Description
Module content
The aim of this module is to introduce students to the latest research on prosperity and use it as a lens for understanding and tackling the pressing challenges of the twenty-first century, beyond the standard governance response of stimulating economic growth. The module will address a number of questions that are at the core of contemporary academic and policy debates about prosperity:Ìý
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What is prosperity and why is it important in today’s world?Ìý
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What are some of the main challenges that we – as individuals, communities, cities, nations, and a planet – face today, and how can we understand and approach them in new ways through the lens of prosperity?Ìý
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What are the concepts, models, metrics, and practices that we need to help us create more prosperous communities, cities, and environments?Ìý
The dominant economic cultures of the 20th century have produced both immense material wealth and deep social and ecological dilemmas. The key assumptions of these cultures – that limitless economic growth is both possible and desirable – continue to shape the way our lives are governed. Yet, at the same time, there is a growing recognition that an increase in economic wealth is not, and cannot, be the solution to contemporary global challenges.Ìý
After more than two centuries of continuous growth, the problems that nations and communities face across the globe are abundant – from climate change and environmental degradation, to massive income inequality, collapse of democratic norms, and lack of good quality jobs and services. These problems (and many other pressing challenges) are not just economic in their causes and consequences, but also social, political and environmental; they interact and intersect with one another, impacting multiple domains of our lives and our environments in specific ways depending on the context. This means that the solutions we devise for our problems have to be multiply constituted as well, and with an emphasis on strengthening the connections and collaborations between diverse actors, forms of knowledge, capabilities and resources.Ìý
Pathways 1 will present students with a series of lectures, readings, class discussions and speaker events, that will support them in understanding the origins of prosperity thinking, and the connections between contemporary global challenges, on the one hand, and the solutions that can help us create better futures, on the other.Ìý
The module will focus on introducing students to the latest conceptual thinking and debates on prosperity in the twenty-first century, as well on using prosperity as a lens for understanding challenges and developing solutions.Ìý
The module is a compulsory component of the MSc Global Prosperity and a compulsory primer for students undertaking a PhD Global Prosperity. We also welcome other UCL graduate students who wish to take this module as an option.Ìý
Within the MSc in Global Prosperity, the Module acts as an introduction to core ideas and concepts. The Module compliments the programme’s two research modules - Measuring Global Prosperity and Problem Solving for Global Prosperity - which focus respectively on defining and measuring prosperity and the creation of transdisciplinary solutions to complex challenges.
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PART 1: INTRODUCTORY SESSIONSÌý
TOPIC 1: Addressing 21st Century Crises: Prosperity as AssemblageÌýÌý
TOPIC 2: The Terrain of Prosperity: Rethinking Value, Measurement and RealisationÌýÌý
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PART 2: ECONOMISTS RETHINK THE ECONOMYÌý
TOPIC 3: The Financial Crisis 2008: Social and Political CostsÌýÌý
TOPIC 4: Financial Crises and PopulismÌýÌý
TOPIC 5: Wealth Generation is not Enough: Critiquing Heterodox Approaches Ìý
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PART 3: THE IMPERATIVE OF INCLUSIONÌý
TOPIC 6: Feminist Economic AlternativesÌýÌý
TOPIC 7: Decolonising the Economy Ìý
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PART 4: ALTERNATIVE MEASUREMENTS OF WELL-BEING AND PROSPERITYÌý
TOPIC 8: Beyond GDP: Towards Sustainable Well-BeingÌýÌý
TOPIC 9: New Forms of Measurement and their Importance: The Prosperity Index in ContextÌýÌý
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PART 5: PROSPERITY IN PRACTICEÌý
TOPIC 10: Pathways to ProsperityÌý
Module deliveries for 2024/25 academic year
Last updated
This module description was last updated on 19th August 2024.
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