Resilience and Social Justice.

Studying Peace in a Changing World introduces you to the field of Peace Studies and explores its relevance to the contemporary period using case studies from around the world and at a number of scales from the local to the global. You will examine core concepts in the study of peaceful and unpeaceful relations and use them to critically analyse situations of conflict, injustice and violence. We will explore and evaluate a range of practices of peace-making and peace-building in the world today and analyse the practical and symbolic use of peace discourses within the context of political, economic and ecological crises.

Social-Ecological Resilience: Discourses and Practices: 'Resilience' has become a buzzword among academics, policy-makers and practitioners trying to understand and work within complex social-ecological systems. Located at the intersections between different disciplines in the natural and social sciences, and between theory and practice, 'resilience' has stimulated critical debate, ongoing conceptual development, and practical experimentation.

This module introduces you to this body of theory and practice and offers you the opportunity to explore how ideas and practices of resilience, adaptation, and transformation might inform attempts to grapple with some of the key challenges we face in a context in which 'business as usual' becomes increasingly unsustainable: Which aspects of current social-ecological systems can and should we try to sustain? What adaptations might be needed along the way? When might transformation be a more desirable and more viable option? Where do issues of power, equity and justice fit in?

This module also gives you the chance to tackle these questions with reference to a real-world context, developing skills in applied research, analysis and design.

In addition, you will be able to choose an elective module from across the University’s provision, giving you plenty of scope to develop and pursue your own interests.

Semester 2 Module Title Core/Option/Elective Credits Movements for Social and Ecological Justice Core 20 Natural Resource Governance Option 20 Sustainable Cities Option 20 Skills for Constructive Conflict Engagement Option 20 Creative Conflict Transformation Option 20 Gender, Conflict and Development Option 20 Assessing Development Needs and Outcomes Option 20 Issues in Development Practice Option 20 Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding Option 20 Africa Study Visit Option 20

In your second semester, you will take part in one core module and two optional modules.

Movements for Social and Ecological Justice examines the role of social movements in defining, challenging and transforming injustice in a variety of socio-cultural, political and economic domains. A particular emphasis will be on how contemporary movements are tackling the intersections between these domains in a period of ecological crises: What does social justice mean in a context in which economic growth has become deeply problematic and thus can no longer be considered a sustainable route to addressing shortfalls in provision for human needs? How are social and environmental justice issues being framed in contemporary movements for change? What is the potential of ideas and initiatives that are trying to tackle social and ecological issues simultaneously, and what might be the trade-offs involved?

Semester 3

In semester 3, the 15,000 word dissertation is a chance to pursue and develop your interests by designing and carrying out your own research project. A member of academic staff will supervise and support you in choosing a topic, devising an appropriate methodological approach and structuring your work.

Module Title Core/Option/Elective Credits Dissertation Core 60 Elective (Semester 1)

Alongside your core modules in semester 1, you will have the opportunity to choose any module offered within or outside Peace Studies and International Development as your elective. Within PSID, relevant modules include the following: African Politics and Security Dynamics, Applied Conflict Research, Designing and Assessing Conflict Intervention Processes, Contemporary Security Challenges, Governance for Development, Issues in Development Theory, Sustainable Development, The International System in Theory and Context, and Security and Development in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Areas.

Options (Semester 2)

Africa Study Visit: The centrepiece of this module is an intensive two-week study visit in an African country, consisting of a schedule of meetings, interviews, lectures and seminars. You will gain theoretical and historical knowledge of African politics and security, with specific reference to the country you will visit.

Once in the country, you will use your historical and theoretical knowledge in what are effectively interview settings to formulate and ask questions of key players, supported by the academic leader. This is in many ways a preparation for PhD or work-based fieldwork, research and writing. You will visit important sites and institutions, and meet with state and local government ministers, politicians, civil servants, members of the security forces, national and international NGO staff and activists, the media, academics and other students. The amalgamation of theory, knowledge and primary research makes this module one amongst the very few of its kind.

Please note that there is an additional cost for participation in this module.

Assessing Development Needs and Outcomes: Debates on whether spending on aid is 'effective' or constitutes "value for money" and how we should measure the results of development programmes and projects have become particularly intense and central to aid policy in the past decade. Similarly, methods for assessing needs, monitoring and reviewing progress in implementation, and evaluating outcomes This module examines some of the most important ways in which the national and international development institutions and the 'aid industry' measures needs, progress and outcomes and the implications of this for policy and programming. You will learn to use different approaches for assessing needs and measuring results, and you will develop a critical awareness of the limitations and uses of different techniques and approaches.

Creative Conflict Transformation explores some intriguing questions posed by John Paul Lederach in his book 'The Moral Imagination': 'What happens to peacebuilding practice if we shift from a guiding metaphor that we are providing professional services to one that we are engaged in a vocation to nurture constructive social change? What happens to process design if we think of ourselves as artists [as well as] professional specialists with technical expertise? What happens if building intuition and art are included in conflict resolution, mediation, and peacebuilding training?'

This module invites you to explore some of these questions, and to look beyond the most familiar peacemaking processes to include the arts (e.g. music, applied theatre, literature), memory work, and critical/peace education. It starts from the assumption that much work to address conflict and its legacies requires a capacity to both envision and act for change.

How might we cultivate this capacity in ourselves and others? While this module can and should not provide final answers, it will draw inspiration from existing experiences and experiments and encourage you to reflect both creatively and critically on how they might help you shape your own approach to conflict engagement.

Gender, Conflict and Development: Gender matters in understanding the social roots of violent conflict, how that violence is conducted, and how societies recover. Gender relations and identities are, arguably, the deepest rooted and most personal that we experience, and therefore understanding violent conflict requires a gender analysis (which also intersects with culture, religion, ethnicity, class and other variables). This Level 7 module explores the linkages between gender roles (masculinities and femininities constructed through identity, ideology, behaviours, attitudes, cultural practices) in different societies at different times have contributed to either the breakdown of social relations into violent conflict, or the construction of stable and peaceful societies. We look at the impact of conflict factors on men as well as women in order to move from a ‘women in conflict/development’ lens to ‘gender and conflict/development’ perspective. Gender analysis implies looking not just the differentiated, gendered experiences of men and of women, but also at the way gender as an idea of masculine/feminine values is deployed discursively and strategically in the roots, conduct and resolution of violent conflict, and in post-conflict development policy.

Issues in Development Practice critically analyses development practice in different locales and contexts. You will gain knowledge of different policy paradigms and an understanding of the challenges to delivering development effectively. You will be exposed to different conceptions of development and the range of policy responses pursued by international development agencies, public and civil society institutions. The module applies a multidimensional understanding of poverty to the design and management of development interventions and critically analyses current practices, including use of conflict sensitivity methods and principles.

Natural Resource Governance will enable you to gain an advanced knowledge and understanding of the key concepts, theories, characteristics, challenges, and strategies and programmes for reform of natural resource governance in developing countries, and particularly in fragile or conflict-affected contexts. This module also introduces professional guidelines and methods and their application to help ensure conflict sensitivity, gender sensitivity or consistency with wider sustainable development goals.

The module examines issues and challenges for natural resources governance, generically and through a wide range of experiences and case studies from across the world. It focuses systematically on different sectors, particularly on: land; water, forests, river basins, fisheries, seas and mineral resources (including oil, gas, gems and metals); and on their relationship with governance, conflict risks and processes, state fragility and societal resilience and gender relations. The module examines the roles of state regulation, community initiatives and governance; and international aid, trade, or environmental agreements.

Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding focuses on countries of the Global South which have experienced conflict. You will explore the changes that have taken place in peacekeeping on the ground, and analyse the different evaluations that have been made by academics, practitioners, campaigners and politicians. You will interrogate the concept of peacebuilding and analyse the ways in which its varying objectives have been addressed by different actors over time in different parts of the Global South. You will explore these themes in the context of country case studies. You will undertake research, using both academic sources and accounts from international organisations, ranging from the United Nations to international Non-Governmental Organisations.

Skills for Constructive Conflict Engagement provides opportunities to develop and demonstrate competence in core skills and qualities needed in peace and humanitarian work. Building on the modules Applied Conflict Research and Designing and Assessing Conflict Intervention Processes, it continues to develop insight into conflict situations and intervention processes, but with a focus on the direct practice of negotiation, facilitation and mediation in different conflict situations. The module will combine training methodologies with critical insight into the application and limits of peacemaking skills, developing a basis for informed, reflective practice.

Sustainable Cities will help you to develop an advanced understanding of the concepts, ideas, approaches, policies, challenges and limitations of sustainable cities. This module will look at a range of challenges facing contemporary cities, including the following: the urban millennium and understanding the nature of cities, urban economy and its spatial and social manifestations; city growth, productivity, prosperity and poverty that includes ‘engines of growth’ and ‘dark satanic mills’; ecological footprint and the basis of sustainable cities and implications for SDG11; strategic and city-wide challenges; sector based approaches including transport, energy, water, pollution and waste management; smart cities, big data and digital innovations; urban governance; the new urban ecologies and citizen centred approaches, health issues and healthy cities; urban violence; gendered nature of urban systems and issues for inclusive cities; urban space as a means of liberties; cities, speculation and money-laundering issues.