Module Identifier IPM6230  
Module Title THE WELSH POLITICAL ECONOMY  
Academic Year 2002/2003  
Co-ordinator Dafydd Trystan-Davies  
Semester Intended for use in future years  
Next year offered N/A  
Next semester offered N/A  
Course delivery Seminars / Tutorials   22 Hours 1 x 2 hour seminar per week  
Assessment Semester Exam   3 Hours   50%  
  Semester Assessment   Essay:   50%  
  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 the completion of the module, students should be able to:

- critically assess and evaluate the main theoretical approaches to understanding the Welsh political economy
- assess the development of politico-economic relations within Wales during the past 120 years
- place developments in Wales in the wider context of developments in the international political economy
- understand the linkages between the material developments in the Welsh political economy and how people understood/understand this economy.

Brief description

This module will study the development in theory and practice of the Welsh Political Economy in the past century and a half.

Aims

The module aims to:

- assess and evaluate the main theoretical approaches to understanding the Welsh political economy
- assess the development of politico-economic relations within Wales during the past 120 years
- place developments in Wales in the wider context of developments in the international political economy
- probe the linkages between the material developments in the Welsh political economy and how people understood/understand this economy.

Content

A crucial element in understanding Welsh politics and society is the development of the Welsh economy. This module will thus seek to develop students' in-depth understanding of the contemporary situation of the Welsh economy (in theory and practice), and its development over the past 120 years.

The course will begin by analysing the late 19th/early 20th century position of the Welsh political economy, as one of the most dynamic areas in the world. It will trace patterns of centrality and periphery in broader politico-economic trends throught he depression of the 20s and 30s. It will assess the impact of the regional planning approach to political economy in the 50s and early 60s, and contrast the position of the Welsh political economy during this period with the latter part of the 20th century and the rise of the Welsh Development Agency and the globalisation agenda.

It will place these material trends in a broad theoretical perspective which seeks to uncover the relationships between material practice and ideational practice. Thus various approaches to the construction or otherwise of the Welsh political economy will be considered.

Transferable skills

Students will have the opportunity to develop, practice and test a wide range of transferable skills that will help them to understand, conceptualise and evaluate events, examples and ideas. Throughout the course, students should practice and enhance their reading, comprehension and thinking skills, as well as advanced numeracy skills and self management skills. In seminars students will enhance their analytical skills and will practice listening, explaining and debating skills, as well as team-working skills. Essay writing will encourage students to practice their independent research, writing and IT skills, and the examination will test analytical and written communication skills under conditions of time-constraint.