Module Identifier IP39620  
Module Title WOMEN IN THE THIRD WORLD  
Academic Year 2002/2003  
Co-ordinator Dr Lucy F A Taylor  
Semester Intended for use in future years  
Next year offered N/A  
Next semester offered N/A  
Course delivery Lecture   8 Hours 8 x 1 hour  
  Seminars / Tutorials   16 Hours 8 x 2 hour  
Assessment Semester Exam   2 Hours (pre-released)   50%  
  Semester Assessment   Essay:   50%  
  Semester Assessment   Essay:   30%  
  Supplementary Exam   Students may, subject to Faculty approval, have the opportunity to resit this module, normally during the supplementary examination period. For further clarification please contact the Teaching Programme Administrator in the Department of International Politics.    

Learning outcomes

On completion of the module, students will be able to:
- Identify the key characteristics of the category ‘third world woman’ and to critically discuss its relevance.
- Locate and analyse the role of ‘third world’ women in their economies.
- Examine and assess the ambiguities associated with women’s participation in man-made and male-led political initiatives.
- Explore the possibilities and difficulties associated with women’s autonomous organisation.
- Critically analyse the power relationships which have their roots in cultural identities, exploring the resultant dilemmas
through the case of women and Islam.

10 ECTS Credits

Brief description

This module will introduce students to the role played by women in society, the economy and politics of the so-called ‘third world’

Aims

This module aims to explore the differences and similarities in the experiences of women within and beyond the third world in the cultural, economic and political spheres.

Content

The module will cover the following topics: the images and realities of life for third world women; race class, gender and the postcolonial approach; women as producers and consumers in the official economy; women’s survival strategies in conditions of extreme poverty; women and the formal political process, women and revolutionary politics; women and social movements; the complexities of the relationship between cultural identity and gender identity.

Transferable skills

Students will have the opportunity to develop, practice and test a wide range of transferable skills which will help them to understand, conceptualise and evaluate examples and ideas. Throughout the course, students should practice and enhance their reading, comprehension and thinking skills, as well as basic numeracy skills and self management skills. In lectures students will develop listening and note taking skills, as well as analytical skills. In seminars students will enhance their analytical skills and will practice listening, explaining and debating skills, as well as team work and problem solving. Essay writing will encourage students to practice their independent research, writing and IT skills. The examination will test these skills under time constraint conditions, but giving students access to the examination questions a short time before the examination takes place allows students to develop their thoughts on a given topic in a manner which better replicates experience in the workplace.

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
Haleh Afshar (ed). Women and Politics in the Third World.
Georgina Waylen. Gender and Third World Politics.