Political & Development

Geographies
Geography
FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT

GEOG2020
20 credits

MODULE HANDBOOK
2018-2019
Political & Development
Geographies
GEOG2020
MODULE HANDBOOK
2018-2019
CONTENTS
Module Information.................................................................................................................3
Module Description..............................................................................................................3
Module Objectives …………………………………………………………………………………3
Links with other modules.....................................................................................................3
Module Teaching Team........................................................................................................4
On line information...............................................................................................................4
Assessment(s) & Dates.......................................................................................................4
Assessment Return Date to students...................................................................................4
Re-sit Requirements............................................................................................................4
Detailed Lecture Timetable 2018-19.......................................................................................5
Coursework Information.......................................................................................................... 7
Coursework Format............................................................................................................. 7
Coursework Submission......................................................................................................7
Minerva (VLE) Submissions.................................................................................................7
Coursework Extension Requests.........................................................................................7
Word Count Penalties.......................................................................................................... 7
Referencing........................................................................................................................ 8
Academic Integrity …………………………………………………………………………………8
Reading Materials ………………………………………………………………………………….8
Future Career Skills................................................................................................................ 9
Appendix One - Coursework Coversheet..............................................................................10

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 Module Information
Module Description
This module explores geographical perspectives on politics and development as a means of
understanding the shaping of the world we inhabit. The foundations of current political
systems are considered through an exploration of modernity, state-making and imperialism,
posing questions about the ways in which these concepts/ activities have contributed to the
current state of the world. The module then explores the perspectives of both classical
geopolitics and more recent developments in critical geopolitics in its exploration of the
construction of power at the global scale and the contemporary contest over power (both
political and economic) between leading states and state groupings: USA, Russia, China and
the European Union. The second half of the module highlights alternatives to conventional
constructions of state power and the potential for resistance to political and economic elites
and the market-led, neo-liberal orthodoxy which they sustain, and which sustains them. To
this end case study material will be discussed from Asia and the Middle East.

Further details of the module, including the full module description, learning outcomes, and
reading list can be found on the module catalogue. Please click on the link below:
http://webprod3.leeds.ac.uk/catalogue/modulesearch.asp?Y=201819&T=S&L=UG

Module Objectives
On completion of this module you should have acquired:

1. an understanding of key aspects of modern political geographies;

2. knowledge of the processes underpinning change in political and international

development structures;

3. an appreciation of the importance of space and place in the constitution of power,

institutions and global flows;

4. an understanding of global, national and local political and socio-economic inequalities

and those struggling for alternative visions of politics and development;

5. skills in identifying literature and other information sources, and knowledge of selected
techniques of information retrieval, analysis and presentation in written formats.

Links with other modules

This module builds on material and ideas presented in level 1 modules GEOG1021/1031
Local to the Global and GEOG1310/1315 People, Place and Politics. You will find points of
intersection with a number of other level 2 modules, notably GEOG2055 Citizenship and
Identity, GEOG2060 Living Within Limits and GEOG2035 Geographies of Economies. The
module feeds into several level 3 modules, currently including GEOG3981 Spaces of
Migration and Encounter, GEOG3085 Contested Cities, GEOG3121 Alternative Urban
Futures and GEOG3290 Geographies of Global Insecurities.

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Module Teaching Team

The module leader is Martin Purvis. Please see table below for the contact information of
each member of the module team:

Martin Purvis Geography Manton m.c.purvis@leeds.ac.uk Open door

Room 10.108

Paul Routledge Geography Manton p.routledge@leeds.ac.uk See personal

Room 10.137 webpage
Nichola Wood
Geography Manton n.x.wood@leeds.ac.uk See personal
Room 10.110 webpage

Please email with any questions, and feel free to ask any member of the teaching team for
help or clarification after the lectures or during their office hours.

On line information
All teaching materials and resources are accessed through Minerva (the new portal and
VLE). This may include PowerPoint slides, hand outs, web links to reading lists, audio or
video recordings of lectures, excerpts from external audio or video sources, discussion
forums etc.

All past exams for modules are available online in the Examinations Section of the
Examinations and Assessment area on the website.

Assessment(s) & Dates

Assessment for this module takes the form of:

TYPE DESCRIPTION WEIGHTING DUE DATE

Individual Report A 2000 word 60% Week 13 Monday 21
[further details document exploring January 2019
provided mid- important aspects of
semester 1] geopolitical and geo-
economic power in the
contemporary world.
Exam A 1 hr 15 min exam 40% May exam period
focusing on material
explored in Semester
2

NB The deadline for submitting work is 2pm on the day of the deadline, unless otherwise
stated.

Assessment Return Date to students

As stated in the Code of Practice on Assessment, coursework will normally be returned in no
more than 15 working days. We will endeavour to avoid delays but will inform you if any
should arise.

Re-sit Requirements
If you fail this module, you can register to re-sit the failed components at the next available
opportunity. The format of the re-sit will be the same as the original assessment.

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 Detailed Lecture Timetable 2018-19
MP: Martin Purvis
NW: Nichola Wood
PR: Paul Routledge

SEMESTER ONE

WEEK LECTURE SEMINAR

1 Critical geographical perspectives on No seminar in week 1
politics and development [MP]
BLOCK I States and the state of the world
2 Modernity and politics [MP] Introduction to political
& development
geographies
3 The evolution of the state [MP] Exploration of wk 2
lecture topic
4 Imperialism & colonialism [MP] Exploration of wk 3
lecture topic
5 American empire – political and Exploration of wk 4
economic [MP] lecture topic
6 READING WEEK – NO LECTURES/SEMINARS
7 Russia and the West – a state of mutual Exploration of wk 5
incomprehension? [MP] lecture topic
8 China – a new superpower? [MP] Exploration of wk 7
lecture topic
9 European political geographies – Exploration of wk 8
yesterday’s ideals [MP] lecture topic
10 European political geographies – Exploration of wk 9
tomorrow’s uncertainties [MP] lecture topic
11 Conclusion – locating power in the Exploration of wk 10
contemporary world [MP] lecture topic
VACATION
13 ASSESSMENT #1 INDIVIDUAL REPORT

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SEMESTER TWO

WEEK LECTURE SEMINAR

BLOCK II Challenging states and state power: resistance and
alternatives
14 Framing alternatives and resistance No seminar in week 14
[NW]
15 Feminist, post-colonial and post- Exploration of wk 14
communist geopolitics [NW] lecture topic
16 New nationalisms [NW] Exploration of wk 15
lecture topic
17 Post-nationalism [NW] Exploration of wk 16
lecture topic
18 Populism [NW] Exploration of wk 17
lecture topic
19 READING WEEK – NO LECTURES/SEMINARS
20 Place, Politics and Power [PR] Exploration of wk 18
lecture topic
21 “We will drown but we will not move” – Exploration of wk 20
anti-dam resistance in India [PR] lecture topic
22 “Our resistance will be as Exploration of wk 21
transnational as capital” – alter- lecture topic
globalisation resistance [PR]
23 Logics of Aggregation – the Arab Exploration of wk 22
Spring [PR] lecture topic
24 Conclusion – “Fight the Power!” [PR] Exploration of wk 23
lecture topic
May/June ASSESSMENT #2 EXAM

Please refer to the timetable on Minerva (the new portal and VLE) for the most up to
date version of your timetable, or download the UniLeeds App. For directions to the
location of your lectures, as well as a map of the university, please click on the links to
the rooms on the online timetable. Alternatively, you can access the timetable for
each module on the timetable website, or the University’s Campusmap.

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Coursework Format
All coursework should be submitted using the template front cover sheet at the back of this
handbook. You should not put your name on your coursework so that it can be marked
anonymously, however, you should put your ID number in the header in the top right hand
corner of every page after the title page, and the module number in the top left hand corner
of every page after the title page.

Coursework Submission – deadlines and penalties

All coursework should be submitted electronically through turnitin by the 2pm on the day of
the deadline. Each assignment will have its own electronic submission pigeonhole in which
you can upload your work.

It is your responsibility to make sure you are aware of the deadline for each piece of work.
Late submission will lead to the imposition of the normal University penalties; 5 marks are
deducted for a submission that is made after the 2pm deadline on day one, and any time
until 2pm on day 2. Thereafter a further 5 marks are lost for each subsequent period of 24
hours, or part thereof. Any coursework submitted 14 or more days late will receive a mark of
zero.

Minerva (VLE) Submissions

The time on the turnitin receipt for coursework submitted electronically is definitive in terms of
monitoring late submissions. It is your responsibility to make sure that you have allowed
enough time to submit your work and that you have a receipt. If your receipt does not appear
in your inbox straightaway you can go back to the submission area and request a receipt in
order to have confirmation that you have submitted your work successfully.

Coursework Extension Requests

Extensions are only granted in cases where you have experienced serious difficulty which
has prevented the completion of work within the normal time period. This may be due to
illness, bereavement, family problems or similar. Extensions are not granted for minor or
short term problems, including IT issues.

Should you have any difficulties which lead to you request an extension to your coursework
deadline, or prevent you from attending an examination please contact your Student Support
Officer; Claire Gorner as early as possible before the day of the deadline or examination in
the first instance. Claire works in the GEOG School Student Education Service Office, and
her email address is geo-studentsupport@leeds.ac.uk

Teaching staff are not authorised to grant extensions, all extension requests should be
referred to the member of staff named above.

Word Count Penalties

Coursework assignments that contribute to the assessment of a module may be subject to a
word limit, as specified in the module handbook for that module. EVERYTHING except the
title and, where appropriate, an opening contents page, reference list or bibliography, and
any appendices is included in the word count. It is unlikely that any of the assignments you
submit for this module will require appendices.
It is School policy that a penalty for exceeding the word limit will be applied and you are
required to provide an accurate word count on the front cover of your assignment. Word
counts will be checked randomly on electronic copies of submitted work, and
misrepresentation of word length by a student is treated as a form of academic malpractice.

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The published maximum word count for any piece of work is absolute; any excess beyond
this limit, however small, will be penalised and the following penalties will be applied:

Exceeds word limit by Marks to be deducted

Up to 9.99% 5
10.00-19.99% 10
20.00-29.99% 15
30.00-39.99% 20
40.00-49.99% 25
50.00-100% No marks awarded

Referencing
Referencing is the acknowledgment of the sources you used when producing your own work.
Referencing correctly is important to demonstrate how widely you have researched your
subject, to show the basis of your arguments and conclusions, and to avoid plagiarism.

You need to give the person reading your assignment enough information to find the sources
you have consulted. This is done by including citations in your work and providing a list of
references at the end of your assignment.

In the Faculty of Environment we expect students to use the Harvard referencing style in
their assignments for this module. Guidance on how to include citations within your text and
how to reference different types of material using Harvard is provided here:
http://library.leeds.ac.uk/skills-referencing.

Academic Integrity
Please make sure that you know what counts as plagiarism. The University defines
plagiarism as presenting someone else’s work as your own, including images and other
material as well as text. Do not plagiarise, collude, or cheat in any way. All instances of
plagiarism will be treated severely according to University disciplinary procedures. If you are
unsure, check the University Library’s academic integrity and plagiarism web pages:
https://library.leeds.ac.uk/info/1401/academic_skills/46/academic_integrity_and_plagiarism

Reading Materials
The reading list for the module can be accessed via the module’s VLE (Minerva) page. This
links directly to the library web page and helps you locate books and access journals. You
are encouraged to read widely and engage with the peer-reviewed academic journal articles.
Reading lists are not exhaustive: just because a paper is not mentioned on the reading list
does not mean that it is not worthwhile. You are expected to conduct your own searches for
relevant journal articles. Given that this module is in part dealing with current global political
and economic events you are also encouraged to explore good quality news reporting; many
national and international news media can be accessed via the web.

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Future Career Skills

The module is also designed to strengthen your skills in the following areas:

Cognitive skills
 Abstraction and synthesis of information from a variety of sources
 Assessment and critical evaluation of the merits of contrasting theories, explanations,
policies
 Critical analysis and interpretation of data and text
 Developing reasoned arguments

Practical/professional skills
 Collect, interpret and synthesise different types of quantitative and qualitative
geographical data
 Recognise the ethical issues involved in geographical debates and enquiries

Key skills

 Communicate effectively (in writing, verbally and through graphical presentations)

 Use information technology effectively (including use of spreadsheet, database and
word processing programmes; Internet and e-mail)
 Identify, retrieve, sort and exchange geographical information using a wide range of
sources
 Work as part of a team and to recognise and respect the viewpoints of others
 Manage time and organise work effectively

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Appendix One - Coursework Coversheet

1.

2.

3.

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