Law and Economic Development (5cr)

Evaluation scale

H-5

Objective

Upon successful completion of the course, participants will be able to:

1. Assess past and current debates on the role of law in economic development, and their impact on traditionally excluded groups.
2. Formulate a critical map and chronology of the dominant economic theories and national development policies and the role recognized to law therein, and their critiques.
3. Develop an assessment of the role of law in the political economy of development cooperation to the Global South
4. Develop tools to locate current strategies to tackle climate change and environmental degradation climate change in the wider spectrum of the debates on law and economic development in contemporary global capitalism.
5. Critically assess the Sustainable Develop Goals (SDGs) and related rule-of-law programs through the prism of race, gender, and class.

Execution methods

The course will be delivered as four on-site session that include lectures and group activities. In-person attendance is consequently encouraged; however, a remote connection will also be made available for those unable to attend in person. No recordings will be available.

The course will involve in-person teaching and discussion in the classroom. In-person attendance is consequently encouraged; however, a remote connection will also be made available for those unable to attend in person. No recordings will be available.

Pre-readings will be available on Moodle before the course, along with the pre-assignment.

Accomplishment methods

Participants will be required to read pre-assigned literature and case law, and participate in class activities. To complete the course with 5 ECTS, will be required to 1) fulfil a pre-task and one group exercise during the lectures; and, 2) write a 1500 words opinion piece on a question posed by the lecturer. The opinion piece is a take-home assignment, and students will have two weeks to complete it.

Content

This course seeks to provide students of law, economics, sustainable development studies, and other related disciplines, with a critical vocabulary to assess the connection between law and economic development in contemporary global policy-making. It is structured in five modules:
1. The struggle to define economic development.
2. Mapping law in dominant and heterodox economic theories
3. The “Rule of Law”: economic, legal and policy dimensions
4. Comparative and international law and development
5. This changes everything? Law, climate change, and economic development

Location and time

Pre-assignment submission via Moodle, deadline: Thursday 21.09.2023, at 17.00

Tue 26.09.2023 10:00-14:00
Wed 27.09.2023 10:00-14:00
Thurs 28.09.2023 10:00-14:00
Fri 29.09.2023 14:00-18:00

Teaching methods

The course will involve in-person teaching and discussion in the classroom. In-person attendance is consequently encouraged; however, a remote connection will also be made available for those unable to attend in person. No recordings will be available.

Pre-readings will be available on Moodle before the course, along with the pre-assignment.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

1) fulfil a pre-task and one group exercise during the lectures; and, 2) write a 1500 words opinion piece on a question given by the lecturer. The opinion piece is a take-home assignment, and students will have two weeks to complete it. Information on the grading system will be available on the course platform.

Further information

Preparatory activity:

Write a 400-500 words answer to the following question:
After reading the preparatory reading, do you think that law is an important factor in determining economic development in a particular society? Please, explain you answer.
Activity to be delivered by email to ruruena@ulapland.fi, at the latest by Monday 25.09.2023 at 17.00 Finnish time.

Preparatory reading: Mariana Mota Prado, ‘What Is Law and Development?’, Revista Argentina de Teoria Juridica 11, no. 1 (2010): 1–20.

Reading available here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1907298
Also available here: https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/128927